Total pages in book: 10
Estimated words: 8586 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 43(@200wpm)___ 34(@250wpm)___ 29(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 8586 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 43(@200wpm)___ 34(@250wpm)___ 29(@300wpm)
She was so blind to my feelings for her. I could hide them all I wanted, but every time I looked at her, there was no hiding how I truly felt.
I was just about to lock my phone again when Aura’s face popped up on my screen with an incoming call from her. Immediately, I answered her call and lifted my phone to my ear. “Hey,” I greeted her. “What’s up?”
She drew in a shuddering breath, tears clear in the simple action. Immediately, I sat up straighter and put out my cigarette against the tree before shoving the half-smoked cigarette into my pocket. “Can you come get me?” she croaked.
I was on my feet immediately, tugging my bike keys from my pocket. “Yeah, baby.” It wasn’t uncommon for me to call her that. I’d been calling her that since we were thirteen fucking years old. “Where are you? What’s going on?” I demanded as I strode toward the street where my bike was parked.
“I caught him cheating, Tye,” she said, her voice cracking. Anger roared through my veins, and I snarled, the part of my personality that I got from my sociopathic mother burning through my veins. I was medicated for the majority of my symptoms, but anything negatively concerning Aura made that medication seem non-fucking-existent.
“What the fuck do you mean you caught him cheating?” I snapped, pausing beside my bike.
“I found pictures of him and another girl on his phone while we were eating.” She sniffled. I rolled my jaw around, trying to force myself to remain calm. “When I demanded answers, he confessed but also tried the old, ‘she means nothing to me’ line.” She sniffled again, and I swear to fuck, I growled. I was going to fuck him up for hurting her like this.
“Where are you, Aura?”
“The bar on 57th,” she told me. “I’m hiding out in the bathroom. I can’t face him right now, Tye. I’m so tired of guys hurting me. What’s wrong with me?”
I blew out a harsh breath, forcing myself to calm down for her sake. “There’s nothing wrong with you, baby. You’re absolutely fucking perfect. You just have this terrible habit of picking out douchebags.” Mom said it was due to her trauma, but that still didn’t give guys the right to just cheat on her and treat her like shit.
At least she hadn’t been with this guy too long. Couple of months at the most.
“I’m coming to you, baby, okay? Track my location so you know when I get close so you can meet me outside.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “Thank you, Tye.”
“I’ll always come when you need me,” I promised her. “I love you. Hang in there.”
A tiny, broken sob escaped her, and I clenched my fists. “I love you, too, Tye.”
When I reached the bar, her boyfriend—Tyler, Taylor, Turner, whatever the fuck his name was supposed to be—was waiting outside the bar and pacing in front of the entrance while typing furiously at his phone. At the sound of my bike, he turned to face me, and his face visibly paled under the shitty bar lights. I tugged my helmet off and set it on my seat before striding toward him.
“Tye—” he started, but my fist cut off the rest of what he was going to say to me.
He stumbled and lost his footing as blood spurted from his nose. He hit the ground hard, but no one rushed to his aid. I spit on his face. “Come near Aura again, and I’ll do more than break your fucking nose next time,” I snarled just as the woman I’d come to rescue emerged from the bar.
She grabbed my arm. “Come on, Tye,” she whispered. Her beautiful eyes were red-rimmed, and her nose was tinged pink. It was clear she’d splashed water on her face to try to hide how much she’d been crying, but she couldn’t hide from me. She could never hide from me.
“Aura—” her ex tried.
I spun her around and marched her toward my bike while calling over my shoulder, “You and her are fucking done, Taylor.”
“My name is fucking Timothy!” he shouted after me.
“Wow,” I muttered. I glanced at Aura, only to find her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “You dated a tool named Timothy?” I shook my head and grabbed my helmet off the seat. “His name was a dead giveaway that he was going to be a douchebag, baby.”
She sighed. “He was sweet when he asked me out,” she muttered.
I settled my helmet on her head, then worked on fastening the strap beneath her chin. “The assholes usually are.” Then, I swung my leg over my bike and patted the seat behind me. “Hop on, baby. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
2
Aura
The after-game party was in full-swing when Tye came to a stop at the curb in front of the frat house he stayed in. I stayed here with him more than I actually stayed in my dorm, but I usually avoided this place when there was a party. Everyone got so rowdy, and I was a fan of sleeping.