Total pages in book: 184
Estimated words: 186756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 934(@200wpm)___ 747(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 186756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 934(@200wpm)___ 747(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
So I sigh at the first contact while he growls, “Mine. You look mine.”
He bends his head toward me, going for my lips.
But as much as it pains me, I stop him. “No, don’t.”
His brows draw close. “What?”
I push at his chest. “Not yet.”
I hate making him wait. I do. Because for the longest time, he had to watch me from afar. He had to long and pine and wait. I had to do those things too. So these days, I try not to make him—and myself—wait for things.
But this is important, so he needs to.
He frowns. “Why the fuck not?”
“You’ll ruin my makeup and—"
“You don’t need makeup.”
My heart smiles but still I protest. “You just have to wait a little because—"
His grip flexes around my bicep. “I did.”
“What?”
“All day.”
My heart smiles more at that. Because yes, he did. And again, as much as I hated it, it was mostly on my account because I spent the entire day rehearsing for the new play opening next week—for the Bardstown community theater no less; as always my supportive professor recommended me for the role—and so I came home only a couple of hours ago.
Although I will say that he was the one to push me to go on a Saturday.
With classes and homework and rehearsals, I usually try to keep weekends free so I can spend them with him. But since the play is opening in only a few days, they wanted us to come in. I wanted to refuse but Stellan told me that I should go. Because he’s always the one who’s pushing me to do things. He’s always the one reminding me that I have dreams and that I can’t forget them for any reason.
If I had my way, I would forget.
Because when it comes to him, I’m okay forgetting everything else.
Not him though. He wants me to fly and God, I love him for that.
But now that I’m back home, all bets are off.
And as he said, I’m his.
“On top of doing your bidding and spending time with my so-called friends,” he finishes.
“They’re not your so-called friends,” I correct him. “They’re your actual friends.”
They are.
Homer, his high school friend and arguably one of the very few closest people to him; Byron, mostly his high school acquaintance who’s becoming his friend. And Ark, again his high school acquaintance who’s on the path to becoming his friend as well.
Although I will say that it’s going slow.
Because as he said, he went to see them on my command.
While he’s the one pushing me for my dreams, I’m the one who’s pushing him to live his life. Which includes going out and seeing people such as his friends and having fun.
Because for the longest time, he didn’t do that either.
He kept himself away from everything and everyone. He kept himself in the dark.
So it’s my mission to fill his life with light. It’s my mission to make him live and live freely.
Which reminds me I need to hit him up for the latest gossip about these three. For the record, Stellan is an awful gossiper. Awful. Even though he hangs out with these guys—on my insistence—he never knows anything juicy about them.
And there are juicy things to know, believe me.
Like, take Homer, for instance.
He apparently has a fiancée that he got engaged to when he was only fourteen. A fiancée that he doesn’t want to get married to. In a way, I understand it. They both had their life decided when they were both kids. But now they’ve grown up and from what I can see, Maple—his fiancée—is into him. I have only met her a couple of times but I really like her. So I don’t get his reluctance and I’d love to know why he’s dragging his feet. But as I said, Stellan has no insight into it.
Oh and Byron. From the looks of it, his career might be in jeopardy because of all the rumors about his drug abuse. He denies it of course and there’s never been any evidence to support such claims but he’s always in the news for one scandal or another. And I’d love to know if it’s true or not. If they’re going to kick him out like they’ve been talking about?
And then there’s Ark. Everyone knows that he owns a security company called The Fortress—my own bodyguards were hired through his company—and is a very busy man along with being very rich. Which obviously means he doesn’t actually do any bodyguarding himself. But recently, in a very unprecedent turn of events, he’s personally handling the security of one of their clients. Actually, let me rephrase, he’s personally handling the security of their client’s daughter.
Very curious, right?
Who is this daughter? What’s happening there? Why would Ark break the norm for her?
But every time I ask Stellan about any of these things, he looks at me like I’m crazy.