Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 150968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 150968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
His eyes widen in surprise, and then his grin steals my breath. “Riley!” Grayson jumps off his bed and closes the distance between us in three long strides. His gray sweatpants hang low around his hips, and my throat is suddenly parched. His arm curls around my waist, tugging my body into his.
His lips claim mine in a heated kiss. Oh, wow. God, the butterflies he gives me.
“You missed me already?” I murmur, giggling into his mouth. The moment I’m in Grayson’s arms, I forget all about today’s mess. My father’s threats and the anxiousness that has been eating me up on the inside.
“Fuck,” he groans, his hands going to my ass, “you said you would be out all day with Lila.” Grayson lifts me up, and I wrap my legs around his waist. He carries me to his bed and we fall back onto the mattress, a tangle of limbs. “Yeah, I fucking miss you, Goldilocks.”
Grayson rolls over on his back so that I’m lying on him and practically using his body as a human mattress. My head is tucked against his chest, his heartbeat resonating in my ear. A blanket of calmness settles over me…and I am safe. In his arms.
My throat grows thick with sadness when I remember he won’t be going to Harvard. I don’t know how I’m going to handle a long-distance relationship. I’m barely holding myself together now…what am I going to do when Grayson is not there with me? What will I do when his warmth isn’t surrounding me anymore, keeping me safe and sane?
He has nurtured the emptiness in my heart with his sweet love and tender adoration. Grayson found me when I had been yearning for something more from my hollow life, yearning to be loved… and he filled my longing with his heated kisses and whispered caresses.
“Are you still sure you don’t want to go to prom?” Grayson asks, his fingers brushing over my arm.
“No,” I tell him. We’ve talked about this. There’s no reason for me to go to prom. I hate crowded and loud places. Going there would only trigger my anxiety. Maybe three years ago, Riley Johnson, the Cheer Captain, would have loved to attend prom.
But this Riley?
She wants nothing to do with it.
I lift my head. “Wait, do you want to go?”
Grayson shakes his head. “No, I really don’t care for it. But I want to make sure that’s what you want. If you decide to go, we will, and I’ll make it an unforgettable night for you. You deserve nothing less, Goldilocks. But if you don’t want to go, then that’s fine too.”
I bury my face into the crook of his shoulder, inhaling his scent. “I don’t want to go.”
His palm cups my ass. “Then we won’t go.”
I smile against his skin. Fate can be cruel, but however cruel it is…
It gave me Grayson and I pray it doesn’t take him away from me. “Promise not to break my heart, Grayson,” I whisper.
His throat bobs with a swallow and then I feel his lips brushing against my temple. The softest kiss and my heart stutters. “I will be breaking my own heart if I break yours, Riley. You have me in the palm of your hand.”
My eyes close, and I sink into his warmth. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Goldilocks.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Colton — 18 years old
I move the last of the boxes into the apartment, the door closing behind me with a click.
Well, I guess it’s time to unpack. But, of course, Maddox fucking bails on me during moving day to help Lila instead. Pussy-whipped fucker.
I can hear the clatter of voices next door as I open the fridge and take out an energy drink. Riley and Lila will be living next door to us. We’re neighbors now. Of course Maddox would want to keep Lila close to him…but this means I will be seeing the little wallflower everyday now. I can’t decide if that’s good or bad.
The last time Riley and I spoke with each other was the night of my party, when her boyfriend punched me in the face. Though I don’t blame him, because I would have done the same thing if I were in his place.
The regret set in the next morning, when I was sober, and self-loathing crawled under my flesh. I had been feeding the green monster inside me, with fury and resentment toward everything and everyone. The bitterness in me had really been cruel that night.
But Riley wants absolutely nothing to do with me now. Maddox has warned me to stay away from her, unless I want to face Lila’s wrath. She’s a tad overprotective of her best friend.
Taking a long sip of my drink, I make my way to the black leather couch. New town, new place…four hours and 220 miles away from the hell that I call home.