Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
“I need to get out of here.”
There’s a moment of silence as he scrutinizes me, searching for answers I’m unwilling to give. “Yeah, sure. I’ll talk to Kingsley about borrowing one of his cars. Go pack your bags and we’ll take off as soon as you’re ready.”
Relief rushes from my lungs and my muscles loosen. “Thank you.”
With a tug of his fingers, he draws me to him before dropping a quick kiss against the top of my head. “It’s not a problem, Delilah. Whatever you need. I’m here for you. Always will be no matter what.”
Duke Carmichael is one of the few, if not only, people I can count on.
And at the moment, that feels like everything.
AUSTIN
I press Aubrey against the wood-paneled wall of the study as she stares up at me with heavy-lidded eyes. If I wanted to fuck her right here and now, there’s not a doubt in my mind that she’d let me. She’s been batting her thick, mascara-laden lashes at me ever since Coach started yanking Jasper out of the games and sending me in to turn them around.
Now that I’m no longer a pariah, everyone wants to be my friend. Guys are slapping me on the back and girls are coming out of the woodwork to flirt and offer up their…services.
It’s fucking ridiculous and I want no part of it.
Aubrey has made it perfectly clear that she’d be happy to slide into my bed.
Or drop to her knees and open wide.
Whatever it is that I want.
Little does she know that what I’m after has nothing to do with sex. She let something slip last night by the bonfire that has been tickling the far recesses of my brain, and I haven’t been able to let it go. I need to get to the bottom of it and figure out what it means.
One way or another.
She forces out her pink slicked lower lip in a pout. “Why are you even with that girl? You can’t actually like her.”
I wince inwardly before allowing my hand to drift to her breast and giving it a squeeze. I need to get her talking before this goes any further. There’s no damn way I’m locking lips with this crazy chick.
A moan escapes from her as she shifts, arching into my palm. I pluck at the stiff little peak. “Don’t be ridiculous. Of course we’re not together. It’s just fucking.”
The lie leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
“Good. I seriously can’t figure out why Jasper is so obsessed with her. He’s a total psycho. He’ll do anything to get her back.”
Here we go.
It’s casually that I say, “Oh yeah? Like what?”
When I press my lips to the slender column of her throat, her eyelids feather closed, and she arches her neck, granting me greater access. “That feels so good.”
“I’m curious about what he’s done.”
“Hmmm?”
“Jasper.” It takes effort to keep my voice level and not snap with the impatience that vibrates through me like a live wire. “I want to know.”
Her brows knit as her eyelids crack open. “Ugh. He’s the last person I want to talk about.”
When my teeth sink into the soft flesh of her neck, a whimper escapes from her. “You’re the one who brought it up. I’m just curious about what you mean.”
Her fingers curl into the soft cotton of my T-shirt in an attempt to drag me closer. “I don’t understand what all the fuss is about. It’s not like she’s that pretty.”
I suck her skin into my mouth. She tastes nothing like Delilah, and as much as I want to shove her away, I need to see it through. From the tidbit she dropped last night, she knows exactly what Jasper has been up to. All the games he’s been playing at our expense.
I want answers.
And I want them now.
My fingers torment her stiff little bud as my voice grows rough, telling her what she wants to hear. “You’re right. The guy is totally pussy whipped. I want to know all the ways he’s been fucking with her.” There’s a pause before I add, “Like at the fundraiser.”
A groan that has absolutely nothing to do with the way I’m playing with her slips free. “What he did that night was totally messed up.”
All the rioting noise in my head goes quiet as my gaze sharpens. “You mean outing my dyslexia?” My lips flatten into a thin line so they won’t curl into a snarl.
“Yeah. He snuck into the headmaster’s office after football practice and dug through your records. I guess it was written in there somewhere.”
Motherfucker.
It takes every ounce of willpower to tamp down the growl rising in my chest.
“About a month ago, he started to suspect that something was going on between you two.”
“There wasn’t.”
“It doesn’t matter, he wanted to destroy any tentative friendship so she’d have no other choice but to stay with him.” A hard glint enters her eyes. “I told you already, he’s obsessed. I don’t understand it at all. What’s so special about that girl?”