Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 100628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
She didn’t want anything to do with me, and I was trying like hell to respect that even though I thought it was fucking stupid. We’d had sex, and it was mind-blowing, but it hadn’t been worth losing Nova completely. If I could’ve gone back in time and stopped it before it began, I would’ve, which was pretty telling since I’d replayed every encounter in my mind daily.
I made my way through the crowd, saying my hellos and giving people shit and accepting congratulations on my new patch, but the entire time I was searching for Nova. I knew she was there somewhere.
Then I saw her talking to Meg across the yard and the world went quiet.
I don’t know how I didn’t mow someone over as I strode toward her, because I wasn’t paying a damn bit of attention. She was waving Meg off, laughing at something, pretending to trip… but the only thing I could see was her black eye. It was grotesque on her heart-shaped face. It made my stomach churn with nausea.
I’d almost made it to her when she realized I was coming. Her eyes widened a little, making her wince, and then she spun on her heel and hurried away.
“She said she tripped,” Meg called after me in exasperation as I practically chased Nova across the yard.
Bullshit. She hadn’t fucking tripped. Someone had decked her. I’d seen a million black eyes from a million fist fights and Nova was sporting one of those.
She disappeared around the side of the building and I cursed, picking up speed while trying not to run. If she thought she was going to hide from me, she was out of her goddamn mind.
“Nova,” I yelled, following her around the corner. I slid to a stop in the grass when I reached her. She was standing with Micky and Emilia, the former who looked about the same as I felt.
“Who?” I asked, staring at Nova’s poor face.
It was mottled and purple and her cheek was slightly swollen, and now that I could see it up close, I knew that she’d tried to make it look better with makeup but it hadn’t made a damn bit of difference.
“I tripped,” she replied stiffly, her eyes pointed toward my shoulder.
“Bullshit.”
She shrugged.
“At least fuckin’ look at me when you lie,” I snapped.
I had never been more angry in my life. I’d been scared and guilty and a million other emotions, but this blind rage was new. Was this why she kept showing up looking like crap? Was she seeing some guy that was beating on her?
“I had too much to drink.” Her eyes rose to meet mine, and swear to God, I felt something in my chest pull taut. “I tripped on the deck and hit my face.”
“No you didn’t,” I replied, lowering my voice.
Jesus, her face. It hurt just to look at her.
“I did.”
“Who were you drinking with?” I pressed. “Because the last few nights I’ve been with Olive, Meg, and Brody painting the outside of my house.”
“A couple of friends,” she hedged.
“Oh, yeah? Which ones?”
“You don’t know them.”
“That’s pretty fuckin’ weird.”
“They’re from work.”
I took a step closer, and she took a step back, and we were still the same distance apart, but it didn’t feel like it.
“Sugar.” I looked at her face. The hollows in her cheeks that hadn’t been there before. The dark circles under her eyes. The massive shiner. She barely looked like the girl I’d loved for most of my life. “Who hit you?”
“No one,” she snapped defensively, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Someone did.”
“No one hit me,” she repeated, backing up again as I moved forward.
She bumped into the side of the building and winced, and it took everything inside me not to completely lose it. She was hurt in more places than just her face and suddenly fear seemed to overshadow the rage that was flowing through my veins.
“Nova,” I said, getting even closer. “Sugar, just tell me who did it, okay?”
“No one did it. I told you, I tripped,” she replied, her voice almost desperate as she looked toward the front of the clubhouse, hoping for someone to interrupt us.
“No,” I murmured, clenching my teeth as she flinched again. Oh, fuck. Where was Nova? My Nova? The one who didn’t take shit from anyone? Who was this woman who flinched and cowered and lied? “Just tell me who did it,” I said softly. “I’ll take care of it, yeah?”
I forced myself not to reach for her as her eyes filled up with tears. I wanted to hold her so much that my palms were tingling, but she looked so fragile. I’d never considered Nova fragile before. She was tall and strong and took no shit.
“Just leave me alone, Rumi,” she whispered, raising her hands in supplication. “Just go, okay?”