Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91299 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91299 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
“You don’t want to leave. I know you don’t.”
“You don’t know anything,” I say, my hands tight on my purse. He has no right to ask me to talk to him.
“I know you’ve got walls so thick no one can penetrate them.”
“Yeah, well, so do you, but Charisma Rossi doesn’t need walls. Charisma Rossi is tough as nails.”
“She’s also talking about herself in the third person.” He lets out a small laugh. “Damn, you’re funny.”
His laugh…it makes me sad, reminding me that I won’t be hearing it anymore. “See you around, Blaze.”
I turn my back, and each step feels as if I’m wading through thick mud. I can’t look back. I can’t…
“Charisma.”
His voice is soft, yet it carries to me. “What?” I say, though I keep walking.
“I’m not fucking her.”
The air goes out of me, and I feel lightheaded as I whip back around.
I don’t have to ask who he means.
“I haven’t been with anyone. Not one single girl.”
“So?” My voice is raspy. “Why do I care?”
He studies me, those crystal eyes glittering at every detail of my person. He works his way over my face, lingering for a long time on my lips.
“Maybe I’m wrong, maybe you don’t give a shit, but at least now you know.”
“Why tell me now?”
His eyes hold mine. “I don’t know. What do we have to lose?”
Only the rest of me.
Doesn’t he know I would have kept on with him for as long as he wanted? The worst thing of all is that even after he ended us, I might have taken him back if he’d tried.
How awful is that? To know a guy has power over you, to know he can tear down your defenses so much that you’d take any scrap you could get?
I wanted to be his.
“I’m not your type, remember?”
He never moves his gaze from me. “You were fire in my hands.”
My heart clenches. “Don’t say things like that. You don’t mean them!”
He inhales sharply at my raised voice, and I study his expression, seeing a hesitant look in his eyes as he watches me, as if he’s unsure, as if he wants to say more, but something holds him back—
And doesn’t that remind me.
Something will always hold a guy like him back from me. He’s out of my league. He’s got a big future in front of him, one that includes the NFL and supermodels. It may not be Dani today, but it’ll be another girl soon. Guys like him don’t go around without women all over them.
A horn blares in the distance and I flinch.
“I have to go,” I say quietly, reining in my emotion. He’s part of my past and that means moving on.
“Yeah.” He jams his hands deeper into the pockets of his jeans.
My hands clench around my purse, and I pivot to head into the store. I think I can feel the heat of his stare. My body trembles, pissing me off, and I pick up my pace.
Don’t. Do not look back.
Because if I do, if I let myself talk to him, if I let him back into my world, all the ground I’ve gained over the past three months will crumble beneath my feet.
Remember how he shoved you out of his life without even an explanation?
Keep walking. One step in front of the other.
I have to. I have to. I have to.
9
First day of class, I arrive at Dr. Cartwright’s lecture hall early to get the best seat, which is center and front.
I’m working on setting up my workspace when I hear loud laughter from outside. The doors burst open, and in walk Dillon and Blaze, two peacocks entering a new courtyard. You can almost hear “We Are The Champions” blaring in the background as their theme music. Puffed up and preening, they walk down the center stairs of the lecture hall toward the front row. Everyone in the room goes silent, and I gape as some of the students sitting around me on the front row get up to make room for them.
FTS. I’m not moving.
I’ve been in classes with football guys, and they always do this. They should just walk up and piss on the chalkboard to mark their territory already.
Blaze walks forward, getting perilously close to where I am, and looks for a seat.
“Hey, Blaze. You can sit here,” says the pretty girl who was sitting next to me.
“Thanks. You’re the best. Coach loves for us to be at the front.”
“No biggie.” She pats his shoulder as she walks by, her eyes all over him. “Great game, by the way.”
“Go Wildcats.” He gives her that deadly grin and her face flames when she blushes, her eyes glazing over.
Ugh. He’s a sparkly, sexy unicorn. And everyone wants to ride him.
I put my hand up to block my face but it’s too late; he’s staring directly at me. His brow goes sky high and he plops down in the seat she vacated as Dillon takes the one on the other side. “You keep turning up wherever I go. You stalking me?”