Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 125852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
To be honest, after I sat back and forced myself to truly hear what she was saying when she told me she wasn’t ready to talk, I understood. I was thankful she wasn’t pushing me away completely. Staying away wasn’t so bad; doing so didn’t change much.
She and I had conflicting schedules from the day we started hooking up as it was—early mornings, late nights, and an occasional Sunday.
Of course, I did weasel my way into her class this semester so I could be close to her. That was sort of a dick move, but I just wanted to spend time with her like a normal guy instead of as someone she wished she never met.
Guess you didn’t really give her much of that space after all, did you?
Shaking my head, I look to my watch and start pacing some more.
When she first put on her little show at that party, kissing Brady like that, I was pissed off—until I thought about it. Shockingly, I found myself relieved. Happy even.
She was “dating” one of the guys she had introduced to me in conversation as one of her “band of overprotective brothers”?
Perfect.
Great.
It was proof she still had feelings for me, and she was afraid of that fact—self-preservation at its finest.
So the girl whose forgiveness I was seeking had a guy who was overly protective of her pretending to be her boyfriend, in turn keeping the rest of the males of the species away from her while she learned how to forgive me? Couldn’t have planned it more perfectly myself.
Only now, he’s not just keeping her away from the other guys here who would love a chance with her.
He’s keeping her from me.
Every time I want to go to her, he’s there. Every time I’m with her, he shows up, and I don’t necessarily think he’s doing it on purpose. I think he just…wants to be near her.
He even calls when we’re studying sometimes, and every now and again, I peek at her phone when she’s texting in the middle of class. Often, it’s his name I see at the top of the screen.
She smiles when she does this, but what kills me is the guilty look in her eye when she remembers I’m sitting beside her.
She has no reason to feel that, especially not where I’m concerned. We’re not together. She has made me no promises—quite the opposite in fact.
So then, why does she? Where did this go wrong? What did I miss?
When did this thing between them go from fake to real because that’s what’s happened, isn’t it?
The crazy part is I like the guy. He’s been a huge help the last few weeks. He doesn’t hold what I did to his friend over my head like he could, which says a lot about his character. It’s kind of annoying, actually, how he seems to be a good guy under the wild-and-reckless-playboy persona he initially gives off. Unfortunately, I’m convinced that was what it was: a persona and one that does not fit the guy I see now that he’s with her.
Maybe I’m overthinking everything. They’ve known each other most of their lives, so maybe all the calls and texts and routine hangouts are normal for their friendship and I just never realized because she and I didn’t really get off the ground on the relationship side of things?
Yeah, that could be it.
I think of Allana and the years of friendship we had. We were together all the time; even on holidays, I would walk over to her house and spend the day there. We were best friends for years before love took its place. Is that what’s happening?
Is he falling in love with her?
My muscles lock up.
He’s falling in love with her.
A humorless laugh leaves me, my hands sliding into my hair and pulling. “Of course he is,” I mumble. How could he not?
The doors are thrown open and I jerk away to not get nailed by them.
Mason, Chase, and Brady halt when they first spot me, then start walking again.
“What’s up, Howl?” Mason says.
His animosity toward me—all warranted—is as good as gone. He’s nothing but a good teammate toward me now, and that makes the shame about how I treated him when I first got here eat at me even more.
I really fucked things up for myself here at Avix U.
I offer Mason a tight smile, but my eyes slide to the largest of the three.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?”
Brady’s eye twitches, but he cools his expression quickly. He passes his bag to Chase and nods for them to go ahead of him.
We watch them as they walk over to Mason’s Tahoe, tossing the bags inside.
When I face him again, he’s looking at me. He says nothing, likely aware of why I’m standing here and not about to make it easy on me.