Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
The truth was, I wanted to tell her.
I wanted to tell her everything. About my housemate. About my brother. About that night fifteen years ago. About why I’d failed her.
But I couldn’t.
I’d made a promise, and I’d destroyed enough lives already.
As usual, I struggled to find sleep.
I flicked on the noise machine my therapist had gifted me, counted sheep, played footsies with a sleeping Briar, and whistled “The Sleeping Beauty.”
Hours later, sleep settled into my bones, but I knew she would bring with her a nightmare.
She always did.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Oliver
Age Nineteen.
If I could choose one moment to last a lifetime, it would be now. With Briar Rose, sleeping away her hangover as I watched her from the hanging lounge chair on the tiny balcony, all of Paris unfurled beneath us.
She sprawled across the sheets like a painting – soft, and beautiful, and peaceful. I knew when she woke up, the little line between her brows would return, and she’d find a way to chew through her already worn-down nails.
I sighed and began scrolling through the hundreds of unread texts from Dad, Mom, and Seb.
The evening came and went, bleeding into nighttime. I needed to book a flight back to the U.S., but I didn’t want to leave her before I made sure she was okay.
Technically, she could return with me to the States. But Dad and Seb would never let us live it down. Seb would roast the shit out of me, but only because he never passed up an opportunity. But Dad. He’d hide his disappointment, though I’d see it in his lingering stares and deep sighs.
No. He counted on me to bring my A-game. To study the company inside and out. He expected me to be focused. That meant following the original plan Briar Rose and I had made, even if it meant a few weeks apart.
I didn’t remember falling asleep on the lounger, but the minute I heard Briar Rose’s husky voice call my name, I sprang to my feet and beelined into the room. She stretched her arms over her head, fully awake with the treasures I’d brought back from the pharmacy fanned across the sheets before her.
She swigged the Gatorade, her cheeks and nose sunburnt and her eyes still heavily lidded with exhaustion. “You watched me sleep?”
“I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
She nodded.
I rested a hip against the dresser, studying her. “Are you …?”
“I’ll be better once you make me forget.” She patted the space next to her with a smile. “Come here.”
I strolled toward her and sat on the other side of the bed, avoiding her personal space. The relief at seeing her well crackled inside my chest. Not just well, but no longer completely crushed.
I pried a menu from where it wedged between the hotel’s welcoming packet. “Do you want some room service?”
“It’s three in the morning.” She snorted. “I’m sure they’re closed.”
“I’m sure they’re not …” I wiggled my brows. “… for the right tip.”
Briar Rose laughed. It died down in her throat. “I think I need to get used to being a broke-ass student. I don’t think my parents will be footing the bill for most of my things.”
“We’ll make it work.” I patted her leg, knowing full well I would make it work.
I wouldn’t even have to ask my parents. I had my own savings. Well, enough to get her through two years of college tuition and dorm fees with plans for more.
I pressed my lips to her forehead for a few seconds, breathing her in. Dry. The clamminess had evaporated sometime during her nap.
She kicked her foot out, playing footsies with my thigh.
I looped a hand around it and began to massage her. “Listen, Cuddlebug. I need to get you back to Geneva. Dad expects me back home for that internship.”
“How about you just spend the night here?” she suggested, brightening up.
I bit down on my lower lip, shaking my head. “I wish I could. But I—”
“Come on, Ollie. I haven’t seen you all year.”
“It’s really important to me,” I admitted, quiet. “This internship.”
Even as I explained this to her, I felt like a shithead. It was her eighteenth birthday, and her parents had dumped her ass and divorced her without as much as a cupcake or a greeting card. And here I was, wound tight about some bullshit internship forced on me by my dad for a company I’d inherit anyway.
She twisted, crawling up along my body on her hands and knees on the bed. “At least bid me farewell nicely.”
“Listen, I don’t want to rush things—”
But before I could complete the sentence, she sank her groin against my hard-on. Her flimsy underwear did nothing to hide the wetness between her thighs. I could feel her ready for me, even through my jeans.
I sucked in a breath. We’d made out and even dry-humped before, but this felt different.