Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 89074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
But he just doubles down, slamming me back into the shelves again.
Another few guys have heard the commotion. They’re in the hall, looking into the reading room.
“That’s not what happened, Wes.”
“Please, Weston, just let him speak,” Rayne is begging.
I pull in a slow breath, and I realize that my brother isn’t going to let me go until I talk.
So I talk.
“I found the notes. When I came home from class today, they were on the table in the entryway, with another little piece of paper that said for the secret box, sorry I’m late. I thought it must have been one of the guys who was really worried about his secrets being read, because the notes had those big wax seals on them. So I went upstairs and slid them into the box, along with my actual secret. Ask Noah. He was in his bedroom when I went there, and he watched me put them in.”
“Go get Noah,” Weston says as he turns to one of the guys in the hall.
A minute later he’s there, and he sighs as he sees us like this.
“Wes, let him go,” Noah says with a sadness in his voice.
“Did you see him put those notes into that box?”
“I saw him put his own in.”
I bite down on the inside of my cheek. “And right behind it, I had the other ones. They just weren’t visible behind mine. I swear it, on Lune.”
Weston’s eyes widen for a moment.
And he knows it’s the truth, now that I’ve said the one thing I fucking hate saying.
Weston finally lets me go, and I smooth out my shirt.
“You found the notes on the table just inside our front doors?” Rayne asks me.
“Yep. Sometime this afternoon, someone must have left them there. I don’t know if they walked in, or if it was someone in here. But that’s where they were.”
The guys all splinter off into their own groups again, and Weston makes sure to pull Rayne away from me as fast as he can.
That’s how it’s always been, but it feels markedly different now.
Weston always wanted Rayne close to him.
I’m only noticing it more now because now I’m addicted to everything about Rayne, too.
His touch, his presence, even the sound of his goddamn voice.
The secret that he clearly wrote about me.
After everything that happened, I’d forgotten about it.
But his words float through my mind again now, and work their way into my heart in a terrifying way.
He wrote that he wants to tell the one person he shouldn’t tell. There was no way Rayne would ever be willing to tell Weston our secret, right? There would be no world where that would be worth it to him.
I would never be important enough to risk ruining everything with Weston.
One thing that's clear is that I’ve failed to do the one thing I always try to do.
I’ve failed to keep Rayne outside my walls. And now, inevitably, he’s going to be hurt because of it.
You cannot fall for me, Rayne Colson.
There’s nothing good here.
You’ll lose your best friendship, and you’ll eventually realize the truth: that I’m damaged goods anyway.
I’m beginning to have a splitting headache.
I don’t want to be down here anymore.
I glance around, feeling more out of control than I have in a long time.
Roman’s cousin arrives soon and begins making the same checks we’ve all already made around the house. I notice the outline of a knife in his pocket, and I recognize it well. I know nothing about Roman’s family, but I get a sense they’re not all that different from the people I knew in London.
That isn’t my world anymore.
And right now, I need to clear my fucking head more than I need to look all around the house for more information that just doesn’t exist.
I head up the stairs, trying to remain unseen by the rest of the guys.
But when I get up into the dark hallway, I realize that for the first time, Rayne had escaped my notice before I could escape his.
He’s there.
Crossing the hall, going from our room into the bathroom.
And finally being alone with him up here feels like finding a pure, clear drink of water after being stranded in a desert.
“I hate that you go anywhere without me,” I let slip, wishing I could put the words back in my mouth.
“Came up to put my cape away. Now I just need to take a piss. I’m fine, Hunter.”
“Well, I’m coming with you.”
Rayne lets out a long sigh, and I see the slightest hint of a smile on his face, even after a horrible evening.
“You’re coming with me to take a piss?” he says softly. “Very kind of you, Hunter, but I think I’ll be okay.”
“Don’t care. I’ll hold your dick and aim for you. Just… fuck, don’t leave me alone right now, Rayne, please?”