Total pages in book: 16
Estimated words: 15180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 76(@200wpm)___ 61(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 76(@200wpm)___ 61(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
I looked over at Pope and could see him watching me in the corner, his arms crossed over his chest, a smirk on his face as he no doubt saw my time. He was my biggest supporter, pushing me to my limits because he knew I could do better, go harder, swim faster.
My heart was racing, but it didn’t have to do with the swim and everything to do with staring at the man I loved.
I did love him, so much that my chest hurt, the pain of not being honest with him and telling him how I felt riding me hard. I was old enough to know I wasn’t getting any younger, but young enough to know I had my whole life ahead of me.
And I wanted Pope with me always.
Maybe I would’ve kept my mouth shut if I didn’t see the way he watched me, the way his eyes always seemed to be on me. I felt his gaze like a physical touch, and I wanted more.
I craved more.
I climbed out of the pool and was immediately handed a towel by one of the aides. As I dried off, I looked over at Pope and saw him watching me.
I felt it in the beginning, but thought maybe his attention toward me was just Pope being Pope ... overly protective and stepping into the role of being a big brother because Jonathan was gone.
But as time passed, I realized it was more than that. He wanted me. I could see it in his eyes, feel it when he was near. He stayed silent, and I knew he probably always would.
He probably thought it would be disrespectful because of Jonathan. But I knew my brother would have wanted me to be happy, no matter who that was with. So I was the one who needed to step up.
I’d come to the conclusion that I was done waiting, that being friends wasn’t enough. And maybe telling him the truth would ruin everything, but that was a chance I was willing to take.
Because if it meant I’d finally, possibly, get to be with Pope, I was willing to do anything.
2
Pope
Genetics in Physical Anthropology was not a class I was even interested in, didn’t help me advance my degree, and was more like someone speaking a foreign language to me than anything else. But I took it because Mia did and I wanted to be close to her.
By the grace of Mia helping me, I was barely passing the fucking class.
Before I even saw her, I knew she’d stepped into the classroom. It was the way my body tightened, how the air charged with electricity. The hairs on my arm stood on end and my heart started racing.
I looked over my shoulder and saw her walk inside the room, two books stacked on top of each other in one arm, her cell in the other hand.
The long fall of her dark hair was done in a braid, falling over her shoulder. How many times had I wanted to run my fingers through her strands? How many times had I thought of wrapping those locks around my hand and tilting her head back to claim her mouth?
I cleared my throat and straightened even more, feeling my pants become tight as my arousal quickened, as the blood started to pool in my dick. She looked up and glanced around, her gaze landing on mine and a smile spread across her face.
Shit, her smile could light up the fucking room.
She sat beside me just as Professor Goode cleared his throat.
“Lots of ground to cover today, everyone,” he said in a booming voice.
I glanced up for only a moment, but the heat from Mia’s body, the scent of lemon and cotton that clung to her, distracted me. I looked back at her to see she was looking at Professor Goode, this small smile on her face.
Instantly possessiveness slammed into me. Did she have a thing for him? I had to admit that although he was at least a decade older than she was, he was someone who probably drew a lot of female attention because of his good looks. That put me in an even shittier mood.
But maybe she liked them older? Maybe she liked the refined, intelligent type?
All of which I was not.
“Please tell me I’m not the only one who sees it?” She looked at me then, her big blue eyes crinkled at the corners as her smile widened. “Please tell me you see how obvious Professor Goode is being?”
I felt my brows knit as I looked back at him. He was leaning against his desk, his arms crossed over his chest, his focus trained on one student. I followed his line of vision to see who he was staring at.
A girl.
I looked back at Mia and shrugged. She exhaled as if she was tired, or maybe couldn’t believe I could miss whatever she was talking about.