Total pages in book: 193
Estimated words: 184001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 920(@200wpm)___ 736(@250wpm)___ 613(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 184001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 920(@200wpm)___ 736(@250wpm)___ 613(@300wpm)
Surprise flows through me. “You’ve read it?”
“Once or twice.”
“And?” I press when he doesn’t say more.
“Honestly, I didn’t care for the hero.”
“What?” I squeal. I can’t control my snort and giggle as I move to sit closer to him. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah. I did not like that guy. Instead of just telling the girl he supposedly likes how he feels, he kept being a dick to her. I spent the entire book wishing he’d just walk into traffic and leave that poor girl alone.”
“It’s a good thing he didn’t, because that would be tragic. Damien is bae.”
“Wait, you mean you liked him?” Zeke raises his brows, and I feel my cheeks warm.
“I mean, yeah, kind of. I guess I empathized with him? I don’t know. Even when he was being an unreasonable asshole, I still wanted to hug him. Actually, I thought—” No, that would be crazy to admit.
“What?” Zeke urges while tipping his head closer to mine.
I inhale deeply, and Zeke licks his lips as if he can still taste me. I can definitely still taste him. “I thought he reminded me a little of you.”
Zeke jerks his head back and chokes out, “What?”
All I can do is shrug when words fail me. I can’t believe I just admitted to thinking about him while reading a romance novel. Silently, I pray he finds it as awkward as I do and changes the subject, but no such luck.
I’ve already looked away like a coward, staring as Thorin and Khalil take turns diving from the outcropping of rocks near the falls and into the water. Khalil is currently doing his best to drown Thorin after he beat him at whatever competition they’re having now.
“Am I a dick to you?” Zeke practically whispers.
I continue staring at the beautiful, sparkling water below that reminds me of Zeke’s green eyes. “Sometimes, yeah.”
“And you don’t…hate me?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“Why?” he challenges gently. “Because you feel sorry for me?”
I turn my head to face him and meet his stare dead-on. “Because I know what it’s like to be betrayed and how hard it is to trust again after. Because I know what it’s like to be used and abused by someone you share blood with. Because I know what it’s like to love deeply and have it all fall apart. I don’t feel sorry for you, Zeke. I just feel you.”
“You’ve been in love before? With the bodyguard?”
I snort. “No. Not with Tyler.” I smile like I’m sharing a naughty secret. “It’s a recent development, but already it feels like I’ve gone ten rounds in the ring.”
“You’re still upset,” he says like it only just occurred to him.
“Of course I am. You can’t seem to decide if you want me or hate me, and I haven’t forgotten you all lied to me about Tyler. Well, not you,” I correct with a grumble. “The other you.” Seth.
“You know you really should let that go,” he says gently to not come across as dismissive. “Your feelings are valid, princess. They just won’t change anything. When it comes to other men, Thorin and Khalil are not going to apologize for wanting to hoard you for themselves.”
“And what about you? You don’t want me all to yourself?”
“I don’t think I should answer that,” he says. “I wouldn’t want to send you anymore mixed signals.”
“Will you answer something else for me then?”
“Sure.”
“Why do you call me princess? Is it because you think I’m spoiled?”
Zeke chuckles derisively, but it feels aimed at himself. “It’s what I told myself at first so that I didn’t have to face the truth, but no. I don’t think you’re spoiled.”
“It’s okay if you did. I am a little.” Zeke laughs, and I join him until it dies off shortly after. “So why?” I ask when my curiosity won’t allow me to let it go.
Zeke’s olive-toned cheeks turn a startling shade of red, and he barks out a nervous laugh. “Because every time I’m near you, I can’t help but feel like you should be wearing a crown and I should be kneeling at your feet.” He stares at his palms as if his head is asking him what the hell he’s doing admitting all of this to me.
My head however has left the chat, and my heart is doing backflips in my chest. “You want to kneel for me?” I whisper.
“All the time.” Feeling like there’s more he wants to say, I wrap my arms around myself and stare at our feet dangling over the sixty-foot drop. “I don’t want to be a Damien,” he finally confesses. “I don’t want to wait until it’s too late to tell you that I want you.”
I swallow past the emotions that threaten to choke me. “I’m sensing a but in there somewhere.”
“But… I don’t know how to want you without this voice inside my head warning me that none of it is real. That it’s all going to come crashing down on me.”