Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
His head comes up just a little further and his eyes catch the glint of the light from the fire, illuminating them.
I can smell whiskey on him and it mixes with the scent of his skin, pulling me back to last Saturday like a magnet.
His scent.
His body.
His cock, pushing inside me.
The guy he punched is taking off across the lawn.
I don’t let myself think for another second. I shove Sevan backward hard and he teeters at the sudden movement. At first he doesn’t fall, but then he stumbles, losing his footing for just long enough. The people on the shallow side of the pool gasp, their eyes glued to me, now.
Sev falls backward into the deep end of the cold water.
And then I see it: the small, jutting stone at the edge of the pool that isn’t as smooth as the others.
The stone that Sev must have fallen against as he tipped into the water.
The stone that’s now streaked with something dark.
My heart drops like a broken elevator, falling fast in my chest and going cold.
“Fuck,” I say, the word coming out barely louder than a breath.
Then all I see is red.
Dark, blooming red on the water, pooling out from Sev as he swims to the top.
8
Sev
A rush of cold hits my body, and then a rush of warmth.
There’s no pain at first, just the large swath of changing sensation: the chilly water, then the heat of… something.
Some warmth at my side.
I’ve been drinking, but not enough that I don’t realize that I need to get to the surface. Once I float to the top of the water and open my eyes I see it, and everything becomes clearer.
Blood.
Did I hurt someone else in the pool, after Knox pushed me in?
The pain comes the moment my arm is out in the air, raised up from the water. I look down and see the long strip of red on my forearm and then it all makes sense.
“Fuck. Fuck,” I hear from the edge of the pool and I hear a crash of water beside me as someone jumps in.
The adrenaline in my veins finally starts to fade.
I turn to see Weston behind me in the water, and a moment later, his arms are underneath mine, and it’s like every torrid sexual fantasy I’ve been having for the past week is suddenly thrust right in front of me.
My days have been nothing but a blue of misplaced desire, seeing Weston on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in Sellwood’s class and having my thoughts become a heavy blur of memory. As if I could drag him off to a dark, moonlit room again and have my way with his smooth skin, his stupidly soft hair, and his hard, leaking cock.
Even now, as he’s panicked and pulling me out of the water, I’m rabid for it.
He needs to be fucked.
I need him again, shaking on the bed for me, reduced to a heap and covered in my cum.
It’s never been so clear to me before.
“Weird way to treat a guy if you’re trying to flirt, Sheriff,” I murmur at him. “Are you following me around?”
I’m trying for a light joke but there’s panic in his eyes. He’s trying to swim over to the shallow end of the pool while carrying me, and I kick my legs a little to help him out.
“Are you okay, Sev? Tell me where you are.”
Oh.
He’s worried about me.
Checking to see if I’m unconscious.
Be more fucking adorable, Weston, I beg you to try.
“Hmm… Japan?”
“Holy fuck.”
“Kidding. I’m in the Onyx House pool you pushed me into because of your giant, throbbing fucking ego, Knox.”
We finally make it to shallow enough water that we can stand. He still doesn’t let go, his arms tight around my torso.
“Is your head okay?” he asks. His eyes dart around, looking me over and still panicking.
I lift my arm up and show him the gash.
“I didn’t hit my head. I’m sure you gave me a pretty new scar right through my lily tattoo, though, and I’m going to need an apology for that.”
“Right. Okay,” he breathes. “I’ve seen too many people get bad concussions or worse, and I… fuck, I’m sorry. I have gauze inside. Come on.”
I hum, looking over the long cut now that it’s out of the water. “I’m fine, Weston. It’ll stop bleeding. Eventually.”
“Get the fuck inside. I’m wrapping it up. Don’t need you getting an infection.”
He finally lets me go but watches me like a hawk as I step out of the pool, holding up my bleeding arm.
I scan the backyard around us. A few groups of people are watching in shock, pointing out how much blood got into the pool, but after I get out of the water, most people seem to be back in their own little worlds now that they know I’m not dead.