Page 54 of Mine to Take

They just throw the random stuff girls leave behind into a cardboard box, not really caring if it ever gets reclaimed?

He pulls out a tiny scrap of black material that I assume is a thong. “Would this happen to be yours?” With a squint, his gaze runs over the length of me. “It’s probably the right size.”

My face scrunches before I can think better of it. “Ewww.”

“Hey, don’t yuck someone else’s yum.”

I don’t bother with a response as I hurry down the last step and head for the door. I’m sure Holland is wondering what happened to me.

“Just out of curiosity, do you know what you’re doing?”

All his previous humor has fled. The seriousness shining in his eyes is far more disconcerting than the thong dangling from his finger.

“No, not at all.”

“Well, good luck with that. We both know that River will shit a brick if he finds out you’ve been banging his archnemesis.”

Ugh.

He’s not wrong.

With nothing left to say to that bit of truth, I slip out the door.

16

Maverick

As soon as I slide into the back seat of Ryder’s truck, he squeals away from the curb and does a U-turn in the middle of the street.

His gaze flickers to mine in the rearview mirror. “Find what you needed?”

“Yup.” I don’t mention the familiar floral scent tinging the air in my room. I can’t be certain, but it smelled like the same one that clung to the blonde from Saturday night.

Unfortunately, as soon as I’d caught a whiff, it sent my senses into overdrive and my cock had stiffened right up.

And since I didn’t want to sport a hard-on for the rest of the evening, I’d gotten myself off in record speed.

This is definitely getting out of hand.

Pun intended.

I stare out the passenger side window and watch the landscape roll by as we head home for dinner with my parents.

I really need to move on from this girl. Scenting her perfume in my space and catching glimpses of her all over campus is really starting to fuck with my head. My fingers brush over the necklace that hangs around my neck. I’d thought I lost it the other day and panicked, tearing my room apart.

Turns out I’d left it in the bathroom before hitting the shower.

It’s only after I fastened it around my neck that everything settled within me.

Juliette twists toward the back seat. “Have you talked with Mom lately?”

My eyes slice from the landscape to my sister. Her brow is furrowed. “A couple days ago, why?” I hate the suspicious tone that enters my voice.

It’s like I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

It’s exhausting.

“She went for a checkup yesterday.”

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