Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 89074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
“How about your search for a no-strings hookup? Any prospects?”
“I never should have mentioned that to you,” I tell her, and she laughs. “I’ve found a person for that. But it’s… problematic.”
“The problematic ones are the hottest ones.”
“Always.”
“Is he cute?”
I glance up at her. “How’d you know it was a guy?”
She has a guilty look on her face. “I caught a vibe. And… I may have also seen one particular guy staring right at you the other night, the entire time we were in Colossus.”
“Fuck.”
“Hunter, when were you going to mention you were hooking up with Rayne Colson?” Briar asks. “Do you have any idea how many people at Crimson wish they were you right now?”
“We aren’t exactly open about it, so keep it quiet for me, okay?”
She waves a hand through the air. “No shit. I keep to myself most of the time anyway. Your brother doesn’t know?”
“Weston doesn’t have a fucking clue. He already hates me. He’d literally never speak to me again if he knew I was hooking up with Rayne.”
“He’s going to find out eventually.”
“I’m surprised some snitch hasn’t told him already,” I tell her, raking my hand through my hair. “Rayne walked up and kissed me in the middle of the Stone and Flame party. I just don’t think anybody close to Weston happened to see it.”
“I’m sure your brother doesn’t hate you,” Briar says. “Maybe you need to be the one to bridge the gap first. You were off in London for two years. Maybe he missed you.”
I puff out a bitter laugh. “Trust me, he didn’t miss me.”
Her eyes seem sad suddenly. “My brother was the only friend I had for a long time. Our parents shipped us across the planet to go to school here in the States when we were 11. Him first, then me a few years later. Kai was the only family I had on this side of the globe.”
“Where is your brother now?”
“He graduated a couple of years ago. Has a penthouse in the city. Kai Zhang is New York’s hottest young Wall Street broker, now. And I really fucking miss when neither of us were so busy all the time.”
I nod. “Sounds like you and Kai were a lot closer than me and Wes have ever been.”
She frowns as she looks at the swords along the wall. “We just have to make the time we spend together count, these days.”
Briar and I break off into separate locker rooms to shower off.
As the hot spray of the shower hits my skin, I’m lost in thought.
Briar doesn’t realize that there’s no way for me to make my time with Wes count when he’s hated me forever, though.
If only she knew how different my childhood was.
How my father ruined any chance of Weston ever trusting me.
How isolating it was to have a brother who wouldn’t even look my way.
We should have been close like that, too.
But you had Rayne for that, didn’t you?
I’ve only been away from Rayne for less than an hour, but leaving him alone these days is starting to feel like a bad move.
What if he has another dart in his neck?
What if he’s currently being chased down by someone who’s even worse than me?
If I’m not around to watch him, he’s going to do something that gets him in trouble. Like going for one of his goddamn runs alone. Like ending up isolated in a place where he shouldn’t.
I need Rayne near me.
All the time.
I want to hurt him, of course. I know he craves it. I want to put him in his place and watch the look in his eyes when I show him how I like to treat a king.
But I don’t want any other soul on Earth to ever touch him. That’s my job.
And mine only.
And fuck, now I’m doing it again.
Tunneling.
Going to a dark place because that’s the only place my mind is at home.
And Rayne’s worked his way into being the biggest piece of my mind, every hour of every goddamn day.
Clawed his way in.
Dug his way in, with his pretty brown eyes and a tongue he can’t fucking keep out of my mouth.
I need to stay in control. Fencing had worked to clear my head, but now I want something stronger. I scrub my skin clean, put on fresh clothes, and head out into the gym where Briar’s waiting on a bench.
“I need whiskey,” I tell Briar.
Her eyes light up. “Easy. Come back with me to Luros. We have way too much alcohol in the house and we’re going to need to get through it somehow.”
“I’m assuming that alcohol is for the party later?”
Briar shrugs. “Well, we can have a party all to ourselves upstairs. Even if it’s just one drink.”
Drinking won’t distract me enough either.
But it’s better than going home.