Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 101736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
He laughed again, only this one was humorless. “Yeah, no. Not a chance.”
Annoyance crawled up my spine. “Why not?”
Colin’s gaze was dark. “Are you seriously asking if you can date my sister?”
I should have been smarter and taken some time to consider how to respond, but my ‘fuck it’ attitude stormed in and said it had it covered. “What if I am?”
His expression hardened. “The answer is no. In fact, it’s hell no.”
On some level, I knew how this conversation was going to go, and yet it still hit me like a ton of bricks. I wasn’t just pissed off—I was hurt. Sydney’s comment from before echoed through my mind. Why was I good enough to be Colin’s best friend . . . but not good enough for his sister?
Part of me already knew the answer, but I asked it anyway. “Why?”
He peered at me as if I were suddenly a stranger to him. “Because you don’t date, Preston. You don’t care about feelings or really want anything serious. You fuck a girl, and the next day, you’re on to the next one. So, can you blame me for not wanting that for my little sister?”
I’d never had such strong, conflicting emotions at the same time. I was offended by this accusation, but I begrudgingly knew he wasn’t wrong. At least, he wasn’t about the last few years. I had avoided relationships and hadn’t been interested in anything other than sex.
“I’m not like that anymore,” I said quietly.
His face contorted. He wanted to believe me but couldn’t. “Look, I love you, man, and maybe you’ve changed, but she’s,” he struggled, searching for the right descriptor, “a good girl, and you’re . . .” He did me a favor by not finishing his thought. “There’s no way it wouldn’t end badly. She’ll get hurt, and then that’ll fuck things up between us.”
My shoulders sagged, nearly crashing through the floor. Everything he was saying was right—I knew that. And deep down, I also knew it was too late. It was like I was driving toward the edge of a cliff, and I refused to pump the brakes or turn away. I just kept barreling straight toward it.
“Yeah.” Disappointment clogged my throat, but I hoped he couldn’t hear it. “You’re probably right about that.”
“I am. Forget about Syd,” he said. “She’s not your type, anyway.”
I smiled to hide how hard I had my teeth clenched. He had no fucking clue how wrong he was about that.
TWENTY-ONE
Sydney
I didn’t tell Preston I lasted less than twelve hours before caving. The condom wrapper that I’d tucked in the door’s side pocket was hidden, and yet I felt its presence the entire drive home. It grew heavier and louder the longer I left it, and it was just after midnight when I gave up. The worry over my parents finding it was so strong, it made it impossible to sleep.
Because if they found the black foil wrapper, they’d kick me out of the house, and while I could stay with Colin and Madison, that was a less than ideal situation.
My brother and his girlfriend shot a lot of their scenes at their place, and I knew that because he had warned me multiple times to always text before coming over. Crashing at their apartment, even short term, would make things difficult for them, or awkward for me, or potentially both.
Plus, it’d make it ten times harder to keep up with my ‘lessons’ with Preston, and the last thing I wanted was for those to stop. Or for him to decide I was no longer worth the risk he was taking with his partnership with my brother and drop me.
So, I got out of my bed, snuck down to the garage, and stole back the wrapper. There were already a few bags of trash in the garbage bin, so I moved one aside and ditched the wrapper beneath it, ensuring my parents wouldn’t find it before the garbage got emptied.
Even with that taken care of, the wrapper still dominated my thoughts, because it was a reminder of the scorching hot sex we’d had. I felt a low pull in my center as I got back into bed. There was an ache for him that was constant, incessant.
Shit. Was it normal to be this horny all the time? Preston had unleashed something inside me that was dark and hungry.
I couldn’t use the vibrator he’d given me. Surely my parents were asleep, but the little motor inside it wasn’t silent, and I was terrified of them hearing it. I’d only used it once since I’d brought it home, and that had been in the shower where the overhead fan and the water beating against the tile drowned out all other sounds.
I’d sat on the floor with my back against the cold wall, held the vibrator between my legs, and stayed as quiet as possible when the orgasm blasted through me.