Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 45966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
“I hate to break it to you, but we’ve always added whatever the fuck we just did into the mix, Noelle.”
“This was far beyond kissing, Nicholas.”
“So now you’re complaining?”
“I’m confused.”
“Let me unconfuse you.” I grabbed her shoulders. “I like you, Elle. I’ve always liked you.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means exactly what I just said. I like you more than a best friend likes their best friend, and I always have. I was just too young and stupid to identify what it was back then. I thought I had to make something of myself. I thought it was the only thing that mattered.”
“So what? I was holding you back?”
“This town was.”
“I’m a part of this town.”
“No shit. It’s why I stopped calling you. You were still here, and I hated it had to be that way. Especially when I asked you to leave with me. I was hurt you said no, okay? Despite what you think, I never thought you wouldn’t leave with me.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Why would I lie about that?”
“I don’t know…” I shook my head, inhaling a deep breath. “It’s just hard for me to think you thought I’d turn my back on this place.”
“I guess I underestimated your love for a home I hated.”
“You don’t hate it here; you just like to pretend you do.”
“Noelle—”
“If you hated it here as much as you claim, you would have never made my yearly anniversary a special day since we met.”
“That was for you.”
“Not true. Every year, you added some sort of decoration to our secret spot in the woods, and we’d go up the mountain to see the town in all its glory. I’ve seen your face. I know what you experienced when you were there with me.”
“Whatever you have to tell yourself.”
“That’s such a Grinch thing to say.”
“Well, it’s all I got. So here I am, asking you, no, actually begging you to give me a chance to make things right between us, and I’m not talking about me making you come. That can stay on the menu all the time. Whether you love me or hate me, I can make you come as many times as you please. I have no problem making you come morning, noon, and night if you want me to.”
I bit back a smile.
Damn him.
“But the friendship part. The best friend part.” He gestured between us. “Let me make that right again. I was young and made a mistake, and I promise I won’t do that again.”
“How do you expect me to trust you?”
I didn’t hesitate in replying, “Let me earn it.”
I wanted to believe that what he said was true with everything inside me. However, nothing could have prepared me for this moment and the emotions it would evoke.
It was evident that our connection was as strong as ever. I wanted to hate him, be mad at him, resist him.
Except I was definitely late on the resisting him part, and I’d be lying if I said the sexual tension hadn’t been building for years before he left. The older we got, the worse it became.
In four long strides, he closed the distance between us with so much force that my body slammed against the wall behind me. I hit it with a hard thud.
Instantly, Nicholas caged me in with his arms, making me feel his sorrow and remorse.
And his hate…
Not for me.
For himself.
CHAPTER 12
NOELLE
“Imean it, Elle. I’m so fucking sorry.”
I replied in the only way I could, I crashed my lips onto his, and it was all he needed to lose control. Roughly, he gripped my ass, lifting me to straddle his waist.
Our kiss was passionate.
Hungry.
Sending us into a frenzy.
I didn’t realize he was walking us into his bedroom until he laid me on the bed, spreading my legs to lay between them before he lowered himself onto my heated body.
This was crazy, but Nicholas and I were always impulsive. Going from one extreme to the next. This wasn’t unusual for us other than not being able to keep our hands off each other. The only opinions that mattered about our relationship was ours, and it seemed as if that hadn’t changed either.
I craved to give him what felt like it’d been his the entire time we were growing up. And who was I kidding? It wasn’t like I dated much in the past thirteen years, so maybe it had been his then too.
In this current place and time, it seemed as though this man, my ex-best friend, owned my heart.
My heart.
Body.
Soul?
He cradled my face, never once breaking our intense kiss. Something was different about him as he hovered above me. He kissed me deeply as his hands ran down my shoulders to hike up my sweater.
“Nicholas,” I rasped, trembling beneath him, and he was barely even touching me.
I had no idea what I was in for.