Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 51243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
“Hey, Audrey.”
“Hey?” My laugh cracked on the word. “That’s all you’ve got?”
His brow lifted, calm as ever. “What else should I say?”
“I don’t know. Maybe start with why you were practically flirting your way through The Plaza?”
“You being completely incapable of not flirting with every woman who laughs at something you say—or touches your arm—or looks like she’s dying to follow you home.” My pulse pounded. “Looked like you were seconds away from inviting her back to our apartment for sex, so—”
My sentence ended against his mouth.
He kissed me until the words dissolved, until my thoughts blurred into the taste of him and the hard press of brick at my back.
When he finally pulled away, his breath was rough against my cheek. “I was asking the manager how much she’d charge to shut the place down for the two of us tomorrow night,” he said softly. “Just for a couple hours. Since you once mentioned wanting that with your boyfriend one day.”
Heat flooded my face. “I’m sure the guy who will eventually become my boyfriend years from now will handle that.”
My sarcasm earned another kiss—slow, aching.
“I’m trying to show you that I’m serious about this,” he said, cupping my face in his hands. His eyes searched mine. “Please let me.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I just thought…”
“I know what you thought.” His thumb brushed the corner of my lip. “But I’m not interested in anyone but you, Audrey. Just you.”
For a moment, I believed him completely.
TRACK 33. WI$H LI$T (4:04)
AUDREY
A Couple Weeks Later
Bears End Preseason Undefeated: Will Wolff’s Return Help or Harm?
Wolff Injury Update: Taylor to Return Sooner Than Expected
Rumor Alert: Taylor Wolff’s “Shakespearean SideQuest” Leaves Fans Curious
Ilaughed at the latest headlines and set down my phone.
I’d never felt like this before. Every relationship I’d had in the past paled in comparison to the whirlwind that was Taylor Wolff. I never wanted our late nights on the beach to end, never wanted to stop memorizing the sound of his laugh or the way he said my name like it belonged to him.
I couldn’t believe I was falling for the boy who once ripped my bleeding heart apart—trusting him now with the stitches, the sutures, the fragile rhythm beneath his hands.
The highway stretched endlessly ahead, the ocean flashing silver to our right as the waves chased us down the coast. The windows were cracked, salt air in our lungs, the hum of music low between us.
Taylor clasped my hand behind the gearshift, strumming my knuckles with the pad of his thumb.
I looked over, catching the hint of a smile that could undo me with a single glance.
“If this is what falling feels like,” I murmured, “I don’t want it to stop.”
He squeezed my hand. “Then don’t.”
TRACK 34. GLITCH (3:59)
AUDREY
The condo was quiet except for the faint rhythm of rain against the windows and the low hum of the dishwasher. I sat cross-legged on the couch, my laptop open but forgotten.
Taylor was stretched out across from me, reading game notes on his tablet, a mug of black coffee balanced on his knee. For a while we just existed in the same space—comfortable, easy—until the question that had been clawing at the back of my throat finally slipped free.
“Can I ask you something?”
He didn’t look up. “You always do.”
“Why were you so cruel to me during our junior year of high school?” My voice was softer than I meant. “Especially that second semester. You were worse than usual, and I’ve never known why.”
He blinked, setting the tablet aside. “I don’t remember being worse.”
“I do.” The words came out like a confession. “I still feel it when I think about it sometimes. I want to know what changed.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “It doesn’t matter now.”
“It matters to me.”
He hesitated—then, too quickly, said, “Maybe it was because my dad was sleeping with your mom.”
My heart stuttered. “What?”
He looked away. “Forget it. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No—don’t do that.” I sat forward, palms flattening on my knees. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s not important.”
“It’s my mother, Taylor.” Heat crawled up my neck. “You think you can just drop something like that and change the subject?”
He exhaled hard, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m saying it’s complicated.”
“No,” I said, standing. “You’re saying you’ve been sitting on a bomb and finally decided to light it.”
He rose too fast, his chair scraping against the floor. “You act like you didn’t know.”
“I didn’t.” My voice cracked. “How could I have known?”
He laughed once—bitter, hollow. “Because everyone in that town knew except you.”
The sound of the rain filled the silence that followed. My pulse roared in my ears; I could taste copper from biting the inside of my cheek.
“So that’s why you hated me more?” I asked quietly. “Because of them?”
He dragged a hand through his hair. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to lose you,” he said. “You were the only friend I had.”