Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 28781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 144(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 144(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
He swallowed, then exhaled a shaky breath. “I’m sorry too. I’m sorry you went through that on your own. I’m glad you went to therapy, but I wish you would have confided in me. Trusted me.”
“I couldn’t even trust myself, trusting someone else seemed like climbing Mount Everest, Ace.”
“I can’t say I understand.” He flipped onto his back. “But I appreciate you finally letting me know, maybe I can finally get closure and stop comparing you to every single woman I meet. It would be nice, you know.” He turned his head. “Maybe I can move on now, just like you did.”
I swear the silence was loud. So loud that it was unbearable.
“Yeah.” I started shaking. “Yeah, that’s… good.”
“You should sleep.” He reached for me, then pulled his hand back. “I’m assuming we’ll need it for whatever hell Max puts us through tomorrow.
Tomorrow was nothing compared to the moment we just had.
If he threw me into shark-infested waters, I’d grab a floaty and a cocktail and treat it as a vacation.
“Okay.” I turned back on my side and I stared at the wall wondering how I was going to find any sort of sleep knowing that I just broke his heart again by telling him the truth, and knowing he just broke mine by admitting he was moving on.
What did I expect? Him to confess his feelings? Love? A hug? A kiss?
That happened in the movies, in books—but things like that weren’t reality.
I squeezed my eyes shut as one more tear escaped and then tried to sleep.
Chapter Nine
Ace
I woke up to familiar warmth and in the hour since I’d checked on her and crashed again, she’d somehow managed to scoot herself across the bed, toss her legs on top of mine and press her forehead against my chest.
It was how she always used to sleep.
She had zero boundaries and most nights I thought I was going to sweat to death but liked her touch so much that I figured if that was how I was going to go out it would be worth it.
She breathed heavily against my chest, it tickled, and it let me forget reality for just one minute.
I tightened my arms around her a little more and suddenly my eyes were drooping again while she clung to me.
“SHIT!” A loud scream, a very loud scream, reverberated around the bedroom. I jolted awake and nearly hit Bri as she tried to untangle herself from me and the sheets.
With a curse, I tugged the sheet and accidentally fell backward; she came tumbling with me, landing on top of me in a pile of blankets after the loudest thud known to mankind also decided to bounce off the walls. “Ow.”
She winced. “Sorry, but you were the one pulling the blankets.”
“You were the one panicking!”
“Listen…” Oh, that was a problem, a morning problem, a problem that was getting worse the more she struggled against me. “Listen, could you just not touch me right now?”
It was painful on an extreme DEFCON one level.
She snorted. “That would be a first, you asking me not to touch you.”
My jaw dropped. “Please, I never had to beg you, you were always on your knees begging me and by the look on your face and the words coming out of my mouth, I realize you are fully within your rights to slap both me and my dick, right now. I’ll wait. And not in a nice way, shit what the hell is wrong with me, actually can you wait on the dick slapping? It would hurt too bad right now.”
If looks could kill. Forget the stapler as weapon of choice, I choose her green eyes. Do girls practice that look in the mirror?
Goosebumps erupted down my arms like a bad rash, I wasn’t sure if I was even more turned on or if it was fear speaking from the man downstairs sweating bullets he was about to meet Jesus.
“We. Are. Late.” She gets off of me, completely ignoring our conversation, Thank God. I start to get up when her foot comes dangerously close to my dick, only to move upward and push my chest back so I’m pinned to the ground.
“Have you always been this violent or did you just hone your skills over time while yelling at elementary school children and putting cats up in trees rather than rescuing them from the branches? I have questions.”
“Get dressed!” She tripped, pulling the blanket from my lap. When she looked over her shoulder, all I could do was just stare along with her.
“I know.” That’s all I had. I know. Apparently I can’t control my mouth or my body around her, I just reacted in real time like a lunatic still in love with the devil and wishing she would have kept my soul.
She shook her head. “Just hurry!”