Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81018 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81018 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
“He didn’t really say anything.” Corvin chewed his lower lip.
That sounded like the Alex I knew. “Did you?”
Guilt flashed across Corvin’s face, but it didn’t linger. “I told him you and I made more sense. Because we do, Ryder.” He rushed forward and grabbed my hand. “Can’t you see that? We’re from the same world.”
I jerked my hand out of his grasp and staggered back. “Don’t you dare touch me, Corvin. I am not a violent guy, but I swear to God, I want to hit you right now. Fuck.” I spun away. “Where’s my phone?” I muttered aloud as I began searching.
“I set it on the kitchen counter.”
If he were expecting a thank you, he’d be waiting until he turned gray.
“You need to go. Now.”
“Ryder, we—”
“Go!” I screamed the word into the quiet penthouse. It might make me a total asshole, but the way Corvin flinched and scurried back into my room to retrieve his stuff made me feel a fraction of a percent better. How dare he fuck with my life in this way?
And he thought what? I’d be grateful. I’d wake up, take one glance at his admittedly classic good looks, and start ripping my clothing off?
“P-please, Ryder, can’t we talk about this?” His chin wobbled, and the crack in his voice told me how close he was to tears. But if he thought it would sway me, he was mistaken. Did Alex cry when he walked in on a naked man leaving my bed? Those were the only tears I cared about.
I rubbed over the ache in my chest as I sighed.
“No, Corvin. Not today. Maybe in the future, but if we talk, it’s only so I can stress what a fucked-up thing you did. Where I went wrong was not being firm enough with you. I considered you a good friend, and because of that, I didn’t want to hurt you by being too blunt. That was my mistake. So let me make myself very clear right now. We are not now, nor will we ever be more than friends.”
It’d be a miracle if we got back to our previous level of friendship. He’d shown himself to be untrustworthy, and I’d never keep him in my life after this stunt. If Corvin felt an ounce of discomfort, I tried to keep my voice even, but I couldn’t help the way it rose to a near shout once again.
“I am with Alex. I love Alex. Truly, I’m sorry if that causes you pain, but I’ve always been honest with you. I haven’t led you on. What you did today, you did because you’re selfish and entitled. Now, please, get the hell out of my home.”
His shoulders sagged, and he seemed to curl in on himself. The picture-perfect dancer’s posture crumpled to one of a dejected, defeated man. Guilt tried to worm past my anger, but I shoved it away, hard.
“I don’t want to lose you as a friend, Ryder.”
This guy. “Then you should have thought about that before you misled my boyfriend into thinking we slept together. This is the last time I’ll ask you to leave. My next step is to call security.”
He gasped. “Seriously? Security? Fuck you, Ryder.” Gone was the heartbroken former friend, and in his place was a hateful, spoiled man who couldn’t deal with not getting his way. Corvin thundered toward my door, but I reached it first, yanking it open so he wouldn’t even have to stay an extra second to do it himself.
What I saw outside my door had my heart flinging from my chest to my throat.
“Alex.”
He sat on the floor, eyes red-rimmed, and knees drawn up.
“Fantastic,” Corvin muttered as he slunk out the door, but he was already gone to me. I only had eyes for the dejected man on the floor. I could hear Corvin’s footsteps as he approached the elevator, but I didn’t so much as glance his way, too busy staring at Alex.
“H-have you been here all night?” Nerves like I’d never known mixed with my sadness and anger. There was a chance, I didn’t know how much of a chance, but a chance that Alex wouldn’t believe me. A chance he’d view what happened as a betrayal and, what?
End things?
Oh my God.
I wouldn’t survive it.
“No,” he answered, his voice raw like he’d been shouting into the night. Some nights, it happened after a busy shift where he had to yell over Top Shelf’s music for hours. I had a feeling this was due to lack of sleep and perhaps crying.
It gutted me.
He climbed to his feet, slowly, fighting against the weight of a poor night’s sleep. If his heart felt anywhere near as heavy as mine, all movement was a struggle. “I slept at my house and came here a little while ago. You were shouting, so I didn’t come in. Seemed like you were doing okay without backup.”