Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 67510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
“What about after you sat on my face? Was that not considered cuddling either?”
“Stop it!” She threw a pillow at my head, and I caught it.
“I’ll stop when you come to me.”
“Come to you or for you?” Her hand flew to her mouth, completely caught off guard by her own outburst.
I didn’t miss a beat in answering, “Depends. Which are you offering?”
She opened her mouth to reply but quickly shut it, knowing better.
“You know what?” I stated out of nowhere. “I have a better idea.”
“Should I be worried?”
“Maybe.”
“Aires…” She leaned away, about to haul ass, but in two strides, I wrapped my arm around her waist before she had the chance to take off.
“There.” I tugged her toward me, pulling her back against my chest as I lay back on the lounger that was angled a bit. “Much better, you brat.”
“Stop.” She squealed as I rubbed my beard along the side of her neck to teach her a lesson. “That tickles.”
“No shit,” I bit, never letting up until finally, I granted her some mercy.
I immediately felt the loss of her soft skin.
For the next few minutes, she lay on my chest and rubbed her fingers back and forth on my arm, making my skin feel amazing from her simple yet pungent caress. The moon and stars felt as if they were right near us, like we could touch them if we wanted to.
The change of scenery was dreamlike and out of a movie, and I enjoyed every second of it.
It was perfect.
A sense of calm washed over me, being there with her. I had no idea how much power she still held over me. Or it could have been the drugs. Again, I didn’t care and embraced the effects, whether real or not.
The realization that I barely knew anything about her since we parted ways hit me out of nowhere and all at once. I wanted to know it all, every last detail about her life. It felt like it belonged to me.
She felt like she belonged to me.
“Bay…”
“Hmm?”
“Tell me?” I whispered in her ear from behind her, causing her to stir. “I want the truth this time. How have you been?”
Bailey
The night had turned out better than I ever imagined it would, considering I didn’t want to come in the first place. I had done Molly before but never experienced anything remotely close to what I felt with Aires. I didn’t know what possessed me to do this with him. I knew the night would lead to conversation, which would lead to questions.
Honesty was the name of the game, and I couldn’t have lied to him even if I wanted to. I was in a drug-induced state that allowed for all my inhibitions to be thrown out the window the second it hit my brain.
At that moment, being in his arms, looking out at the beauty of the world, it was easy to remember how deep our connection used to be.
So there was no hesitation on my part when I confessed…
“I’ve been lonely.”
chapter four
Bailey
“It’s crazy, though. All I ever wanted was to have the career I have now. I just never imagined how alone it would feel once I was at the top.”
“What goes up must come down,” he simply stated.
“The higher you climb, the harder you fall, and I remember that every day.”
“That’s not healthy.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I love my career—”
“Don’t do that, Bay. Don’t feel like you have to tell me how blessed you are so I don’t think you’re ungrateful about your status. More than anyone, I understand the pressure you’re constantly under. It’s worse than when we were kids. America’s Sweetheart is some glass slippers you’ve stepped into.”
I couldn’t open up to my family. I just couldn’t. I didn’t want them to think I didn’t appreciate or love what I did for a living. I was too worried they’d tell me to stop if they thought it hurt me.
I assumed I’d feel uncomfortable opening up to him again, being vulnerable and exposed to him, but I didn’t.
If anything, it felt right.
He always felt right.
With my head leaning on his chest, I looked up at him. “Nice analogy.”
He smiled at me. “I’m full of wisdom.”
“I am grateful, though.”
“I know.”
“How about you?” I changed the subject, wanting to know about him as well. “How have you been? You know, other than galivanting with models and socialites of the week.”
He grinned. “Kept tabs on me, huh?”
“It’s kind of hard to avoid when your face is everywhere. However, I wasn’t a fan of your leaked threesome porn from your twenty-first birthday.”
He winked at me. “That was some of my best work.”
“Eh,” I mocked. “But it was slightly less entertaining than the full-frontal pictures I saw of you on vacation last year.”
“What can I say? I’m not a fan of tan lines.”