Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 162138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 540(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 540(@300wpm)
Every girl at this party was vying for his attention, so soon enough, one of them would catch it, and he’d walk away. My heart sank into my stomach at the thought. This is what you get when you let someone in. You knew this would happen. You freaking knew it, and you allowed it anyway. God, I wanted to go home but needed to stay until Marissa was ready. I wouldn’t leave without her, and I refused to rush her at her own birthday party. I did need to find her to make sure she was still okay, though, and for that to happen, I’d have to open the door and face whatever awaited outside. I slapped my forehead once lightly and twice more when I thought again about how everyone at the party was talking about this. Most of them probably didn’t even know who I was. But Lachlan Duke, praised hockey star, the hottest guy on the team, and quite possibly at our university? He’d undoubtedly be the subject of their gossip chain, and I would be as well. Fuck Lachlan for this. Fuck Mason. Fuck the hockey team and any man who thinks they can claim a woman for the hell of it. And you know what, double-fuck Lachlan for making me feel things. I used the bathroom and washed my hands before opening the door.
Lachlan was taking up the door frame with his imposing figure, with his stupid beautiful eyes, and his stupid disheveled hair, and his stupid strong jaw, and his stupid plump lips, and his stupid amazing body. He was looking at me like he was about to apologize again. Even though I didn’t want to hear it, I refused to have him follow me around, acting like a dissonant shadow.
“Seeing you with him felt like a punch in the gut,” he said when he finally spoke. “When you walked by me earlier, I wanted to carry you over my shoulder and keep you to myself. It wasn’t until Marissa made that comment that I noticed Mandy was there. I’m not kidding about that, Lyla. . .”
I put a hand up to stop him. “Is admitting that this is the norm for you at parties supposed to make me okay with it? And if you really wanted to ‘carry me over your shoulder,’ you would have gotten off that couch and gone after me much sooner.”
“I did.” He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “I fucking did. As soon as you walked away and disappeared into the crowd, I stood up and looked for you everywhere. When I finally found you, you were playing beer pong. I watched you the entire time from the kitchen window like a fucking stalker because I didn’t want to miss a second of it.”
He sighed and continued. “I turned around for a minute. One fucking minute and suddenly you were gone; when I located you again, you were with my fucking teammate.” He let out an unamused chuckle, looking up at the ceiling as he ran his fingers through his hair again, tugging it. He set his gaze on mine again. “This has never happened to me before. I don’t know what the fuck to do. I don’t even know how you feel. I just know I never want to feel the way I did when I saw him with you again.”
“I...” My eyes darted to his black t-shirt. Was I really going to share my feelings? Oh my God, I was. This was worse than I thought. I waited until my heart settled down before looking him in the eyes again. “Seeing her all over you like that was a nightmare. I hated it. I hated it so fucking much, and I hated that I hated it.”
The breath he let out was heavy and relieved. He searched my eyes for a long time. He had to be the most confusing playboy in the history of the universe. I’d expected him to kiss me or walk me back into the bathroom to fuck me. I would have let him. Instead, he cradled my head to his chest and hugged me. Lachlan Duke, who had a revolving door of women, hugged me. I should have been offended that he didn’t make a move, but then he kissed the top of my head as he held me, and the only thing I could think about was how fast his heart was beating, how warm his skin felt against my naked back, and how good he smelled.
“God, Lyla James,” he breathed against my head. “What the fuck am I going to do with you?”
“What do you want to do with me?” I asked, my face squished against his chest. His body went rigid. His arms held me a little tighter. I put my hands on his chest and slightly pulled back to look up at him. “That’s not a trick question, you know.”