Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104239 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104239 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
The situation might look different on the surface, but it’s the same underneath. This other woman is everything I’m not, obviously. I can give the man every part of me and offer him my understanding, patience, and even my heart, but it doesn’t matter. Why do I even bother? I should know better by now. People like me don’t get what they want.
And what am I supposed to do now? I want to see Lucas more than ever, but now it’s because I’m pissed off and hurting worse than before. Whenever I want to talk about us, something always comes along to get in the way. We could have talked about this woman in the morning after we had sex, but Xander went and showed up. Now I’m too upset over this blond woman to remember why I thought it was so important to talk to him in the first place.
In the end, curiosity is what holds me in place. Is he going to come out and take the same route she did? Is he going to disappear into whatever room he stashed her in? Or maybe she upset him, so he’s going to head to my room instead. Maybe she gets all the good parts of him, and I get all the ugliness.
I’m still seething and aching when his door opens again. There he is, and I wish my heart didn’t hurt so much at the sight of him. He’s angry, scowling. And alone.
He’s also dressed like he’s going somewhere, wearing a leather jacket and jeans. He looks dangerous, like he wants to get into trouble. Or maybe that’s what I already know about him, coloring the way I see him.
He turns in my direction, and I hold my breath, staying completely still. Does he sense me here as he walks past? It’s ridiculous to think he would, though I can’t help how my heart pounds. I’m surprised he doesn’t hear it.
No, he’s too busy checking something on his phone. He marches past me like a man in a hurry. I should let him go. I know I should. It’s none of my business, especially since he clearly wants nothing to do with me unless his little girlfriend is unavailable. Nothing should matter to me less than what this man does with his time.
And that’s what I keep telling myself as I follow him at a distance. He’s going to the elevator—I tuck myself into another dark corner when he comes to a stop. Don’t look over here. Please, don’t look over here.
I can finally breathe again when he steps into the car and the doors slide shut. I watch the numbers above the elevator doors light up as the car climbs. Where is he going?
All the way up to the castle level, it turns out, beyond the dorms and the classrooms and all that. Now, there’s nothing that could stop me from following him. Where is he going? What kind of secret life is he living?
That’s why I run down the hall to the next elevator and jam my finger against the button over and over until the doors open. I choose the main castle level the way he did and chew my lip, willing the damn thing to move faster.
I can’t burst out of the car the way I want to, not up here. This is where outsiders stay, family, and important people. With my luck, I’ll end up running straight into Xander or maybe Quinton’s sister, Scarlet. I have to be careful.
I peer out from around the doorway in time to catch a glimpse of Lucas walking toward the castle entrance. So he’s leaving, but is he leaving alone? I wish the question didn’t eat at me. I wish it didn’t force me to keep following him. I will never rest unless I know whether he’s going somewhere by himself or with that woman.
As I jog behind him, it occurs to me that I’m turning into a stalker. I guess I’ll have to worry about that later. It isn’t my fault the man is impossible to understand.
It’s cold outside, as expected, and I shiver when the air hits me. No coat, genius. Even though I should stay inside, I keep going until I watch from behind a tree as Lucas climbs aboard the waiting helicopter. There’s no one else inside but the pilot. I wish it didn’t come as such a relief.
Something holds me in place as the helicopter begins to lift. Where is he going? Why is he so secretive? Why doesn’t he know I only want to help him? I just want to be with him. No matter what that makes me, no matter what it means, it’s all I care about. But he would rather keep pushing me away, flying off on his own.