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)
That one cut deep. Thunder rattled the windows as that shrapnel twisted deeper and deeper, and I chugged a little more whiskey. Then I read through every damn note in the box. With each one, the whiskey convinced me they had all been lies. My heart, though? That bastard wasn’t convinced.
Twenty-Three
Jade
Cassie dropped me off outside the frat house just as lightning streaked the night sky. I sprinted through the rain across the front yard. Apparently, the guys were all out at some bar quiz tonight. Cassie was going to meet them, so I’d thankfully have the house to myself. God knew I needed the time alone to think about what I was going to say to Wolf. I knew what I needed to say, but I wanted to cry for the hope I had already begun to feel, the dream I now needed to snuff out for my own sake. In the absence of hope, all we had was desolation, and it weighed hard on me.
The front door creaked open to the dark entranceway. Squishy’s welcoming screech filled the house before it had even clicked shut. Claws skittered over wood, then he darted around the corner, curled tail wagging. I’d had no idea how much I needed to feel the little dog’s love until that moment.
I dropped to a crouch and petted his wiggly body while he tried to climb into my lap. “Hey, you—”
“Fucking traitor.”
I stilled at the deep rumble of Wolf’s voice that I hadn’t expected to drift from the living room. Tension gripped my body, my pulse ticking up as I peered into the darkness. There was just enough light streaming in past the curtains to make out Wolf on the couch, a half-empty bottle clutched in his hand.
The image of Nora and him sitting together filled my mind again, so close, so intimate, so over me. I didn’t know he’d been with Nora when I let him kiss me an hour later, but I wasn’t sure I’d have stopped him if I had. I wasn’t sure I’d ever stop him because I craved the brush of his lips on mine like a junkie craves a hit. I couldn’t keep doing this with him. For my own sanity, I needed to draw a line.
Steeling myself, I walked into the room and turned on the lamp. Warm light spilled over Wolf’s slumped form, and he squinted. His dark hair looked like he’d been dragging his hands through it all evening, and circles shadowed his eyes. Maybe he felt as emotionally fucked and confused as I did. Maybe I was about to do us both a favor.
“I think we should just be friends,” I blurted.
His gaze lifted to mine before he brought the bottle to his lips and tipped it up on a slosh. “Maybe if we were friends, you would have told me when your dad got sick and lost his job. Couldn’t tell your boyfriend, but sure as shit could to your best friend, Sack-of-Shit Brent.”
That wasn’t the response I had been expecting, and it caught me off guard that he knew.
“Oh, are you upset that your dick of an ex-boyfriend broke your trust and finally told me?”
Since when were Wolf and Brent having casual chats? Had Brent sought him out just to rub salt in the wound? As if he hadn’t done enough damage.
“You were busy. I didn’t want to bother you with my shit.”
And the only reason I’d ever confided in Brent was because I broke down in front of him one day. He had been a good friend to me back then, or so I’d thought.
Wolf snorted into the bottle before taking another swig. “How fucking considerate of you. Don’t tell me jack shit about your family. Don’t give me a reason for wanting a ‘break’ from me. You’re on a fucking roll.”
“I told you why—”
“I don’t want any more bullshit.” His words were slightly slurred. “Why did you really break up with me, Jade?”
There it was. The question he’d never dared ask me. The one I’d managed to dodge by asking for a break. As in, to be discussed at a later date, which never came. I didn’t know how or where to begin. I’d told him I needed to focus on myself for a little while. It wasn’t a lie, what with my dad and helping my parents.
I wondered if Wolf was as scared of the answer to that question as I was of his reaction.
He took another swig of liquor. “Don’t fucking tell me, then. Not like it’s ruined my life or anything.”
That stung. He had no right to say that to me. He had moved on, regardless of Brent fucking with my phone. I guessed the reason I never questioned Wolf changing his number was because my being disposable had been easier to believe than his loving me. And he had proven me right when he jumped right into Nora’s bed only weeks later.