Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 106806 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106806 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Once we step into Oliver’s loft, I just stand there and stare to make sure he turns the deadbolt.
“Want to get a shower?” he asks, turning to me. “I can get you some food.”
“You don’t have to do that.” My thoughts are spiraling. What if Oliver hadn’t shown up? What would have happened? I thought I loved Chuck once—thought he loved me—but he always scared me a little when he drank too much. Tonight, he scared me a lot.
“Savvy.” Oliver clasps both of my hands between his. They’re warm and rough, and they make me wish he’d wrap me up next to him and hold me close. “You’re shaking.”
I look down at my hands as if they belong to someone else. He’s right. I’m trembling.
“You don’t have to worry about Chuck. I won’t let him bother you again.”
“How?”
He shrugs. “I know things. And I can be pretty mean when I want to be.” He smirks. “Sometimes it’s nice to have an asshole like me on your side.”
“How’d you do it?” I swallow the bile surging up my throat. “Knock him down like that?”
He laughs softly. “If you weren’t so shaken up, I’d be offended by that question.”
I blink at him. “You fight too?”
He shrugs. “More in undergrad. Not so much these days. Gotta keep my face pretty for all these internship interviews.”
Oliver fights too. I’m not sure how I feel about that. When I was with Chuck, I hated it. But with Oliver . . . “Teach me how. I want to know how to do that.”
He sighs. “It’s not as simple as knowing the moves. You have to have the strength too.”
“But I’ve seen it on TV—women my size learning to overpower an attacker. I want to learn.”
He nods. “Sure. And I’m not saying you can’t. I’m saying you need some strength.” He squeezes my shoulders. “You’re not afraid of some weightlifting, are you?”
“I lift weights sometimes.”
He scoffs softly then gives me a gentle smile. “I’m not talking about twenty-rep sets with three-pound dumbbells. I’m talking heavy weights. So heavy you can only lift it a few times. Power. I’ll teach you if you want.”
“I do.” I don’t bother trying to hide how eager I am. I’ve always wanted to be stronger. And now? Now it feels necessary. “Can we start tomorrow?”
“Sure.” He cups my face in one hand and strokes his thumb across my cheek. “You could be so fucking strong. Just wait and see.”
OLIVER
After one session at the gym with Savannah, it’s obvious that training her was a terrible idea. She fucking loves weights, and the way she smiles at me when I show her that she’s already stronger than she thinks? I’m pretty sure I could move mountains.
Add having my hands on her sweaty skin to her infectious joy and I’m screwed. I know I’m screwed.
But I’ll be fucking damned if I’m going to let anyone else do this.
It’s a dangerous thought, but one I can’t let go.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
OLIVER
Ihurry home after my meeting with my advisor on Monday. I shouldn’t be this anxious to see Savvy. Shouldn’t keep running back home any time I think she might be there. Shouldn’t keep reliving the rage I felt when I saw Chuck with his hands on her.
This whole arrangement isn’t supposed to involve all these fucking inconvenient things I feel when she’s around. I love her smile and how nice it is to know she’ll be curled up reading a romance novel if I get home late. I never knew it could be so much fucking fun to talk about your day with someone. Even studying with her is better. She makes these little comments about her classes that always leave me grinning. And the attraction? Fuck yes.
It’s been two weeks since the night she dropped to her knees and unbuttoned my pants. Two weeks, and I still haven’t stopped thinking about it. I knew she was pissed. I knew something was very wrong, but it still took everything in me to stop her. Because fuck. That mouth? Those big eyes looking up at me? It’s an image I’ll never get out of my brain. One I’ve spent every shower since playing out in a much different way.
She’s not mine, and I didn’t pull her into my life to change that. I’m annoyed with myself every step of the way home, but all that annoyance fades the second I walk in the door. She’s standing in my kitchen, chopping lettuce on a big cutting board.
“Whatcha doing?” I ask, tossing my keys on the table by the door. She doesn’t seem to hear me, so I step into the kitchen and brush her arm with the back of my hand. “Savannah?”
She startles and pulls out an earbud. “I didn’t hear you come in.” She tucks the headphones back into the case, and a voice starts coming from her phone.