Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 65683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 328(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 219(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 328(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 219(@300wpm)
I smacked him on his chest.
“So violent.”
“Were you looking for comfort instead?”
“What kind of comfort are you thinking?”
I leaned down and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“Fuck me,” he groaned.
“Is that a question?”
“Is that an answer?”
We were at a complete standstill. Our gazes were locked in that weird way when you didn’t know who should make a move first but knew something had to happen.
“What happened at your parents’?”
“Life happened.” He sighed.
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one I have.” He laughed. I forgot how much I loved it when he truly laughed. When he was himself and wasn’t putting on a front or trying to please his parents, investors, or coaches.
Me.
“They don’t want what I want.”
I sighed, knowing it was probably worse than he would ever let on. “And what do you want?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters because it’s important to you. Stop measuring yourself against everything else. It’s your life, and it always has been. Regardless of what they try to tell you.”
He went completely still.
“Can I ask for a favor?”
I gulped and tried to normalize my heartbeat and breathing. “Maybe?”
“Can I sleep in here with you?”
His voice was so broken that I knew I couldn’t say no, even if I wanted to. Yet the truth was, I didn’t want to.
“Just sleep?”
He nodded.
“Fine, but stay on your side of the bed.”
“Or…” He grabbed me so fast that I didn’t see it coming. In one swift movement, he pulled me to lay on top of him with my head on his firm chest.
My heart began to pound.
However, his stayed calm.
Steady.
Luring me in with each beat.
Neither one of us said anything for what felt like forever. The next thing I knew, it was morning, and the sun beamed through my curtains. Except I wasn’t lying in Vaughan’s arms anymore.
Instead, I was alone.
Which simply reminded me of all the times he needed me, and I was there. Only to wake up by myself. He was already gone.
Using me once again.
Vaughan
I didn’t know what possessed me to walk into her room last night and beg to stay with her, but I couldn’t be upset. Waking up to Tru was always one of my favorite things about us.
I barely slept, too consumed by the woman who let me back in her bed after all these years. Even after all this time, her scent still had the power to assault every last one of my senses.
The feel of her.
Her warmth.
Her touch.
The way her lips would pucker in deep slumber.
I watched her until sleep won out, and before I could think about what I just did, I carefully moved her and quietly left. I was never good with mornings. Probably because I never let anyone spend the night.
Just her.
And still, I couldn’t bring myself to break out of bad habits. It was in my nature. It was how I operated. It made things easier for me.
For us.
Or at least that was what I told myself time and time again.
I hated that I was proving her right, but I didn’t know how to prove myself wrong. The feelings I thought were long gone came back with a vengeance.
I hated her for that too.
The last thing I needed was another distraction in my already chaotic life. We would always be enemies—too much hurt, too much betrayal was between us, like a chasm that would always exist—but at that moment, I could at least pull her closer to me. Because sometimes being physically close to someone was enough.
While football was one thing that helped me get my aggression out—she was warm. The ice was cold. But the person lying next to me, the one who left me, was warm, and there was literally no replacement for the feeling of someone touching you, feeling you, knowing you inside and out, inhaling, exhaling with you, being so comfortable despite your differences that they just exist by your side.
Fuck, just having her by my side.
See, this was why having her as a roommate was a bad idea. It reminded me of way too much, and it made me want.
Shit.
I needed to focus on all the reasons it would end in an explosion of even more chaos between us. Neither of us would survive, and I needed to focus on my studies and football, not on legs wrapped around me or a girl who knew me too well and saw through the cracks beneath the surface with ease.
It wasn’t easy to leave her there.
To walk away.
But I did…
And further hated myself for it the entire time.
CHAPTER 13
TRU
Whatever, he wasn’t going to get an A. Organic chem was hard, and his practice and game schedule was even harder.
I checked my phone and snorted. The guy was already five minutes late to his own tutoring session. Clearly, he wasn’t starting off on the right foot.
I huffed out a breath and checked my phone again when a chair pulled out next to me, and he collapsed into it. He smelled like spicy body wash, and his hair was still wet from his shower. “Sorry.” He ran his fingers through the sloppy locks, somehow making him look sexier. “Practice ran late, and I figured sitting next to you all sweaty might not be the best look for our tutoring session.”