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)
And my life has far too few good people in it.
It’s the most precious thing when you realize that you actually trust someone, not because something has changed, but because you can finally see them clearly.
“Fuck,” I whisper, leaning my head back on the seat.
A stray tear breaks off from my eye and I pull in a breath.
“You don’t have to say anything back. You don’t have to feel the same way,” he says.
“Sev, I don’t think I’ve been able to trust a single thing in my life since my dad died,” I let spill, feeling a torrent starting to rush through me. “Maybe sooner than that. Since my brother ended up with my best friend, without even telling me. Since every year of my life has been more and more pressure. Maybe I’ve fucking felt it forever.”
Sev cuts the engine.
He takes off his seatbelt, and I feel like I’m frozen in place again.
Like I always am.
“Why does it still feel like every fucking thing that goes wrong is my fault? If it weren’t for me, no one would have these problems. I’m… an appendage. Dead weight. Nobody’s first pick, just blending into the background—”
“You’ve never blended into the background for me,” Sev says, his voice more assured than it has been all night. “Never.”
His whole body suddenly shifts, and I realize he’s moving to get closer to me.
Not just near me, but straddling me, moving so that his leg is on the far side of my lap near the passenger door.
The weight of him sinks down on my thighs and all of a sudden he’s my whole field of view, stunning in his suit, cradling both of his hands on either side of my face as he looks me in the eye.
It’s too much.
I feel like I could cry, but I force myself to hold it in, unsure of what’s real. My throat is tight.
“How could you say you were falling for me?” I ask.
“Because for the first time in my life I’ve realized there’s nothing to fix,” he says. He leans in and presses a kiss to my forehead, then my temple. “I couldn’t fix you if I tried. You’re stubborn and solid and absolutely yourself, and I love every frustrating moment of it, Weston.”
“Sev,” I utter as he slides his hands into my hair, holding me.
“The reason I thought I hated you is because I couldn’t control how I felt around you. You terrify me.”
I’m surprised as a laugh escapes me, even while my throat is still tight, like I don’t know whether to cry or laugh even harder.
“You can’t be scared of me. You could take me out no matter how strong I am. You’re not scared of anyone.”
“No. You have the power to hurt me.”
I exhale as I finally summon the ability to unfreeze. My heart pounds in my chest as I stop trying to resist the current.
And I stop trying to resist the gravitational pull this man has on me.
I wrap my arms around his waist and tug him closer against me. “I’m never going to hurt you, Sev,” I whisper.
And that seems to break him as much as it breaks me.
He leans down to kiss me and it feels almost like it’s our first time, kissing like we’re not quite sure of it, but we need it more than either of us understand.
His lips part slightly and his tongue slides out over mine. I moan involuntarily at the rush of heat, and it’s as if something catches fire inside me.
Unfreezing, bit by bit.
Because finally something feels like it’s mine.
A quiet drizzle just begins to tap down on the roof of the car, and the rush of the rain slowly increases, surrounding us.
“Stay with me,” he says against my lips as he breaks off for a breath. “I want to stay with you, Weston.”
I don’t know if he means for right now, for tonight, or for longer.
But no matter what it is, I have the same answer.
“Of course I’m fucking staying with you.”
22
Sev
For a lifetime, all I’ve ever thought about was independence. I never thought about love, or wondered about falling for another person. I’m still not even sure what it might mean.
But something like love has the ability to change everything.
Even things I was certain of.
I wake up with Weston in my arms and rain still pattering on the windows of his room.
We’re in his bed.
And it’s the only place I want to be.
“Anyone ever told you that you snore?” he murmurs gently as he blinks his eyes open, looking up at me with mischief in his blue eyes.
“You liar.”
“I mean, it’s not loud snoring. It’s very soft, and almost cute, but it’s there.”
I hum and bring my nose to the edge of his hair, burying my face in it. “You know, just because I admitted I want you doesn’t mean I can’t still punish you.”