Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 25313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 127(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 127(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
I got a lot of heat from fellow female classmates in school, but Easton at times had more pull than the freaking principal. His word was law, and he decreed that no one was to mess with me.
He made that clear to everyone the day we met. That rule still stands, even though Easton no longer walks these halls. People may not outwardly say or do things to me, but many of the girls here give me the cold shoulder. I don’t let it bother me. I’m here to get an education. High school is but a blip on the radar of life. That’s what I keep telling myself. When you lose a parent, a lot can be put into perspective for you.
Now I’m counting down the days until my senior year is over. Everyone says I need to focus on school and my future, but Easton is my future. The rest is whatever happens around us.
It takes Easton almost two hours to come home, but he does it almost every weekend. All that effort just to come and see the girl that he hasn’t so much as kissed.
I run my finger across my bottom lip. I’m hours away from Easton claiming me in every way. I both hated and loved how steadfast he could be in what he thinks is right and wrong. I mean, of course, it’s frustrating because I want to be connected to him in that way, but I respect him for it as well.
I was barely sixteen when Easton Ledger came barreling into my life. I suppose you might say swinging into my life because that’s what he was doing the first time I laid eyes on him as he knocked the hell out of Bobby Young, who had me pretty much cornered in the hallway. It was my first day at Bradford Prep. I was the new girl. But Fresh Bait was the nickname I’d heard some of the male students refer to me as.
I’d gone from fresh bait to untouchable in a matter of seconds. Too bad when Easton made it known I was off limits he applied that same rule to himself as well. The most Easton ever did was put his arms around me or hold my hand. I get a kiss on the top of my head more often than not. He stopped aiming for my cheek when I started turning my head to try and steal a kiss.
Before Easton, I was shy around boys. When my dad moved us across the country, I went from a private all-girls school to a private coed one. With all of Easton’s non-touching, it made me start to touch him more. Even tease and try to bait him. He pulled me out of my shell in more ways than one.
Well, that’s what my plan was until two months ago when he groaned and begged me to stop. He sounded so pained in his plea that I gave him mercy. I don’t know why I was torturing the both of us. When I teased and tried to lure him to do more, it only made my body ache too.
I should count myself lucky. I’ve seen some of the boys burn through girls in Bradford Prep. That was never something I had to deal with. Not even when I first got here. Easton didn’t have a line of past girlfriends.
Some of the girls try to toss in my face that I have no idea what Easton is up to at college, but he has never given me a reason to doubt him. I shamelessly broke once and asked to use his phone, pretending mine was dead, and he handed it over without missing a beat. Not before telling me it’s not safe for a girl to be running around with a dead cell phone. When I asked what the code was, he shook his head at me as though my question was ridiculous and said, ”Your birthday.”
I have no clue if Easton knew what I was up to that day, but I handed his phone back quickly and never questioned him again. Easton is a good man. Sometimes I wonder if he might be too good to be true.
Other times, I wonder if he was the gift I was given after the heartache of losing my mom. I like to think it’s the latter. That she somehow had a hand in placing Easton in my life.
The bell rings, finally breaking me from my thoughts. I’m up and out of my seat in no time, my bag already packed up. I ignore the rest of the world as I rush outside.
I burst through the doors and find Easton leaning up against his car. His eyes are down, looking at his phone. I don’t know if he senses me, but within seconds, his gaze is directed at me. A smile pulls at his handsome face. I run to him, throwing myself at him. He catches me easily. The man is well above six feet tall, while I am barely over five feet.