Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
When did I start caring about such trivial things? I don’t know. She confounds me. She always has, which is why I fucking knew from the day I saw her that I shouldn’t have touched her. I also knew it would be impossible to deny myself that. When Lucas offered his “services” to her last night, the need to claim her consumed me. I should’ve fucked her and put an end to this madness. Instead, I took my time eating her pussy. God, this is madness. I rub my hands hard over my face and snap back to the present.
I need to fuck her soon and find someone else to fuck right after. I don’t normally do that. People paint me out to be a notorious playboy who fucks every chance I get, and maybe when I was younger, I was deserving of that title. Nowadays, I go weeks, sometimes months, without sex. After Josslyn, I know I’ll need a quick palate cleanser to get my shit together.
I look at my phone when it buzzes, and a meaningless text from one of the detectives working on the case pops up. Every so often, he likes to remind me that it’s still an ongoing case, but the police aren’t doing shit. They’re convinced it was a tragic accident, and my parents are happy to accept that. I’m not. There isn’t much in my life that can make me feel guilty, but what happened to Mallory has haunted me.
In her journal, she mentions “T” a few times, and even though there are endless people with a name that start with that letter, Titus is the one that stands out the most. Mallory spent a lot of time at Josslyn’s house and practically wrote in code about each time she went. She also spoke very highly of Titus a few times, which wasn’t the norm for her. That can’t be a coincidence. My phone buzzes as I walk through the practice facility where I’m meeting Hamilton for a workout, and I come to a full stop when I see Josslyn’s name on the screen.
Josslyn: How’d you get my number?
Josslyn: NM. how do you have this video?
Me: not your concern. It’s evidence that you’re a liar
I watch the bubble of her text disappear a few times before my phone vibrates with a call from her.
I hit the green button. “I’m surprised you’re awake.”
“What do you want?” she asks, her voice raspy and sexy as fuck.
“I want the truth.”
“Oh my God.” She lets out a deep frustrated groan that makes my dick hard. “I didn’t lie. I know how this looks, but I didn’t freaking lie.”
“I think you’re lying right now to cover up for your stepfather.”
“Oh my…” She pauses, then laughs. “You think Titus had something to do with this? Are you insane?”
“I have proof.”
“Yeah, right.” She snorts. “Proof of what, exactly?”
“Proof that he had a motive.”
She’s quiet for a moment. “Look, I don’t know what you think you have, but I’m telling you that he had nothing to do with this.”
“Why was he there?”
“I can’t say.”
My jaw clenches. “How convenient.”
“It’s not like that. He’s not like that,” she says, clearing her throat though her voice remains hoarse. “He wouldn’t do that to my mom, and if he did, he would never sleep with a girl my age, let alone my friend.”
I feel my face pull in confusion. I want to yell, “HE WAS AT A SEX CLUB!” but I reel myself in. “Yet I have proof.”
“You’re wrong.”
I pause. “This can go one of two ways. You can help me, or I can speak to every judge and attorney in town and stain your stepfather’s reputation.”
“His reputation precedes him. No one would believe you.”
I roll my eyes. “I think you forget who you’re talking to.”
She’s silent for a very long time before saying, “Unbelievable,” and then screaming, “UNFUCKINGBELIEVABLE!”
I bite the inside of my mouth to keep from speaking. Perfect little Josslyn Santos sounds hot as fuck when she loses her temper. When I say nothing, she continues talking like I knew she would.
“No wonder Mal looked for a family elsewhere,” she says calmly. “The one she had was clearly a piece of shit.”
Her words hit me in the chest. My mother was right. Mal deserved much better than the life she was thrown into. When they adopted her, they provided her with an abundance of luxuries that, unlike me, she hadn’t been born into. I always figured the exposure to different people that hockey gave me was the reason I was conscious about the things we were afforded, but maybe it was Mallory. Maybe it was the innocent way she used to balk every time she walked into opulent rooms. In my parents’ minds, they were doing her a favor by bringing her into this life.