Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75999 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75999 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
“In the afternoon. I’d really like that actually. I had some time on my hands for thinking, and you didn’t text much. I’m not blaming you! Just… I’d love to reconnect. I feel like we maybe drifted apart a bit. Sorry, I should have left that for tomorrow, but it’s been on my mind.”
No, no, no nonono!
There will be no reconnecting on my watch.
But I say nothing, horrified when Cass takes another strangled breath. “That’s okay. I’ve been thinking the same.”
My heart splinters into bits. Did the night with me only make him miss Logan more? Was I a substitute? My hand slides to where I think I have a hickey, but then the car hits a bump and I groan when my head rattles.
“Were you? But it will be best to talk in person tomorrow. You wanna go grab a bite at Rossini’s?”
How can they be discussing dinner plans when I’m in such distress? What is Cass thinking? Is this meant to hurt me? Or does he simply not think about me at all?
His voice does sound a bit softer when he agrees to Logan’s proposition. “I’ll book a table for eight. Sounds okay?”
They continue to discuss which pizza topping is best and, of course, Logan likes pineapple, like the monster he is.
By the time they finish, the pulsing in my head has become stronger, and after a while, I sit up in an attempt to alleviate the pain. I spot the sign announcing we’re driving into Springton.
“Hey, Cass…”
He spares me a glance in the rearview mirror, but only grunts.
“Could you drop me off at the college campus?”
His hands tighten on the steering wheel. “Sure. Where?”
“By the dorms.”
“Are you visiting Aaron?”
I swallow. Does he think it’s weird my new friend is gay too? I need to keep it casual. “Yeah, he was gonna give me this one book.”
Not suspicious at all when Cass knows I’m hardly the bookish kind. So I stay one step ahead of him. “You know, for school.”
“No need to explain yourself,” Cass says in the tight, curt tone that sounds nothing like his usual relaxed speech. It feels like there isn’t enough air in the car.
We sit in the awkward silence all the way until he parks in front of the dorms. Even the weather sucks, and when I exit the car, it’s drizzling.
Cass mutters a half-assed, “see you later,” and leaves me there. I stumble on my way out, watching him instead of minding where my feet go.
I hate my own inability to get things right, but I’m already jogging to the building with desperate need in my guts. This whole mess is temporary and I will untangle it if it kills me.
By this point, I’ve been at Aaron’s many times, so I run up the stairs and go straight to his room, demanding entry with a hard knock.
I’m breathless, and as seconds tick away, I become lightheaded, but the door eventually opens, and pale eyes look at me from behind it.
“Um... hey?” Aaron mutters. He’s dressed in tight black joggers, and a T-shirt in the same color, which is not his usual outfit. Maybe it’s a stay-in kind of day for him?
All the better.
I burst into his room without asking because this is an emergency.
“Today is the day, Aaron. We need dirt on Logan by tomorrow.”
“I— what? What are you talking about? I thought you were out with Cassian,” Aaron says, closing the door behind us.
I toe off my shoes and crawl onto his bed. I sit on the plush cover with my back resting against the cold wall, but as he walks closer, my gaze strays to the book on the nightstand.
Nipples stare at me from the tattooed chest taking up most of the cover, but Aaron takes the book out of my hand before I have a chance to read the title.
“Now I know why you love reading so much,” I tease. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”
His cheeks go aflame, but his eyes turn into slits. “Did I hear correctly that you came here for my help?” He stuffs the book into a drawer. Touchy subject then.
I clear my throat. “Sorry. Yeah.”
Aaron grabs his desk chair and drags it to stand in front of the bed before sitting in it as if he’s giving me an audience. He stretches, exhales, and meets my gaze. “Okay?”
“I… I did stuff with Cass, and I need Logan gone.”
He’s more awake in an instant and his eyebrows rise. “What ‘stuff’?”
I’m about to tell him when it hits me just how intimate and private it is. I lick my lips at the memory of last night, but Aaron points to my neck as I’m trying to gather my thoughts.
“Is that a hickey?” He lets out a little whistle.
I pull up my sweatshirt, but there’s no mirror for me to look into. “Maybe.”