Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 111676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
He spun around, closing the space between us so fast, I couldn’t take a step back. “Bullshit. You didn’t give us a chance.” The anger on his face shifted into something softer, something fractured that had my heart letting out a painful beat. “I fucking loved you, Jade.”
For a moment, I was right back there, heartbroken and mourning something I knew I would never find again. I fought tears, unable to meet his gaze. Damn him for saying that, like he’d loved me and I’d just walked away without a second thought. It was never supposed to be permanent! I’d needed space. I’d needed to feel like I was important to him. And what had he done? Forgotten about me and moved on to Nora.
“I loved you, too,” I said, my voice cracking to a whisper.
God, had I loved him, in the way that only a first love could—desperate and all-encompassing, as though I couldn’t live without him. But life wasn’t a romance book, and love did not conquer all. “More than you know.” I finally met his blue gaze, a mixture of anger and longing. The same longing I couldn’t seem to kill, certainly not with those words lingering in the air between us.
“Fuck it.” In the space of a heartbeat, he closed the space between us. His palm met the back of my neck, rough and warm, secure…
“Wolf—”
My brain moved through sludge as his warm lips met mine. Just like that, I felt like I was home. Wolf kissed me as though he’d waited every single second of our time apart to do it again. And I kissed him back because being with him was instinctual, unavoidable, like breathing oxygen. It didn’t require anything so trivial as a conscious decision. He just…was. We just were.
When my lips parted, he held me tighter, taking everything I had to give as though he was laying claim to lost lands. I enjoyed the feeling of being claimed by him, possessed, far too much. I couldn’t stop the moan that slipped from my mouth to his when he fisted my hair. The frantic thrum of my heart begged for more with every beat.
A niggling voice in the back of my mind reminded me that I should not be kissing him. I should not be enjoying it. I told myself it was one kiss, a little closure, and then I’d never allow myself to be put in this situation with him again.
Just as quickly as he’d started it, he pulled away, his hold on my neck firm as his glassy gaze met mine. One look in his eyes was all the reminder I needed that he was drunk.
“I…” I didn’t know what to say.
Then his focus slowly shifted over my head. When a deep frown set on his face, I glanced behind me. Brent stood a few feet away, in the entrance of the parking lot, his right eye swollen and bruised. Confusion chased away any lingering tingles left from Wolf. Why would Brent be here? I glanced across the street at the sign to his cousin’s shop. Was he stalking me now? How long had he been there? That thought had a sickening feeling settling in my gut.
What if that was why Wolf had kissed me…because of Brent? They were in a pissing match, and I’d stood there like a damned lamppost. Humiliation and hurt washed through me—as I was sure Wolf had hoped it would. I tore away from Wolf’s hold and stalked straight past him to my Jeep.
“Get in the car,” I said, my cheeks hot when I settled behind the wheel. The fissure of hurt ripping across my chest was proof of how vulnerable I was when it came to Wolf and a painful reminder that I needed to save myself from my own weakness where he was concerned.
Wolf got into the passenger seat and closed the door.
I started the engine. “The next time you want a pissing match with Brent, leave me out of it.” Then I pulled out of the parking lot, swerving around Brent.
I needed to get one of those penguins and prove what they were doing. Then I’d have all the leverage needed to save myself, hopefully, before it was too late.
Thirteen
Wolf
Evidently, alcohol mixed with anger and lust was a Molotov cocktail. One I’d lit on fire and watched explode, much to my surprise, right in front of her ex-boyfriend—which had evidently pissed her off. Because as soon as we’d gotten back to the frat house, she’d gone to my room and slammed the door.
Three days later, and the only exchange we’d had was an awkward “Hi” earlier when Jade came out the front door dressed for work right as I came back from class. At the very least, I had my room to myself for the next few hours. My room that now smelled of Jade.