Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 80643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Matcha isn’t even coffee, Torin.
Ask me if I give a fuck, *Noah.*
It’s the first time anyone’s taken the cafe idea seriously after I told them.
And definitely the first time anyone’s even remembered to talk about it with me again.
And it’s those fucking texts.
Those texts finally spell the end of my self-delusion, because I can’t lie to myself any longer.
I’m falling for him.
For real.
I’ll never tell him, I promise myself. And I’m taking it to the fucking grave.
But I already know I’d probably do anything for Torin at this point.
I’m caught in his orbit.
Until the inevitable day comes when he does what he always does, and leaves. Nothing is more certain than the fact that Torin will always be independent, and that this will never last.
But each night, when I fall asleep in his arms, I pretend.
That’s all I have to do.
Easy, right?
So fucking easy.
20
Torin
Hunter: Meet me in the reading room. I can pull up what you asked about.
When I get the text, it’s like a small shock to my nervous system.
I’m naked in bed with Noah.
Again.
His head is resting in my lap as I stroke his hair, over and over, and he’s been dozing for a few minutes.
He came in my mouth, and then I came in his, and he just sort of kept his head down there resting on my thigh, and I didn’t have a single urge to move him aside.
But I need to meet with Hunter.
About something that I have zero intention of telling Noah about.
I asked if Hunter could access the security camera footage from the other night, when the SUV pulled up and someone snapped photos of me on the balcony.
I play it cool after I get the text, keeping my free hand on Noah’s head, brushing over his perfect, soft hair. It’s still a little fucked up from when I was guiding his head on my cock ten minutes ago, and it should be illegal for him to still look that sexy when we’ve already come about a hundred times this week.
“I’ve been thinking about it,” he murmurs, his voice sounding heavy with sleepiness. “The bookstore and cafe.”
“You have?”
“The one you sent me last night looks so close to what I want. And there were so many people in the comments going feral for it. I swear there’s a market. Even if it’s not… y’know, a multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical conglomerate, like Dad would want me to run.”
“Fuck that.”
“Seriously.”
I pet his hair again and he smiles up at me, blinking. “I might try for it. After college, obviously, and I need to go hard on my business classes this year if I’m going to manage having enough credits for the major.”
“You can do it. Easy.”
He pulls in a slow breath and I watch his torso rise and fall.
How does it not terrify me, thinking of the future when I’m with you?
When I think of every other person I’ve hooked up with before, all I can remember is feeling a need to escape the sense of demand.
A demand for more.
A burden.
But every time Noah demands something from me, or God forbid acts needy, it actually just makes me want to give in to him even more.
I used to think of Noah Vancliff getting everything he wants and it would make me murderous, but now…
I crave seeing him get what he wants.
I like to give it to him, too. Spoil him.
How am I ever going to give you up, when some lovely woman finally realizes you’re the best prize in this school?
Noah’s breathing gets a little softer as he falls asleep in my lap.
I grab my phone and respond to Hunter.
Okay. Coming downstairs soon.
Noah lets out a little hum as I shift on the bed, and when I move to put his head onto the pillow, he clutches at my arm.
“Kiss me or I’ll fucking die,” he murmurs.
I lean over and oblige him, catching his lips in a slow, warm kiss before I get up and throw on some pants.
By the time I’m finished he’s out cold again.
He looks beautiful.
Like a painting, all milky-smooth pale skin, ruddy lips, and dark hair.
And every time I gaze at him now it feels like he’s single-handedly calling my independence into question.
My life is forever entwined with Noah now, whether I like it or not.
No matter what, I’ll be seeing him.
On every holiday. Every vacation. Every time we’re with family.
And I’m going to fucking want you, all of those times, Noah.
Even if you show up with a girl.
Even if you have a wife, someday.
My cock, my body, my mind…
I will need you.
It starts to bubble up inside me like a pressure cooker waiting to blow, and I step out of the room, my body heating from the inside.
“Fuck,” I whisper under my breath.
I gently close the door to his room.
I have to stop seeing him.