Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101505 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101505 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Ten minutes later, I’ve changed to go out and Mia comes out of the bedroom dressed for bed in another oversized t-shirt with plenty of leg showing. Her hair is down and wild. She looks absolutely irresistible, and I wish I could simply command her to go lie down and wait for me to come rock her fucking world tonight. Casually rock her world, that is. It wouldn’t have to mean anything.
“You changed?” she asks. “Going somewhere?”
“Maybe,” I say.
“Where? It’s so late.”
“A few of the guys are at a bar in town. I figure I’ll go.”
“Why?”
I frown. Her question pisses me off, so I decide to answer truthfully. “Because I figure I need to get laid or I’m going to keep acting like an idiot around you.”
I turn and grab the door, but Mia’s voice stops me.
“Wait. Nolan, just… wait a second.”
I turn and see she’s fiddling with the hem of her shirt and bouncing on her toes.
“What?” I snap.
“I just… What if I don’t want you to go hook up with some random girl?”
A thousand thoughts run through my head at the same moment. But I take my hand off the door and turn to face her, taking one step closer. “Then I would ask what you’re going to do to stop me.”
She fidgets again, breaking eye contact and clutching her arm. “All I can do is ask.”
I laugh. “Not good enough.”
“I can promise I don’t want anything to do with Zander.”
“Closer.”
“I can… You could have the bed?” she tries. “It’s huge. We could just stay on our own sides.”
Part of me feels like shit for making her beg like this. Honestly, my desire to go fuck some random woman evaporated the moment Mia showed a hint of resistance to the idea. But I wait a few long seconds just to see her squirm. I lower my voice. I still feel a thudding kind of anger in my chest. I keep thinking of the way she sounded so confident that ending things between us was the right choice. Maybe I don’t know what the hell I want, but at least I’m not pretending I know what we did made sense.
“You want me to sleep in your bed?” I ask.
She opens her mouth, lifting her palms helplessly. “I don’t know, Nolan. I just… I–”
I want to make her hurt, even if it’s just a fragment of what she’s made me feel already. “Nah,” I say, finishing the buttons on my coat and putting my hand on the door knob. “You say you can’t be what I want? Maybe the problem is you don’t know what you want. Let me know when you figure that out, Calloway.”
I step out into the cold and pull the door shut, feeling vaguely like shit. I wanted to make her hurt, but I already regret it. I push the regret from my thoughts and walk into town, heading for one of the bars.
10
MIA
Icould make my coffee at work, but I linger in the kitchen, part of me hoping the sound wakes Nolan. I can see his shape on the couch. To my surprise, he’s there by himself. I halfway expected to see a woman with him. I imagine he would just love that–parading some girl around here in one of his old t-shirts, rubbing what he did last night in my face.
I rub at my eyes, hoping the bags there don’t betray how sleepless my night was.
The coffee pot starts to sputter and Nolan shifts, rolling over on the couch. I glance his way and see he’s sitting there, elbows on his knees and head hanging. He’s shirtless and wearing black sweatpants. His golden skin is tanned and perfect, but his hair is messy and wild. He pushes it back with one hand, lifting his eyes to me. “Morning,” he says.
“Fuck you.” Whoops. I wasn’t exactly planning to come out with my guns blazing like that.
Nolan just chuckles. “Oh, are we sharing what we dreamed about last night? I’m flattered. Where did we do it? Did we use protection?”
I blush, despite his stupid comeback. “I’m not interested in talking to you, Nolan.”
“Right. That’s why you were banging things around in the kitchen to wake me up instead of sneaking out for work like you normally do?”
“Maybe you should just go back to sleep. I’m sure you had a long night.”
He’s rubbing at his eyes, smiling like this is all just so damn amusing. “What does that mean?”
“You went out to get laid. I guess you decided to just get it over with in a dirty bathroom somewhere instead of bringing her back here? Or maybe you went to her place and snuck out before you were at risk of her developing feelings for you?”
“Why do you sound so bothered?”
I set my coffee mug down with a click and close my eyes. I snap them open again. “Because you confuse me. Okay? I don’t want to feel anything for you. Especially not now that you’ve come back. But I–” I trail off and shake my head. “I hate you.”