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)
Worry flares in his eyes for just a second, likely remembering the fact that I've been a Badger a lot longer than he has, and I have way more pull with Coach, not to mention the owner. But honestly his position on our team is the last thing he needs to be worried about. Especially when I want to knock his teeth out.
“Fuck off,” Liam says, shaking his head. “Get the hell out of my place.”
“Gladly,” I say, my message delivered as I head out the door.
I carry Monroe’s three heavy bags to my car, and she’s silent but calm as she gets in.
We make it back to my house in no time, and I put all her things in the guest room that's next to mine. She takes a minute to change into PJ's and wash her face but joins me on the couch after she's done.
“Don't you want to lay down?” I ask as she sits close to me, our thighs touching.
“Can I just stay with you for a little bit?” she asks, tucking her knees up to her chest and turning toward me.
I move my arm, and she leans her head against my chest, sighing deeply.
“Of course,” I say. “Want me to turn something on?”
She nods, and I reach for the remote, turning on one of the documentaries I'd been watching before she called.
It hasn't even been ten minutes before she falls asleep in my arms. I hold her, not daring to move when I know how exhausted she is.
The urge to kill Liam creeps up all over again.
CHAPTER 2
MONROE
My eyelids are heavy as I pull them back, blinking a few times to reorient myself with my surroundings.
My head rises and falls slightly, the warmth of a muscular chest beneath my cheek. I gently sit up, not wanting to disturb the sleeping Paxton who lies beneath me.
The reality of last night crashes over me, and I swear my entire being cringes at the memory.
Breaking up with Liam after one too many jokes about us riding off into the sunset together—after I continuously told him that wasn’t going to happen—and him abandoning me at that chaotic festival I hadn't even wanted to go to in the first place as a result, stings.
Paxton coming to pick me up with no questions asked and somehow finding me among a sea of faces, helping me come down from the panic that had gripped me, soothes that small hurt, just a little.
I must’ve fallen asleep in his arms last night after he brought me back to his place. I’m not entirely surprised. Paxton has always been a safe space for me.
Liam had tortured me for a week after yet another disagreement about our future, playing music at all hours of the night and having his friends knock on my door like high schoolers pulling pranks. Last night was the first decent sleep I've gotten in a while, and it was on a couch, with Paxton’s muscled body beneath me.
I look down at him, my heart expanding in my chest. Involuntary need flares through my veins. I smell like him—coriander and lavender with notes of orange blossom—and I really like it. It's not the first time we've fallen asleep together, but it’s the first time I needed him so badly, to cling to his solid safety in order to ground myself.
Our families have been friends for decades, so we’ve been on our fair share of camping trips and vacations where we were always tossed into our own hotel room, spending the midnight hours indulging in room service treats and laughing until our stomachs hurt.
Paxton has been a constant my entire life, a true friend I can be completely myself around and never fear reproach or judgment. We have a mile-long list of adventures our families have taken us on, and I’ve never once felt like our time together was too much.
Honestly, I can never get enough of him, and that always scares the shit out of me.
I look down at my best friend now, a smile tugging at the corner of my lips while my heart aches in a way that’s hard to describe. Paxton means everything to me. He’s my center of gravity when I’m threatening to spin right off the planet.
And I want more with him.
I have for so long, the ache is almost a permanent piece of me. And it’s gotten worse over the last few years. I don’t know how much longer I can go on denying it.
But just because I want him doesn’t change things.
I don’t want to get married. I never have.
Thanks to my mother being one of the most sought-after divorce lawyers in the country, I’ve witnessed enough of her cases to know marriage isn’t something I want to subject myself to. It doesn’t matter that my mom and dad have been happily married for decades…I’ve seen too many relationships fail to ever want to risk it.