The Promise Read online J.L. Beck (North Woods University #5)

Categories Genre: Alpha Male, New Adult, Romance Tags Authors: Series: North Woods University Series by J.L. Beck
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Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 71246 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
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Eyeing his dresser, I contemplate getting something myself, but after five minutes of staring at it, I come to the conclusion that I can’t. It just feels wrong going through his stuff, taking his clothes without asking. I just can’t do it. Ugh…

Wrapping the towel a little tighter around myself, I tiptoe to the door and unlock it. Opening it, I almost expect Lex to be standing on the other side, but when I stick my head out in the hallway, it’s completely empty.

Where is he? Did he leave?

With a death grip on the towel, I scurry down the hall and into the living room where I find Lex sitting on the couch looking at something on his phone.

“Um, hey…”

His head snaps up, and his eyes lock with mine. “Hey…” his words trail off at the same time his gaze trails down my body. I feel like I’m being inspected, assessed.

“Can I borrow some clean clothes? I took a shower,” I state the obvious.

“Sure.” Lex jumps up from the couch.

I figured he would just tell me to help myself to a shirt from his dresser or something, but apparently, he wants to get it himself. Turning, I start to walk back toward the room, but Lex’s deep growl has me stopping dead in my tracks.

“What the fuck?”

“What?” I squeak, whirling around to face him.

Nostrils flaring, he looks like a bull ready to charge, and all I can do is cower in fear. I’m still confused and stare up at him as he stomps toward me. He lifts his hand, and for a moment, I’m frozen in fear before instinct kicks in, and I flinch away, gritting my teeth to prepare for the pain of his blow, but it never comes. Instead, he drops his hand to his side, and shock overtakes his features before it gives way to fury.

“Who the hell hurt you?”

“Hurt me?” My body trembles, and then it dawns on me. My back, the bruises and scars. He saw them when I turned around.

Panic rises up, and I feel the irrational need to protect myself. “It’s nothing.” He takes another step, stopping only once our chests are almost touching, the scrap of towel, the only thing separating us.

“It’s not nothing. Who the fuck hurt you?”

He reaches for the towel as if he wants to take a better look, and like a feral animal, I react, giving his firm chest a hard shove, but one push isn’t going to stop someone as big as him and with the determination that’s in his eyes, I know he’s not going to stop until he gets what he wants.

“Leave me alone,” I growl, struggling to get away from him while keeping the towel in place. Lex doesn’t seem to care about anything but investigating my wounds further, and within seconds, I find I’m trapped between the wall and him.

There is no escape. I’m trapped.

“I will kill whoever did this to you,” Lex snarls, the darkness in him pushing to the surface. Reaching for the hem of the towel, his hand tightens around the fabric, and I tug against him at the same time he pulls. I don’t stand a chance against Lex, and I know it, so I’m not all that surprised when the towel is pulled completely away, and I’m left exposed.

Using my arms to cover my chest, I shiver as the cold air kisses my skin. Looking down at the floor, I stare at my feet, anything but his face.

I feel vulnerable and broken–like he can see all the fucked-up pieces of myself.

“Turn around,” Lex orders, his voice gentle, and perhaps it’s the sound of his voice or how broken I feel in that moment, I don’t know, but I do as he asks, showing him my back.

I can hear his sharp intake of breath, and tears fill my eyes. I can only imagine what he’s thinking. How repulsive I look. How ugly I am now that I’m scarred.

I feel ashamed, damaged, and I can’t bear to stand here one more second and be judged by a man that I thought was different, better.

With tears in my eyes, I reach down and pluck the towel off the ground and dart into the bedroom, slamming the door behind me, turning the lock into place before he has the chance to come barging through it.

Walking backward, I stare at the door with blurry eyes, waiting for the moment when he comes clobbering at the door, but it never happens. I stand there for a long time, just staring, my heart cracking in my chest.

After a while, I’m certain he won’t try and come into the bedroom, so I go to the dresser, pull out a shirt and pair of boxers, and put both on. Then I crawl into his bed and pull the covers up and over my head. I lie in the fetal position, pulling my knees up to my chest. Burying my nose into the fabric of the oversize shirt, I sob and sob until there isn’t a single tear left inside me. Lex’s scent surrounds me, and eventually, exhaustion takes over, and I drift into a dreamless sleep, knowing that whatever Lex and I had before, will never be the same again.



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