Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 131330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
I couldn’t resist, and the second he touched me, I knew I was never going to be the same. It was a night filled with the kind of intensity a woman could only ever dream of. Nothing could have tainted such perfectness. At least . . . that’s what I thought.
Because the delicious man I let rail me into oblivion isn’t the perfect stranger I thought he was. No, he’s anything but. The man who growled desperate filthy words in my ear and made my skin shiver with desire is a man I’ve known and craved all my life.
My brother’s best friend.
Izaac Banks has been off limits since the beginning of time, going out of his way to make sure I know that he’s unattainable. But despite my brother’s objections, I love him. I always have, and now that I’ve had a taste of the sweetest forbidden fruit . . .
There’s no turning back.
I need more, and there’s only one way to get it—
I’m going to offer him an ultimatum he simply can’t refuse.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
1
ASPEN
If you looked up the definition of pathetic, you’d get a picture of me. Actually, scrap that. You wouldn’t just get a picture, you’d get a flashing alert in big red letters saying, WARNING. LOSER. THIS BITCH AIN’T WORTH YOUR TIME. BACK AWAY WHILE YOU STILL CAN!
Okay, so maybe I’m a little harsh on myself, but how else would you describe a twenty-two-year-old college senior who’s sitting alone in her apartment on a Friday night eating ice cream right from the carton? Did I mention this particular college senior just happens to still be a virgin because she’s too hung up on a guy who doesn’t even know she exists?
Pathetic sums it up pretty damn well. Right?
College was supposed to be my wild years. I was supposed to live it up, sleep around, and make all the horrifying memories that I’ll laugh about in the years to come. But graduation is only a handful of months away, and so far, the most daring thing I’ve done is get drunk at a house party, throw up in a garden of rose bushes, and demand my best friend, Becs, take me home. Did I mention this was all before 8 p.m.?
Surely there’s another word for pathetic. How about pitiful? Deplorable? Hell, miserable seems like a good substitute. No wonder I’m practically invisible to the opposite sex. But to that one specific guy, Izaac Banks, I’ve been especially invisible since I was a kid.
A knock sounds at my door, and I groan, grabbing my comforter and yanking it up over my head. “Go away,” I call through my small studio apartment, knowing exactly who stands on the other side. Though the bigger question is, how the hell did she get through the main entrance downstairs? I sure as hell didn’t buzz her in. I bet it was Nathan on the third floor. He’d let just about any woman into the building if she smiled at him.
“Open the damn door, Aspen,” Becs hollers from the hallway. “There’s no way in hell I’m about to let you spend your Friday night eating a pint of ice cream in your ugly-as-fuck, stained Grinch pajamas.”
My gaze drops down my body, taking in my old pajamas. How the hell did she know? Am I that predictable? But more importantly, how does she know they’re stained? My accidental ice cream spillage only happened twenty minutes ago. You know, after I made my way through the first pint of ice cream. Though, admitting that I’ve made it to the halfway mark of my second pint isn’t going to help my case.
“First off, don’t be an ass about my Grinch pajamas. They’re cute,” I call back. “And second, I’m not your project tonight. Find some other unsuspecting loser to corrupt.”
“I won’t hesitate to kick this door down,” Becs warns. “I’ll need you to loosen the hinges from inside first, but mark my words, Aspen Ryder, I’ll do it.”
Ahh shit.
I groan again, rolling my ass off the couch and trying to balance my feet on the hardwood floor. Carrying my second pint of ice cream with me, I make my way to my front door and reach for the deadbolt. My unruly bun flops to the side of my head as I hold the ice cream spoon in my mouth.
Twisting the key that permanently lives in the back of the door, the last of my cheap security obstacles are out of the way, and I pull the door open, finding Becs looking like every man’s wet dream. Her thick blonde hair is out and free while her makeup is flawless, but her body though . . . shit. She’s outdone herself this time. Becs is undoubtedly gorgeous, but tonight, she looks like a Victoria’s Secret model, gift-wrapped to perfection in the smallest black dress I’ve ever seen. Her thigh-high boots add an extra six inches to her already towering height.
Then before I even get a chance to tell Becs that whatever grand plan she’s worked up for the night isn’t going to happen, I’m blinded by a bright flash coming from the back of her phone.
“Say cheese,” Becs grins, flipping her phone around and glancing at the screen. A booming laugh tears out of her as my brows furrow, having absolutely no idea what the hell is going on. But where Becs is concerned, I can guarantee that I’m not going to like it. “Oooh, that’s a good one.”
She barges past me into my small apartment, and I kick the door closed behind her. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Becs quickly scans my living room, and I can feel the disapproval dripping off her as her lips twist in disgust. Her gaze comes back to mine before she turns her phone and shows me the horrendous image of me plastered across the screen.