Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 56628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Oh, boy, what had I just been dragged into?
Irritation bubbled in my gut as I stared at the single, full-size bed in the center of the bedroom.
Why couldn’t Noah at least have had a queen size bed?
With Tristan’s bulky frame, there was no way we were going to sleep on this bed tonight without touching each other. I knew that Tristan wasn’t going to mind in the slightest, considering for some reason he was trying to stay as close as possible to me—wanted me back as his—but I couldn’t have that. I had to protect myself and my heart from him at all costs, no matter how hard it was going to be.
At that moment, I missed Joey more than I ever had before. I knew what to expect with Joey. We fought, we fucked, and we were good for a few days. It was like a routine.
I fucking craved that toxic cycle.
“Well, this is nice,” Tristan drawled as he sauntered into the bedroom, a smirk tilting his lips. I scowled at him. “Ready to cuddle, Addy? It’ll be just like old times.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me.
My scowl deepened, only causing his smirk to widen.
This was about to be a long night.
“I’m not sleeping on that bed with you,” I snapped, pointing at it. I’d rather fucking sleep outside.
He clenched his jaw, his amusement quickly disappearing. “Oh, yes, you are,” he told me, his voice firm.
I clenched my jaw. I was just about seething, and he didn’t want to see how lethal I was when I finally lost my shit. “No, I’m not,” I snarled.
His eyes lit up with fury, and he stormed over to me in all of his dominating, masculine glory. I stood my ground because fuck him. “Oh, yes, you are.” He gripped my upper arms and yanked me against him. My heart slammed hard against my breastbone at his proximity. I swallowed nervously. I hated not knowing what to expect with Tristan. “Your life is in danger, and I am not letting you out of my arms while we sleep and are at our most vulnerable.” I opened my mouth to protest, but he put his finger over my lips, silencing me as his eyes bored into mine.
“You are the most important person to me, Addy, and I will not risk anything.”
As much as I hated it, my heart melted, my destroyed soul crying out for him to heal us and to put us back together again.
Chapter Four
Adelaide
My eighteenth birthday was when I first met Joey. It was the same night that Tristan decided to destroy my heart. Decided to leave me in pieces. I was at my birthday party that Tristan and Helene had organized at their place, and I was a fucking mess after Tristan had dumped me. I was drinking away my sorrows in a corner, crying into my hands when Joey kneeled in front of me.
He’d seen a broken girl filled with pain, and he’d wanted to help her. He wasn’t even supposed to be there because he was Tristan’s enemy. I had no idea what he’d up his sleeve that night, but instead of doing whatever he’d originally been planning, he took me in.
“Hey, gorgeous, aren’t you the birthday girl?” he asked me.
I looked up at him through my tears, sniffling unladylike. Nodding slowly, I answered him. “Yeah,” I whispered, taking another swig from the bottle of whiskey that I had snatched from the kitchen. His lips twitched, his eyes lighting up in surprise as the liquid burned down my throat, but I never flinched.
“Why are you crying on one of the biggest days of your life?” he asked me, taking a seat beside me on the floor. I flinched, casting my eyes to the floor as I remembered my heart being ripped apart not even an hour ago. “You’re too beautiful to be sitting here crying on your birthday, pretty girl.”
I blushed at his words even though my heart was filled with so much pain, I wasn’t sure if I was capable of feeling anything else. “My boyfriend of three years just broke up with me,” I confessed, more tears sliding down my cheeks. He frowned. “I don’t know what I did wrong,” I pathetically sobbed, everything suddenly spilling from my lips. “We were so happy earlier, and then, all of a sudden, he’s telling me he doesn’t want to be with me anymore and that he’s been miserable for the last year.”
“Well, he’s a fucking asshole,” the guy next to me admitted. I snorted. “Is he still here?” At my nod, he sighed. “Is that why you’re hiding in this corner when you should be enjoying your birthday party?”
I nodded again. He pursed his lips, then stood up, a smirk twisting his lips. My breath hitched in my throat. God, he was hot as fuck. He had ink everywhere, and his dark eyes were filled with trouble that called to my soul. Dirty blonde hair flopped onto his forehead, and I just wanted to run my fingers through the soft-looking strands.