Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 52440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 262(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 262(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
"That's why I'm going!" he growls. "You shouldn't have stayed! I didn't want that."
I flinch, rocking back on my heels. "W-what?"
"Shit." He grips his hair by the roots, tugging like he does when he's anxious or frustrated. "That didn't come out right."
"I think it did," I whisper. He…didn't want me here with him?
"I…fuck." He exhales a breath. "You put your whole life on hold for me, butterfly. I never wanted that. As soon as you had the chance, you should have been off chasing your dreams instead of waiting around for me."
"What are you saying, Teo?"
"I'm saying…I guess I'm saying I don't agree with the choice you made," he admits. "You should be leaving for college this year, not wasting your time. You're too fucking talented to keep holding yourself back for me."
I don't believe him. He's trying to make this out to be some noble sacrifice like he's doing it for my own good, but it's bullshit. He just doesn't want to admit that he picked football over me.
"So you just decided to leave me instead, right?" I ask, sarcasm heavy in my tone. "I did something you don't agree with, so you're running off to make sure poor little Nadia makes better choices in the future."
"No, dammit! That's not what this is!"
"Really? So you aren't doing this for me?"
"Fuck," he snarls, his jaw pulsing.
"That's what I thought," I say. "You're mad at me because I made the decision I thought was best for me, but it turns out, you're the only one who gets to decide what's best for me, right?"
"Staying behind wasn't best for you, Nadia. You know it wasn't. You're too damn talented to keep wasting your time here. I'd rather not have you in my life at all than have you wasting yours!"
I flinch, feeling like he knocked the breath out of me. He doesn't want me in his life. The truth hurts like hell. But I blink back the tears and nod. "I understand," I say, trying desperately to keep breathing as my throat threatens to close up. "Enjoy your new college life, Mateo."
"Nadia, dammit, wait."
"Go to hell," I whisper, stumbling away from him.
"Nadia, please," he whispers, his voice rough. "Please, talk to me."
"You've said enough, and you're right," I call over my shoulder, tears slipping down my cheeks. "I shouldn't be wasting my time, and I shouldn't be in your life."
I should have taken the stupid science class and graduated early. Maybe then I wouldn't remember the way his lips feel against mine or have the memory of him saying the words I've dreamed about for so damn long—words he never meant at all.
He doesn't love me, not the way I love him. If he did, I don't think it'd hurt like this. You don't lie to the people you love. You don't pick everything except them. And you don't break them into tiny pieces, either.
"Nadia, butterfly," he pleads. "I love you. Please don't do this."
But I didn't do it. He did. He chose football over me—over us—and he wasn't even man enough to admit it. Instead, he made it my fault. Poor little Nadia, too dumb to make her own choices.
Well, screw that. He made this choice. He can live with it.
Chapter One
Teo
Now
"They still haven't thrown your pathetic ass out of the league?" Greg Aldersgate asks, sneering through his helmet as he crouches in front of me on the twenty-yard line.
There's less than a minute left on the clock, and we've been demolishing the Colonials all day. They don't have a chance in hell of catching up now. Aldersgate is being a little bitch about it, naturally.
"Fuck off, Aldersgate," I snap, trying to focus on the last bit of the game and not this prick. I swear to Christ, every time we cross paths, he starts his bullshit. All because he can't take a beating like a man. If he knew how to keep his hands off women, he wouldn't have to worry about it. But he never learned that lesson.
We were roommates in college—hell, we were the best of friends—until we were both drafted to the league our junior year. Then he decided to smack his girlfriend around.
The best thing I ever did was smack him around when I saw the bruises he left on her. He was almost booted from the league when I reported what happened. And he's never forgiven me for it. Like I care. I may be an asshole, but at least I'm an asshole with integrity and a moral compass. He lacks both.
"Aww, did I hurt your feelings?" he asks like this is a playground instead of a televised football game we're being paid millions to play. Then again, mentally, he never left the playground. Bullies rarely do. "Or are you still moping about your little girlfriend?"