Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
“Kitten.” I spin around to see Noble standing there. “You run, I'll just chase you,” he says softly. I burst into tears, the floodgates opening. “Baby.” Noble wraps his arms around me, pulling me into him. “I’ve got you,” he whispers. Words no one else has ever said to me before.
CHAPTER 17
NOBLE
Autumn keeps sneaking peeks at me over her book, and while I’d like to think it’s because of my charisma and sexual magnetism, I have a suspicion it has something to do with the reporter from The Campus Recorder. We haven’t really addressed her earlier tears. Her initial excuse that it was just stress-related sounded like a lie. I toss my pen aside.
“Want to talk about it?”
“About what?”
“What the reporter was asking you about. Why you cried.”
She shrugs lightly and runs her highlighter across a page. “I told you earlier that I was feeling overwhelmed with all my schoolwork.”
“There are tutors here, if you need them.”
“You’d be okay with that?”
“If they were women, sure. If it was a guy, then I’d be jealous as hell and would want to sit in on every session so that I could glare at him and reassure myself that he wasn’t going to make a move on you.”
Her lips twitch. “You’re a little silly if you think I’m that attractive to other people. I hardly know why you’re with me, Noble Patton White.”
“You’re wrong. Guys are always eyeing you. I nearly have nervous breakdowns every time we leave my place,” I joke.
She doesn’t look up from her paper when she replies, “If I feel the need, I’ll get a tutor, and if it’s a guy, we’ll have it here so you won’t have to go far to stare menacingly at the tutor’s head. As for earlier today, if you want to tell me something, you would tell me.”
I don’t think she meant it as criticism, so I don’t know why I feel guilty suddenly. “Shitty things happen in this world because shitty people exist. I can’t prevent everything bad in this world from affecting you or us, but the things I can take care of, I will, because that’s the privilege I have as your man.”
“Is this you admitting that you had two students removed from campus?”
“Yes. Is that a problem?”
She sets her highlighter on the table and contemplates me for a long, uncomfortable moment. “I think I’d like it if you said something to me first.”
“I didn’t want to place that burden on you. The whole purpose of me telling you what to do when we’re in here”—I gesture toward the bed—“is so you don’t have to think. You just enjoy the moment, experience the pleasure. I get off on that too, so don’t think it’s a one-way street. It’s something we both want.”
“I’m not saying that I’m going to object or that I don’t want you to take action, but that I’d rather know what’s going on than find out from a nosy campus reporter. I wouldn’t have that embarrassing deer in the headlights look, and I’d be prepared.” Her smile is sweet, and there’s no bite to her words. I feel like shit.
“I was wrong. I’m sorry.” I get up and cross over to her. By her side, I get down on one knee and press her hand against my mouth. “Forgive me.”
She cups my chin and then moves her hand around to stroke my hair. “I’m not mad at you at all. Just keep me in the loop.”
I nod. “Will do. I got the school to expel both Rob Track and Nathan What’s-his-face, and it wasn’t just because it wasn’t fair to any of the other students to be at risk. This university is funded by my granddad’s money, and I don’t need Track or the other kid to be blackening its name.”
“So, you wouldn’t have done it just for me?”
I hesitate because I’m not sure if I should lie. “I would’ve done it just for you.”
Her hand tightens, and she blows out a long stream of air, almost as if she’s controlling the urge to cry again.
“You mad?” I wish I’d kept my big mouth shut.
“No. It’s that I’ve never been this important to someone, and it’s really affecting me in a big way. You’re wrecking me, Noble. What happens when you are done with me? How do I move on?”
My head comes up, and I pin her with a hard stare. “When you move on? You’re never moving on, and I’m not ever going to be done with you. This is forever, girl.”
“How can you say that? We’ve only been together for a few weeks, and we’re young. You could find someone else after college. You’re graduating, and I have three more years to go.”
“First off, I’m going into the MBA program. Second, my family’s company headquarters are here. Third, even if the first two weren’t true, I’d still be on your tail. I’m going to be around so much you’re going to wish I had hobbies that weren’t loving you, fucking you, feeding you, and buying you shit.”