Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
I nearly jump out of my shoes as I whirl around in shock and find myself staring into the drunken eyes of a man I was not expecting to see here tonight.
“Tony!?” He simply grins back. Tony and I went to high school together. He was a senior when I was a freshman and was always relentlessly hitting on me, even after I told him I wasn’t interested. It’s been years—thankfully—since I saw him last.
He reaches out and slides my glass away from me. The way he touches it makes my skin crawl—like he thinks he owns it or something. “Get rid of this trash. Let me get you a real drink—"
“Um, excuse me,” Mara chimes in, pulling my drink back. “Did anybody ask for your help here? No? Good, then why don’t you get lost?”
“Do you think I give a shit?” he counters, then, without hesitation, moves right in and wraps me up in his arms like I’ll just accept whatever he does to me. His eyes are glazed over, and he’s sweating as he starts pulling me away into the crowd, grinding his hips against my thigh.
“Mara!” I shout, starting to panic. Like the true friend she is, she grabs him by the shirt and starts slapping him, but he shoves her hard and knocks her to the floor.
Now I’m really starting to freak out. I look around for help, but everyone is lost in their own worlds, dancing and grinding like animals. I spot a side door, and my heart sinks. That must be where he’s taking me. Reaching out, I try to grab a support column as we pass, but my fingers just slip off it.
I knew it. I should have listened to the voice in my head telling me to stay in tonight. But Mara was so convincing, and I wanted to feel reckless. Just once.
“Let go!” I manage to shout, but I’m no match for this man. He kicks the door open, and the night air slams into me. I see the van. Rusted. Idling. This is how girls disappear. I open my mouth to scream, and that’s when it happens.
The air shifts. A shadow moves fast and silently. Tony’s body jerks violently as a fist connects with his jaw. The crack echoes off the brick wall, and he drops like someone cut his strings.
I stumble backward, heart in my throat. A boot strikes hits stomach, causing him to cry out.
“You keep your hands off her, you son of a bitch.”
Everything in me goes still.
That voice…
Everything feels like slow-motion as I turn and look at the man who just saved my life, and when I see him, my jaw nearly falls off. “Caleb…” My voice is barely a whisper. “I was right. It was you.”
He doesn’t even look winded. His shoulders are broad beneath his dark shirt. His hands are flexing, like he’s deciding whether to keep going.
Then he looks at me. I see my reflection sizzling in his bright green eyes, and I almost pass out.
“Are you hurt?” he asks. It isn’t a question. It’s an inspection.
I shake my head, barely breathing. His jaw tightens anyway.
“Bastard spiked your drink,” he says, glaring at me like he’s blaming me for what just happened. “You’re so irresponsible.”
My mouth doesn’t seem to work as I try to respond. “I…my friend…Mara—”
He grabs my wrist—not painfully but firmly—and pulls me behind him, placing himself between me and the world like it’s pure instinct. “Some little girl can’t save you from a guy like that.”
I recognize his truck instantly, parked in the shadows just down the block. “Let’s get you out of here,” he says.
“But Mara—”
“She’ll be fine. You can text her on the way.”
The next thing I know, I’m being gently lifted into the passenger side of his truck. He just beat the hell out of a guy like it was nothing, and now he’s being a total gentleman.
Feeling Caleb’s rough hand on my skin and staring into his eyes again after so long is like a breath of pure oxygen after suffocation. I was built to fit exactly here.
And that is so wrong…
2
CALEB
My knuckles whiten around the steering wheel as I drive. I fight the urge to glance over at Eliza’s breasts, nearly spilling out of her dress. Christ, where did she get those things? She’s grown a lot since the last time I actually allowed myself to look at her.
And what the hell is that tiny little piece of fabric she’s wearing? It’s more like lingerie than something you wear to the club where any man can see you. Doesn’t she know how the guys will react to something like that?
It was Mara’s idea, of course. The boy-crazy friend who’s been nothing but a terrible influence since day one. I’ve never liked her. Eliza doesn’t drink, but I can smell the alcohol on her.