Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 108988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Fuck him.
Keeping my head down, I wouldn’t make eye contact, and I went to the door.
“He didn’t ghost you, Blake.”
My chest seized. I stopped as I’d been about to reach for the door. “What?”
“The last guy you tried dating.”
A bitter laugh slipped from me because really? “What? Was he another one looking to hurt me? Gangbang with his buddies to get back at you? Because how many times can those sorts of things happen to the same girl before it starts to look like you’re searching for an excuse to kill them? You say I can date, but that’s not the truth. You don’t want me to be with anyone else. You won’t let yourself be with me tonight. I’m tired of this back-and-forth, Creighton. I’m tired of it. Let me go or . . .” There was no point in finishing that because he wouldn’t. I whispered, feeling something in me breaking off, falling into a void, “You won’t let me go.”
“No.” He snarled, advancing on me.
I held up a hand, more out of instinct, and I half turned away.
He braked, drawing up short, but his words were harsh. He bit out, “I won’t let you go. Not anymore. That ship sailed. You want me, so now I’m yours and you’re mine.”
“Just not tonight.” I lifted my gaze and winced.
He was staring at me, hard. His jaw clenched. “No, not when there’s a risk your mind is altered. But make no mistake, Blake. I wouldn’t let some guy take you out on a date after railing three different girls that day. I didn’t let it happen back then, and there’s no way I’ll let it happen now. The guy you were supposed to go on a date with wasn’t planning on hurting you because of me, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t have hurt you in other ways. He was just a typical sleazeball that wasn’t good enough for you. That’s where he messed up because you’re not the fourth girl he’s going to fuck in a day. Not you.”
His words seared me. That’s what happened? I choked out, “Are you serious?”
“You don’t have the best taste in men.” He gestured to himself. “Are you that surprised?”
I blinked some tears away, not understanding why they were there. His words sank in. “He was careless, and you hanged him for that?”
“He wasn’t disclosing his sexually transmitted diseases to his partners. But I’ll be very clear here.” He stepped aside and I could see him from the light again. There was nothing on his face. His same dead eyes. He was a statue, a pretty, empty, and murderous statue. “If his diseased dick had gotten anywhere near you, I would’ve hanged everyone he loved.”
A rattling began inside of me, but I couldn’t face whatever this was.
I fled.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Blake
I got as far as the main floor, which was where Palma found me, launching herself at me. Her face was bright. Her eyes were glazed. Her hair was sweaty. She was having a glorious time. I looked for Levi but didn’t see him. She wound her arms around my neck, squeezing me tight to her. “Hi. Where’d you go? How are you? Holy Shit! Who was the Hottie you Were Grinding With?” The smell of alcohol blanketed me from her breath, and I cringed, more from the question than from her screaming in my ear.
Before I could respond, Marshall came over and tapped me on the shoulder. Heath was behind him, his arm thrown around the shoulders of another guy. His brother was also there frowning at Heath.
Marshall was saying, “We’re going to head out. Some of us were thinking about getting food—”
Palma lurched forward. “Yes! I’m hungrrryyyyy. Can we get food and then go to bedddd?” She hiccupped before laughing. “Oops. Sorry.”
Marshall frowned at me. “What do you want to do?”
Well, right now I wanted to breathe. Palma was squeezing the life out of me, but I croaked, “Home. Bed please.”
“Gotcha.”
The music suddenly went up a whole decibel, and a wave of people swarmed past us, so Marshall leaned closer, yelling in my ear, “There’s a diner a block over. We could get food there and take it back to the house.”
I moved my head up and down to save my energy. That sounded like a good plan.
I looked around but didn’t see the girl he’d been flirting with earlier. “Where’s your friend?”
He gave me a weird look. “Who?”
I gestured to where he’d been standing at the bar. “The girl you were talking to before. You seemed into her.”
“Oh!” He shrugged, ducking his head a little. “She took off with her friends. I think she had her eye on someone else.” He gave me another assessing look. “You good? You look sober-ish.”
I gave him a thumbs-up.
Some relief fleeted across his face. Alerting Palma on the arm, he knelt down and patted his back. He didn’t say anything, but she knew what to do. With a squeal, she climbed on, and now she was the koala bear in the situation.