Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 128156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 641(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 641(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
“No.” I grind my teeth, feet carrying me faster. “She did not.”
“Well then, what’s wrong—”
“I need to go and get her, Cameron.”
“But…ohh. Shit. Um…okay. Wait.”
“What, what is it?”
“She’s… Wait, you’re at her dorm?”
I look back at it. “I might have been waiting.”
Thanks, Brady. Shithead.
“Chase, it looks like she’s in her room.”
I jerk to a stop, whipping around to glare at Paige’s building. “What?”
“It says she’s been there for twenty minutes. Should I call her?”
“Do not call her.” I’ve already spun around, stalking my ass back to the building. “I’m hanging up.”
Shoving my phone in my pocket, I jog the last few steps, prepared to bang on the door, but someone steps out, allowing me through. I slip past the RA, ignoring her shouting as I cut into the stairwell and take the stairs two at a time to Paige’s floor.
I burst out of the doors, my adrenaline at an all-time high.
I wait until I’m almost at her room to call her, my limbs shaking.
My anxiety spikes as the phone rings and rings, and she doesn’t pick up.
My fist comes down heavy on the cheap wood, and no one answers.
Why isn’t she answering?
I bang harder. Longer. Louder.
Finally, the door is yanked open but before our eyes meet, I shove my way into her dorm room, vaguely registering her squeal as my eyes snap from each small corner, waiting for the moment they collide with another man’s. But the space is empty, no closets or bathrooms to hide inside.
“Chase, what—”
“Just…” I close my eyes and my head falls back as I take a deep breath, trying to find some semblance of calm. “Give me a second.”
Inhale.
He’s not here.
She wasn’t in here with him.
Exhale.
But she was out with him and for a lot longer than planned.
“Is everything okay?” she asks, worried.
A scoff leaves me, and I shake my head. “No, Paige. No, everything is not okay.”
“What happened?” She shuffles closer, but I still can’t quite look at her.
“Did you have fun?” The words come out sharper than intended.
My eyes cut her way at her answering silence, even though I stay facing the wall.
“Did you have fun tonight?”
Her little head tips, gaze safe on mine. “What’s this about?”
In the next second, I’m crowding her, stepping in to her. “Tell me. Tell me if you had a fun.”
“Yes.” A frown builds on her brow, but she doesn’t look away. “I had a good time tonight.”
My jaw clenches, and I close my eyes. “Did he like your dress?”
“I… What?”
My lids flick open, and I don’t realize I’m walking until her back meets the door, my knuckles find their way under her chin, and I tip her head back, so she’s forced to look at me.
“Did Prescott like the dress you bought just for him?”
That little scowl of hers deepens, but I push on.
“That dress. Did he tell you, you looked perfect in it? Because you did. Did he tell you you looked like something no one else should touch?” My insides are fucking folding. “Because that’s what I thought.”
She swallows, gaze ping-ponging between my eyes.
“Did he…did he say you looked dangerous tonight, warn you that the mere sight of you would wreck a lesser man?” I cup her cheek, my thumb brushing along the edge of her lips. “Did he say those things to you, Angel?”
A sharp shake of the head, a silent no falling from her lips.
“Good,” I whisper. “That’s good.” I pause, my stomach in knots.
Her little hand comes up, pressing to my chest, and all I can think is how much I wish she’d keep it there. “Chase?”
“I didn’t want this,” I admit, my tone shredded, my temples pounding. “I tried so hard to ignore it, to avoid this, but I physically can’t. Not anymore.”
Her little fist gripping my shirt, and my feet shuffle impossibly closer.
“It’s me, Paige,” I dare to breathe out, hoping this isn’t another fuckup in my life as my fingers fold into her hair. “I’m the lesser man and you fucking wreck me.”
My mouth comes down on hers, and there’s no warning and nothing soft about it. I crush my lips to hers, fist tangling in her long locks. Tugging, turning until her neck is fully stretched, her mouth up and open in offering, and holy shit, does she offer.
Full and complete submission.
I didn’t know that’s what I needed from her until this very moment.
Mine.
She falls into me, molds to me, moaning as I lead us through this.
I want her to feel it—every word I didn’t say, every moment that I stayed quiet when I shouldn’t have.
Every second I pretended I could avoid this—her. Us.
She gasps into my mouth, and I don’t pull back. I press in, my other hand gripping her waist, needing her even closer, no matter that I’ve already got her smashed against the door. She doesn’t resist, just melts into me like her whole body’s been waiting for this too. Like I am the home it’s been looking for.