Total pages in book: 15
Estimated words: 14080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 70(@200wpm)___ 56(@250wpm)___ 47(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 14080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 70(@200wpm)___ 56(@250wpm)___ 47(@300wpm)
Me: Did you eat today?
Winter: I had a granola bar.
A granola bar. That isn’t enough to sustain her.
Me: A granola bar is not enough. I’ll bring you food.
My eyes are drawn to her when I step into the library. She sits at a small desk, her hair neatly pulled back, a few wispy strands framing her lovely face. She’s a vision. Her beauty is so captivating that I have a hard time catching my breath.
I lean over behind her and drop a takeout bag on the desk. “Almost done?”
Winter yelps, jumping slightly in her seat. She turns to me and smacks me on the chest. “Oh, Garett, you scared me! What are you doing here?”
I point to the bag. “Bringing you sustenance.”
“That’s kind of you. Whatcha bring me?” She peers into the bag. “Gabrielli’s! Yum.”
I pull out two containers. “For a girl who loves food, you sure forget to eat a lot.”
She shrugs as she places the books in a pile on the corner of the desk and grabs her backpack. “We should probably find a bigger area to eat at. You’re joining me, right?”
“I was planning to,” I say, putting the containers back in the bag and following her down the long corridor crammed with books in every corner. “Where are we going?”
“An abandoned conference room. I found it during my first year at the university. I have been coming here for the past four years to clear my head and get away from all the other students in the library.”
The room is small, with a large circular desk and eight chairs. “This is a great secret room.”
“Yes, it’s private,” she says, standing so close to me I can feel her breasts brushing up against my body. “It’s just the two of us.”
She walks over to the table, placing the bag on it before she takes off her sweater, revealing a low-cut skimpy tank top that has my mouth watering.
“It’s hot in here.”
“Yes, Winter, it is.”
I search around us for a window I can open because if Winter shows any more skin, I’ll bend her over the table and have my way with her.
“Nothing better than Gabrielli’s,” Winter says, disposing of the paper plates and cutlery in the garbage. “I hate that there’s no composting option here. It’s one of my biggest pet peeves in this place.”
Winter’s caring nature for people and the environment is one of the many reasons I admire her. When she lived at home, she was on my case about how I didn’t recycle properly and chastised me for hours on end. Winter’s pestering is why I now compost everything. Believe it or not, more can be composted than people think.
“Still hoping to save the world?” I ask, packing up the remaining leftovers.
“I love that you don’t waste food. As long as I’ve known you, you’ve never thrown leftovers out.”
As I smile at her, I’m transported back to my childhood, the image of my mother beside me, her plate empty as I ate the modest meal she provided. People might believe that children are oblivious to these moments, but they observe and remember them vividly. I sure did. I knew that my mother, who worked two jobs to make ends meet, often went hungry, so I didn’t, and the gnawing guilt and gratitude sat heavy in my stomach. “When you live through the hunger and destitution I experienced, wasted food becomes a sin. Besides, this is perfectly good, delicious food.”
I look up and catch Winter’s eyes. Her head tilts as she observes me with those warm, dark eyes, and I can’t help feeling like the king of the world.
She laughs nervously as she slides her hands up and down her body. “Well, it’s obvious I didn’t go without.”
I grit my teeth when she puts herself down. Her beauty is so undeniable, so radiant, it’s blinding. I don’t understand how she can’t see it. Maybe she owns a fun-house mirror that distorts her reflection, making her beauty seem outlandishly strange, a warped vision of reality. I’m captivated by every alluring curve of her body, so much so that I have to fight my baser needs to keep my composure before I reveal the untamed beast she awakens within me.
“You’re perfect,” I say before thinking better of it.
“Well, Garett Nichols, I’ll try not to take that the wrong way.”
Unsure what’s come over me, I step, closing the distance between us. “Maybe you should.”
“Be careful, Garett,” she warns as her eyes shut and her breath hitches, a lackluster attempt to pause the situation.
I can tell I affect her, although perhaps not to the same extent that she affects me. Her breathing deepens, and her creamy skin now has a pinkish hue. It wouldn’t take much to taste her lips and have her body come undone under my touch.
Reining in my carnal desires, I snap out of my lust-filled haze and ground myself in reality before I do something I can never come back from. I glance at my watch, stepping back to allow myself to breathe. “We should get out of here before the place closes.”