Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 101662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
I stayed glued to the staircase, studying everyone around me as I sipped the disgusting drink in my hand. Rosie seemed to be having the time of her life, finding her social butterfly skills hitting an all-time high. Her birthday dreams were coming true, and I was fine taking a back seat to be a side character to her story. I knew if I asked Rosie to spend the day reading with me in the library, she’d be right there, front and center. Even if that meant she’d have to be quiet. My dear friend struggled to not talk much.
“Do you always hang out against stairwells at parties?” a person said, making me stand straighter.
I glanced up to find Brett Stevens in front of me. I looked over my shoulder to see if he was talking to someone else, but all I found was the stairwell. Obviously.
As I tried to choke down my bursting spike of panic, I just smiled.
No words were anywhere to be found, which was expected. I had a way of freezing up when I was nervous, scared, happy—or, well, any emotion. I froze up instantly like a Popsicle.
Brett held another cup toward me. “I noticed you’ve been chewing on that cup for a while now. Figured you needed a new drink.”
My eyes all but bugged out of my skull. He noticed me? “You noticed me?”
“How could I not? You’re the most beautiful girl in this place.” He leaned back against the stairwell beside me. “Want to screw?”
“Screw what?” I asked, taking a sip.
“Me.”
I spat my drink out, stunned by his words.
That was not how I saw my first interaction with Brett Stevens going.
“What?” I laughed, feeling as if he was just joking. “No. Do you even know my name?”
“Yeah. Ali told me like five minutes ago. She told me you have the hots for me, so here you go.” He rubbed his chest up and down. The level of disgust that hit me instantly was at an all-time high. That was exactly why one shouldn’t ever interact with their crushes. They never live up to the hype.
A crush that was formed over three years was now crushed within two seconds of actual interaction. It was as if my sweet porcelain doll of Brett Stevens had shattered right in my face. Tragic.
“So…what is my name?”
“Naomi,” he said with the utmost confidence.
Welp.
That was underwhelming.
I pushed out a smile. “I’m not interested, but thanks.”
He gave me a stern look of disappointment. “You’re a tease.”
I then excused myself from the comfy stairwell that had been tainted by my ex-crush and started walking around, searching for Rosie or Gabriel to save me from my heart-shattering reality.
While I couldn’t locate them, I felt an urgent need to use the restroom after my drinks of the evening. I felt a little dizzy, but I wasn’t wasted. At least I didn’t think I was. Was this what wasted felt like? It was hard to tell. I’d never been wasted before. All I knew was when I walked, sometimes I faltered, and when my stomach turned, I sometimes felt like throwing up.
After seeing a line for the bathroom downstairs, I headed upstairs in search of another one. When I opened a door, I found an emptied bedroom with an attached bathroom. I hurried inside, hoping to make a quick in-and-out.
Once I stepped out of the bathroom, I reentered the bedroom to find Brett standing there in front of the bedroom door with his hands on his hips.
“Well, well, well. Funny meeting you here, Naomi.”
***
Gabriel
“I can’t believe Brett went for Kierra. I didn’t know she partied like that,” Ali said as she grabbed another drink from the fridge.
“What do you mean?” I asked Ali, completely confused.
“I told him she had the hots for him, and you know Brett. He’s into anything with two legs. Rumor has it that Kierra was dragged off to Brett’s bedroom. To be honest, I didn’t think Ms. Goody Two-Shoes had it in her.”
Dragged off?
If I knew anything about Kierra, it would be that she wouldn’t want to be tossed alone in a room with some guy she had a crush on after their first night of talking. And last I saw her, she was pretty tipsy.
The sensation of jangling nerves filled my gut as my hands formed fists. “I’ll be back.”
Ali huffed. “You can’t be serious. Let them be alone, Gabriel. If anything, this gets her to stop riding your dick so much. She’s so annoyingly obsessed with you.”
“We’re done,” I said without a second of hesitation.
Ali raised her brows. “Excuse me?”
“You and me—we’re done.” I didn’t stay to hear her yelling at me, calling me all kinds of names. I headed straight for Brett’s room but before barging in, I waited a second. What if Kierra did want to be in there? What if I was being a massive cockblock? What if—