Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 48146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 241(@200wpm)___ 193(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 241(@200wpm)___ 193(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Tonight, I did something stupid and tried to mess up his hookup with another guy. And I’m afraid I ruined it with him, that he’ll want to stay away from me now because I acted like an asshole. Like he couldn’t handle himself, though I know he can. He definitely doesn’t take any shit from me, so why would he from anyone else?
I’ve got a lot of things to figure out.
I love you. I miss you.
Until we meet again.
B.
7
EMIL
Bones was already in bed with the lights off by the time I was brave enough to leave the bathroom. I was feeling out of sorts after what happened between us tonight. What the hell had come over him? Why had he treated me like I needed protection or help?
That was a side of him I’d never witnessed. He’d helped Deanna at the party, which was sweet, and then he’d acted all concerned about me, going as far as walking me to the field and nearly abandoning the bet.
I didn’t know what to make of my roommate anymore. Maybe it was a good thing the term was starting, and we’d be busy with classes and extracurricular activities.
I crawled beneath my comforter but was unable to fall asleep. When Bones shifted more than once, I knew he was having the same difficulty.
“B?” I whispered in case I was wrong and he was moving around in his dreams.
“Yeah?” He twisted in my direction.
“I didn’t win that bet,” I confessed.
“What do you mean? That guy was in our room.”
“Yeah, but nothing happened between us.” I shifted to face him and could just make out the line of his jaw in the dark. It felt braver to admit the truth this way. “I just wasn’t feeling it. I asked him to leave.”
“You…you did?” he sputtered.
“Yeah. So it doesn’t feel right to ask you to pay up with a facial.”
“Well, it doesn’t feel right not to pay up after I acted like such an ass.”
I waved my hand in front of me. “Nah, you don’t have to.”
I could hear his heavy breaths. “What if I want to?”
Had that been hard for him to admit?
“Yeah?” I felt light all of a sudden. “Okay, then. But no takebacks.”
“Nope, no takebacks.” I heard the grin in his words.
“Cool.” Breathing more easily, I rolled to my back and shut my eyes. “Good night.”
He was silent for a long beat. “E?”
“Yeah?” I replied through a yawn.
“Have you ever…been in love?”
That question roused me. I almost turned on the light so I could see his face. Why in the world was he asking me that? But he sounded serious, so I should probably lend his question the gravity it deserved. I thought about my history with guys. There were only a couple of hookups that had turned into short-term relationships.
“I thought I was once, with my high school boyfriend.” He’d been a wrestler who hadn’t always supported my pursuit of music and dance in front of his teammates. “But he ended up being a jerk. Why do you ask?”
“Because I never have with anyone. Not even close.”
Why was he worrying about this? We were barely in our twenties.
“In fact,” he continued, “as soon as a girl wants to be even remotely serious or romantic, I run for the hills.”
I smirked. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“I’m serious,” he insisted, and my smile faded. “Do you think something’s wrong with me?”
“Of course not. But if it’s bothering you, maybe you need to ask yourself why. Is it you or them? Maybe you just haven’t met a person who makes you want more.”
“That’s what my dad always says when Mom drills me about girlfriends.”
I considered everything I’d heard about his family situation. “Did your brother have a serious girlfriend?”
“Oh yeah. Brody had plenty. He was a serial monogamist. Why are you asking about my brother?”
I turned to face him. “Don’t get mad, okay? But I heard a rumor that you feel like you can’t live up to your brother’s reputation.” When he didn’t respond, I panicked. “Bones?”
“Yeah…that’s true.” His voice was scratchy and low. “They compare us all the time. I never had the best grades or was an all-star in sports. I feel like a fuckup in their eyes.”
My gut churned. “I’m sorry.”
“Eh, it is what it is.”
The room grew quiet as our breaths filled the space between our beds. Until now, I hadn’t noticed how close we were, likely because I always turned my back and paid him no attention.
“Okay,” he said, “your turn to tell me a secret.”
I scoffed. “What are you talking about?”
“I told you about my brother,” he huffed out.
“That was a secret?”
“Well, no. I just don’t like talking about it. So…tell me more about your family.”
“You met my parents. There’s nothing to tell.” What was he getting at?
“So you’ve always had a perfect family? There are no skeletons in your closet?”