Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 50801 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50801 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
“I know.” I nod, stretching my arm over the back of the couch. “But you’ve never really been serious enough with anyone to let any real damage happen anyway,” I say.
“Yeah,” she says, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. “Liam abandoning me at that concert sure as hell came close.” She glances down at her nails, not meeting my eyes. “If you hadn’t showed up…if you hadn’t found me…”
“Hey,” I say, gently tipping her chin up to meet my eyes. “I’m always here for you,” I say, swallowing hard at the grateful look in her eyes. “And I would never leave you stranded like that. I’ll always find you whenever you need me to.”
Monroe visibly swallows, all laughter and playfulness draining from her eyes, and the energy feels tight between us. Her eyes flash to my mouth for the briefest of seconds and she leans closer—
And falls against my chest, hugging me tight.
Something inside me deflates, and I mentally chide myself for thinking she’d been about to kiss me. I need to get my shit together, quick.
I wrap an arm around her, pressing my cheek atop her head.
“I don’t know what I did in a past life to deserve a friend like you,” she says, still clinging to me. “But whatever it was, it must’ve been big.” She situates herself against my chest, releasing the hug but staying close. “Probably saved a bunch of puppies from a burning building or something.”
I laugh, my arm curling around her shoulders. “I’m definitely not a prize for all that.”
She shifts to look up at me, a scowl on her face. “Don’t you dare talk about my best friend like that,” she teases. “You’re amazing. And legitimately the reason I’m not homeless right now. You’re worth way more than even a mansion full of puppies.”
I do my best to breathe around the emotion filling my chest.
“Do you want to finish the show?” she asks after I’ve been quiet for a few moments too long. “Or do you want to go to bed?”
Fucking hell, did I want to go bed…with her.
“I’m game to finish it if you are,” I force out the words.
“I’m into it,” she says, shifting back to look at the TV. “Let’s do it.”
“Whatever you want,” I say, scooping up the remote with my free hand and pressing play on the show, relishing the way she feels tucked safely against me, and doing my best to ignore how my dreams feel a hell of a lot more real than they should.
CHAPTER 4
MONROE
Fireworks crackle in the sky, the blues and golds and reds reflecting off the water where we watch the Fourth of July celebration from the upper deck of Clay Kiplin’s boathouse. It’s attached to his property, which is basically Badger party central. The dock extends several feet onto the Penobscot River, the two-story boathouse offering the prime spot to watch the fireworks that Clay sets off from a safe location down the bank.
The upper level of the boathouse is open to the elements but covered with a gazebo-like roof, two fans gently circulating the warm summer air around us. Soft gold lighting illuminates the array of patio furniture that me and my friends and other party-goers currently occupy.
Clay’s house is nestled on the land behind us, packed with more than half the Badgers, most of them and their friends now outside watching the fireworks too.
“How has living with Paxton been?” Reese asks from where she sits to my left, Blakely on the other side of her, and Hadley on the other side of Blakely.
We dominate most of the patio furniture up here, though there are a few other girls that’d been invited to the party through connections to different Badgers, leaning against the railing across the way, still watching the show.
“It's been great,” I admit, leaning back into the cushioned oversized sofa. “You know Pax,” I continue. “He went out of his way to stock the house with everything I like, and we’re hooked on true crime documentaries. I make a different snack every night while we watch them. He’s made it almost too easy to transition into living with him.”
I glance behind us, down the bank where Paxton, Lawson, Nash, and Baylor are currently helping Clay set off the fireworks, the five of them looking like teenagers from the way they’re laughing and lighting fuses.
“That doesn't sound like too easy. That sounds like a dream,” Blakely says, and I return my attention to her.
I chuckle softly. “I only mean that after what happened with Liam, there'd be a little more stress and a lot less contentment.”
“I think that’s a sign,” Reese says, eyeing me knowingly. “Of being with someone who understands you.”
“I’m not with Paxton,” I say, though for some reason, it feels like a lie.
I swallow hard, contemplating opening up to my friends about just how content Paxton has made me feel lately.