Total pages in book: 15
Estimated words: 14190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 71(@200wpm)___ 57(@250wpm)___ 47(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 14190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 71(@200wpm)___ 57(@250wpm)___ 47(@300wpm)
My own orgasm crashes into me, making my head spin. This is so much better than all the fantasies I’ve had to live with for years. I don’t draw out from her, but we collapse on the bed, and I tuck her on my side.
“T-that was…” Allie trails off and snuggles closer.
“Yeah.”
It doesn’t take long before she dozes off. I try to do the same, but I can’t sleep. I spend the next two hours staring at the intricately carved ceiling. My mind races, and I can’t seem to silence the thoughts rampaging in my mind—some good, some bad. My arm, which Allie uses as a pillow, starts getting that pins-and-needles feeling. I can feel it falling asleep under her weight, electric pulses on my fingers.
I don’t want to interrupt her sleep, so I shift slightly and adjust my position, gently sliding my arm from beneath her. She stirs but settles quickly, her head now resting on the pillow.
To be fair to the house owner, it’s not as dirty as I imagined it would be. Maybe the maintenance staff came by recently. Even the sheets don’t feel itchy, and I no longer get the urge to sneeze.
Blood rushes back into my arm, and I wiggle my fingers.
I stand up slowly, careful not to disturb her, and slip out onto the terrace, finding a folded quilt on a chair and wrapping it around my waist. Bless you, whoever left it there.
Stepping into the cool night air and leaning against the balustrade, I look out over the estate.
I’ve always liked this place.
Even as a teen, it was my dream to someday own something like it. The upkeep must be expensive, which is probably why the homeowner limits maintenance to a few times per year.
He probably regretted cheating on Lucille. I was told he groveled for years, even when she already married Allie’s grandfather. Eventually, the guy gave up and left this place.
Barring his cheating, which is inexcusable by the way, it’s always sad when love is one-sided. I can relate to that part. I mean, I’ve loved Allie for years. Watching her laugh at another guy’s jokes or witnessing someone else try to get close to her felt like small deaths, like a hot poker twisting in my gut. I don’t know how we’ll be in the morning, but for now, I want to savor the happiness.
At one point, I thought of sleeping with her and flushing her out of my system. The joke’s on me. After what happened and with the way she writhed and screamed, how can I ever go back to being her best friend? How can I look at her and not think of the way her lips mold to mine? How can I sit beside her and not want to touch her and take her again?
This was stupid. Why did I agree in the first place? Now I’m assaulted by my visions of a future with her. A future where she’s mine. Completely, irrevocably mine.
Maybe I’ll even buy this godforsaken estate.
I’m so lost in my thoughts that I barely register her presence until she slides her arms around me and intertwines her fingers over my stomach. She leans her cheek on my back, and I stiffen, unsure of where we currently stand and terrified to break this fragile state we’re in.
“Come back to bed, Tris.”
“Bun…”
“You don’t want to?”
Jesus. What kind of a question is that? “God knows how long I’ve wanted to.”
That’s the closest thing to a confession I’ve ever said, and her arms tighten around me. She understands quickly, and thank God for that because I’m way too wound up to explain. “How long, Tris?”
“Probably since you came to school wearing that god-awful Black Sabbath T-shirt even though you didn’t like their songs. All because you knew I loved the band. Or maybe when you hugged me in front of the whole school. Me, the loser no one wants to hang out with. Or maybe when you fell asleep holding my hand.”
It takes her a few beats before she replies, “So why won’t you come back to bed?”
With a sigh, I scrub a hand across my face. “Because if we continue doing this, it will reset my brain. It will rearrange everything I know is true. It will convince me that you’re mine, and there’s no way I will let you leave my bed for another man.”
She walks in front of me, gripping my arms with her small hands. Our clothes are still wet, but she’s bundled in a thin bedsheet. The crisp night air didn’t bother me earlier, but I see goosebumps peppering her skin, so I open my quilt and wrap it around both of us.
I refuse to look at her eyes because if I see even an ounce of pity, it will end me. Instead, I focus on her slender shoulder. But I’ve forgotten how stubborn Allie can be. She grabs my face and pulls it down, so now I don’t have any choice but to stare at her flushed just-fucked face.