Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 313(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 313(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
“Argh!” I spin on my heel and march out the door.
I slam it so brutally behind me that the house must be absorbing the impact from the inside. Good. Let them hear it. Let them see how upset I am. But no, they don’t understand. That look they had says they know I’ll get over it, that I’ll be the one trying to apologize to them, and that everything will turn out okay. That look says they’re innocent because all their plotting and scheming and horrible behavior is going to all be fine.
Well, no, it’s fucking not.
It’s not.
Nothing is going to be fine, and I’m not going back to Luke’s. Ever. I’m never talking to him again.
I let out a frustrated cry of rage and hurl Luke’s car keys, which are still wrapped so tightly in my fist that I have indents in my palms and fingers from the metal’s sharp ridges, straight at his car. They bounce harmlessly off the driver’s side and land on the pristine concrete of my parents’ driveway.
Fuck! I can’t even do that right. It would have been much more satisfying if the keys had broken the glass or made a mark. My dad would have paid Luke back for it, of course.
Not that Luke couldn’t afford it. He is going to be able to afford to make multiple car factories all over the world if he wanted to once his company merges with my dad. That’s reason enough for Luke to basically seduce me.
So what if I know he didn’t? I know he didn’t seduce me. I know that, but I don’t want to know it right now. Right now, I just want to be pissed.
I look up as I hear the roar of a car’s engine speeding down the block. Apparently, staying pissed just got a whole heck of a lot easier because the engine’s roar belongs to Luke. He pulls into my parent’s driveway and parks right behind his car. If he thinks it blocks me in, that’s a big mistake. My parent’s driveway is a semi-circle with two exits.
Luke tumbles out of the car. He looks absolutely wild, and I hope he didn’t drive like that, a danger on the road to himself and everyone else.
“Feeney,” he pants. “Please…” He tries to edge closer, but I back up just as many steps as he takes. He finally plants his feet and looks pleadingly at me.
“Where the heck is Shade?” The back windows of the sedan are tinted, so I can’t see if there’s a car seat back there. “You woke him up and dragged him out with you?”
“No.”
“You left him at home by himself?!”
“No! Jesus. He’s only four years old. I called my dad, and he came over, but he wasn’t surprised, as usual, that I managed to fuck things up, and he let me know it. I’ve received two tongue lashings tonight.”
“Good. I’m glad. You deserve them both.”
Luke grimaces, but I pretend not to notice. I don’t like the twinge it creates in my chest. Why? Why, after all this, do I still have to be nice enough to care that I’m hurting him? I’m not hurting him. Luke is a robot, and none of that was real. He colluded with my parents. He tricked me. He lied to me. He used me, and he slept with me, in which time he did give me the best orgasms of my life, wasn’t at all selfish, and held me like I was going to break and as if I could somehow stop him from drowning in the roughest seas, but that’s beside the point.
“You know what? I’m glad you’re here.”
I can see my parents creeping out the front door over Luke’s very broad, very masculine, and very wonderful shoulder. A shoulder I’ve kissed, tasted, bit, and licked. I know the exact taste and texture of his skin, which might sound slightly cannibalistic, or it might even sound romantic and sad, but it’s not. It’s not anything because I’m done thinking about Luke. After tonight, I will never think about him again.
Luke brightens just a little, but I quickly dash his hopes.
“I’m glad you’re here because then I can tell you all at once that you’re crazy. Life isn’t a chess game, and I’m not a pawn. I’d like to tell you all now to go to hell, and please leave me alone. Luke, you can do that forever. Mom and Dad, I’m going to find somewhere to go for a while and get settled, and then I’ll call, only because I know you’ll be worried sick and probably call the police or hire a PI or something. Just save everyone the trouble and don’t make things any worse. I promise I’ll be fine for a week. Just please, all of you. Leave me alone.”