Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
No such luck though, as Derek stepped into my path, bringing me up short. He wasn’t overly big, standing only a few inches taller than my five-seven height. But as I looked up at him, the smug superiority on his face made me feel about three inches tall.
“I knew I smelled something foul on the wind,” he said as his eyes ran up and down me in disgust.
I had to bite my tongue not to hurl back an insult. “I don’t have time for childish assholes.”
I tried to step around Derek but he moved quickly, blocking my exit. “Oh, don’t play so coy with me, Kat. I mean… you’re a Blackburn and all, but I could make an exception if you wanted to see what a real man was like.”
I almost gagged when he reached out and brushed hair back from my face. Once again, eyes ran down my body and this time, they weren’t mocking and cruel but held lewd intentions within their muddy brown depths.
His fingers trailed along my neck and the touch was so abhorrent that I scrambled away from him, coming up against a large oak tree in the corner of Gabe’s yard.
Derek was fast, moving to cage me in against the tree with one palm on the rough bark and the other tugging on a lock of my hair. “What do you say we go back to my place? It will be a step up for you and I’ve never been too proud to slum it.”
Enraged, my hands flew to his chest and I shoved him hard. “You’re a pig.”
“Hey,” I heard Gabe call out and my head turned to see him walking down the sidewalk, his eyes flicking back and forth between me and Derek. “What’s going on?”
Derek’s smile widened as he saw his cousin and moved his way, holding out his hand sideways. “What’s up, cuz? I just stopped by to see what you were doing this weekend.”
Gabe took the offered palm and they clasped hands, pulling each other into a quick bro hug. I took a few steps back, unsure of what to do or say. I should leave, therefore alleviating any risk that Derek might see something between Gabe and me.
But Derek was having too much fun playing. He jerked his thumb my way and sneered, “Found a Blackburn sullying your block.” His gaze moved to me, eyes glittering with malice and lust, a combination that made me furious and sick at the same time. “But she’s hot, right cousin? We could probably both take her out for a spin.”
I saw the fury and hatred blaze across Gabe’s face over Derek’s crude suggestion, and I thought to myself… Oh, wow… it’s all going to come out now.
Derek turned back toward Gabe, laughing at his suggestion, and I watched as the rage melted right off Gabe’s face and to my horror, he started laughing with Derek. “Seriously, dude… even I’m not willing to slum it with a Blackburn, no matter how hot she is.”
My heart shriveled up right there. Logically, I knew Gabe didn’t mean it and he was merely trying to hide his true feelings for me. But it was a betrayal because this wasn’t just about pretending we had nothing—it was his failure to stand up to someone attacking me.
It was immediately unforgivable and no matter how crushed I felt at that moment, it was anger that had me spinning on my heel and walking away from them.
Derek’s laugh followed me but I heard nothing from Gabe. I didn’t look back and the tears didn’t start until I was in my dorm room. I wasn’t surprised when no more than ten minutes passed until Gabe was banging on my door.
He barged into my room, scrubbing his hands over his face as he turned to me. “I’m sorry about Derek. He’s an idiot and I had no choice but to play along with him or else I would have outed us.”
That hurt far more than it should have. “Derek is a predator and you’re a coward.” Gabe flinched which meant I’d hit my mark as intended. “You not only stood by while he said vile things about me, you ended up doing the same.”
Gabe’s voice rose with anger. “You know why I couldn’t. If our families found out about us—”
“That’s always your excuse,” I snapped. “What we are, who we are—it’s always hidden and I thought that was the biggest cross I had to bear in this relationship. But it’s not. It’s the fact that you don’t care enough to even defend me.”
“Derek was just talking out his ass—”
My voice was eerily quiet, soft with defeat. “Derek was making sexual suggestions, possibly hinting at assault. If you and I were an actual couple, he never would’ve done that. If that was any other person who didn’t know about the rift between our families, you would have kicked their ass for speaking that way about me.”