Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 95008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“Truth, though,” he replied.
I scoffed. “It’s also the truth that you were fucking your way through Eugene while you were supposedly in love with me.”
“Not since you,” he said firmly, his eyes on me.
I nodded, looking away.
“I was gone a long time,” he said with a sigh, running his hands through his hair. “Didn’t expect you to wait. Don’t worry about it.”
I didn’t reply. It was stupid, but I didn’t want him to know that I hadn’t been with anyone else. It felt… telling, somehow. Like I’d been waiting for him, when I hadn’t—at least, not on purpose. I’d spent the last four years focused on surviving, on living. I hadn’t had the time or inclination to date.
“Can we rewind?” he asked, stepping back to the bed so he could lean down over me. As I dropped back down against the mattress, I sighed.
“Yeah, we can rewind,” I replied.
“Good.” Our lips met softly, his nose brushing against the side of mine. “I feel like I got run over by a truck. Take a nap with me?”
Suddenly, a nap sounded like a very good idea.
“Let me get dressed first,” I replied.
Draco laughed. “What?”
“If my parents come home while we’re asleep, I don’t want them coming in here and seeing us all—you know,” I gestured wildly with my hands.
“All, you know?” he asked in amusement, leaning back so I could get up.
“Half naked and debauched,” I replied, grabbing my underwear and jeans.
“You’ve been readin’,” he said, laying down on the bed.
“Historical romance is my jam,” I said easily as I finished getting dressed.
“Well, no worries about your parents finding us half naked and debauched,” he said as I climbed back in bed and curled up against him. “Though, too bad we can’t open a window. Smells like sex in here.”
I snorted, and Draco chuckled and tightened his arm around me. “Relax,” he said against my hair. “My truck’s out front. Your dad is gonna know better than to open your bedroom door.”
“If you think that’ll stop Rose, you don’t know her very well,” I grumbled against his chest.
I pushed away my instincts that were screaming at me to run as far and fast as I could and let my body relax against his. I’d have plenty of time to call myself every kind of idiot later. What was that saying, in for a penny in for a pound? I might as well enjoy my terrible decision for a little while longer. Within minutes, I was asleep.
“Everything’s gonna be fine,” Draco said, his hands meeting my back as he pushed me higher on the swing. “They’re probably gonna just offer me a deal. Probation or something.”
“You don’t know that,” I said worriedly, my shoulders slumped and my hair whipping around my face.
He was trying to cheer me up, but I wasn’t having it. Even swinging at the old playground wasn’t enough to snap me out of my funk.
It was just the two of us again. More and more often since he’d been arrested, Draco and I found ourselves together without the others. We still hung out as a group all the time, trying and failing to pretend everything was normal, but there was something about being alone together that both of us gravitated toward.
We preferred it, actually. I liked having all of his attention centered on me and I thought he did, too. We could be ourselves when we were alone, with all of our doubts and fears and anxieties. Alone, we could be in a funk, without Curtis brushing off our fears or Charlie acting crazy to distract us.
“You shouldn’t have done it,” I said, dragging my feet through the bark chips to stop the swing. I looked over my shoulder. It was the first time I’d said the words out loud and somehow they felt like a betrayal, like I wasn’t thankful he’d stuck up for me.
“Kara,” he said, shaking his head.
I swallowed against the lump in my throat. The guilt felt like it was going to choke me sometimes.
Draco walked around the swing until he stood in front of me. His hands wrapped around the chains and he held them as he walked forward, lifting me from the ground until our faces were just inches apart.
“You’re right,” he said, his expression darkening. “I shouldn’t have. I’m going to end up in prison and it’s all your fucking fault. All of this is because of you.”
I gasped as I woke up, my heart racing. The dream was familiar. I couldn’t count how many times I’d woken up sobbing—but I hadn’t had it in over a year. In real life, Draco had comforted me and assured me that he’d do it all over again, a thousand times, that he loved me and there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do. It had been the first time we’d kissed.