Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 80074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
I pulled her into my arms, holdin’ her as tight as I could.
“I’m so sorry, Shiloh. I’m so sorry, babe.”
“It hurts so bad...”
“I know, babe, I know.”
“I feel like I’m dyin’, Harley. I feel like I’m fuckin’ dyin’.”
“I know.”
“I can’t breathe. It hurts to breathe.”
“It’s okay. I’ll breathe for you.”
“I thought he loved me ... he said he loved me all the time... How could he do this to me?”
“I don’t know,” I cried right along with. “I wish I knew.”
“How could I be so stupid?”
“You’re not stupid. You just fell in love with the wrong boy.”
“He took everything from me. My first kiss ... my first everythin’. He was the first boy I ever touched. Ever touched me... I gave him all of it ... for what? I was a bet ... nothing but a bet, Harley...”
My heart was breakin’.
Achin’.
Hurtin’ in a way I never experienced before.
I hated this was happenin’ to her. She didn’t deserve it. Not one bit.
“I slept with him tonight for the first time.”
I held her stronger, firmer, tryin’ to mold us into one person. Her words hittin’ my body like a fuckin’ train wreck.
“I thought I was gonna marry him ... he told me he wanted to have babies with me ... that I was gonna be the mother of his children ... that he wanted to make me his wife...”
An uncontrollable surge of fresh tears erupted from my eyes, feelin’ those words in the soul of my bein’.
“After we were done,” she hyperventilated, gaspin’, breathless. “I didn’t even get a chance to enjoy it because the football team barged into his room at the frat house.” She pulled away, lookin’ deep into my eyes. “They told me. They were high-fiving him, telling him he finally won the bet they started in high school. It’s been going on since day one. Since the first time I kissed him. It was all a lie. Everything has been one big lie. I trusted him ... handed him my heart... Do you have any idea how many times I told him not to hurt me?”
Her skin was burning, as if it was on fire, searin’ from the inside out.
“Do you know what he said every time? I’d die before I’d ever hurt you, Shy...”
She came undone, fallin’ apart. Crumblin’ to pieces in my arms. Suckin’ in air that wasn’t available for the takin’, layin’ her forehead on my chest.
It was all too much.
To live this with her. Nothin’ would be the same after this.
Not. One. Damn. Thing.
The pain...
The hurt...
The loss...
The sensation of her heart breakin’ over and over again.
All at the hands of a boy she loved.
“I thought he was my lobster... I thought ... he was my everything. Turns out, I was nothing but a bet. A fucking bet to him, Harley.”
She bawled so damn hard. I’d never seen her, or anyone cry like she was in my entire life.
I hugged her so tightly, tryin’ to hold what was left of her together. Comfortin’ her the only way I knew how. It was almost too much to bear.
I felt so fuckin’ helpless.
Her beautiful face was filled with so much hopelessness, so much despair, evokin’ a physical reaction from me. The throbbin’ that I felt in my heart was beyond cripplin’.
I was at a loss, hatin’ Trigger with every bone in my body.
How could he do this to her?
Pullin’ her hair away from her face, she finally looked up at me with a huge, hollow vacancy in her gaze. The expression chippin’ away at my heart a little more. There was nothin’ left of the strong girl I had known all my life. I didn’t recognize the person sittin’ before me.
There was so much I wanted to say, so much I wanted to do. Though I could do nothin’. She was hurtin’ in a way I never knew was possible. It cut deep within my core. I’d kill to see her smile, knowin’ in the end it wouldn’t matter.
The warm light of her innocence was gone, bleedin’ all over me, and I didn’t know how to get it back.
Watchin’ someone I loved...
My best friend.
My cousin.
My family.
It drained everythin’ out of me. My own body felt unfamiliar with all the sensations she was stirrin’ up within me.
“Shiloh,” I whispered, my voice hoarse. “I don’t think that’s it. There has to be more to it. He loves you. I know he loves you. I’ve even heard Jackson say how much Trigger loves you.”
She snapped back, out of my arms. “Don’t get me started on Jackson! I fucking hate him too!”
“What?” I shook my head, confused. “Why?”
“Don’t you get it ... can’t you see ... the football team made a bet with him to get me into bed. Trigger never turns down a bet.”
All the blood drained from my face. My body instantly turned cold. Never did I expect what she said next.