Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 81584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
They were going to get weird.
He was so nice, and he hadn’t done anything that I could put my finger on, but something just wasn’t right. We weren’t right together. He wanted to be with me constantly. He showed up without calling, assuming I’d be happy to see him. He asked to carpool to work almost every day even though he knew I wasn’t comfortable making that kind of statement at the office and turned him down over and over. It just sucked because he hadn’t done anything specific that I could point to when I broke up with him. He was fine. It was fine. I just didn’t want fine. I was getting sick of fine. I actually wasn’t even sure how we’d ended up seeing each other for so long.
I fell asleep quickly, but I hadn’t been asleep very long when I woke halfway up to Scott kissing my neck. It felt good, and I leaned further into him, just groggy enough to forget that I was going to break up with him in the morning.
The sex was okay. Alcohol covered everything in enough of a haze it made even the most basic moves a bit dreamy and romantic. Moments after we were done, I fell back asleep.
“You awake, old lady?” Lou called through the door hours later. “Get up, we’re making breakfast!”
“You’re cruel,” I called back, pushing my face against the pillow.
“You’re going to feel like shit if you don’t eat. Get up! Bas is starting the bacon.”
“Jesus,” Scott grumbled behind me. “How is anyone that happy this early?”
Leaning up on an elbow, I reached for my phone. The moment I wrapped my hand around it, my bare arm rubbed against something scratchy, and I looked down in confusion. Beneath my arm was a condom wrapper. I’d opened my mouth to joke about how Scott hadn’t cleaned up his mess when reality slapped me in the face.
It wasn’t open. It hadn’t been used.
Panic gripped me by the throat as I slid my thighs together beneath the blankets. Sticky. Oh, god.
“What the fuck?” I blew, scrambling off the bed. “What the fuck?”
“What?” Scott barked, sitting straight up in bed. “What is it?”
“You—you—” I couldn’t even get the words out. I was standing naked in the center of my bedroom, and I didn’t know what to do or where to look.
“Jesus, what?”
“You didn’t wear a fucking condom,” I spat, throwing it at him.
I expected him to be shocked. Surprised. Embarrassed. Ashamed. Anything. Instead, he just shrugged.
“We’re together, right?” he asked. “It’s not like I’m sleeping with anyone else.”
My mouth dropped open in disbelief. He wasn’t even looking at me. Wouldn’t meet my eyes.
With a sinking feeling, I stared at him, trying to remember if I knew for sure that he’d been wearing them. He always pulled one out. He kept one in his wallet, and I had some in my bedside table. He always reached for one, always ripped it open and put it on, but I couldn’t remember if I’d paid attention to whether or not he was still wearing one when he was inside me.
My stomach roiled with nausea.
“Have you done this before?” I asked, my voice raw.
Scott scoffed like I was being crazy, and I knew.
“Get out,” I hissed, staring at him in horror.
“You’re—”
“Get the fuck out.”
“Frankie—”
“GET OUT!” I screamed, my voice breaking.
“I don’t know why you’re so worked up,” Scott said placatingly, pushing the blankets off his thighs. The sight of his naked body made me sick.
“Frank?” Bas called from outside the door.
“Get out of my house,” I growled at Scott. “Get your shit and get away from me.”
“Seriously?” Scott asked, standing. “Let’s just—”
“Get out,” I screeched. Why was he still talking? Why wasn’t he getting dressed?
My door slammed open so fast that it slammed into the wall.
“You need help?” Bas asked darkly, glaring at Scott.
“This is between me and Frankie,” Scott snapped, pulling on his boxers.
“You okay, doll?” Bas looked at my face, deliberately looking nowhere else, and I started crying when I realized I was still standing there naked.
“I want him out,” I choked out, grabbing a hoodie off the floor to clutch to my chest.
“You heard her,” Bas said as Scott started to protest. “Get out, or I’ll put you out.”
He must have read the violence in Bas’s voice because Scott didn’t even bother putting on his shirt or coat before he bailed.
“Lou,” Bas called, standing in my doorway as there was some kind of commotion in the living room. “Can you come back here?”
“I’m all right,” I said quickly as I started backing toward the bathroom. “I’m fine.”
“What happened?” Lou asked frantically as she pushed past Bas. “Frank?”
I glanced at Bas who was staring at the wall.
“I got it,” Lou said, squeezing his shoulder. “Can you finish breakfast? We’ll be out in a few minutes.”