Page 18 of Wreck Me

“Fucking prick,” Caleb growled as I flipped over onto my back. Without sparing a thought, his arm slipped beneath my shoulders, pulling me close.

“Want to know how old I was when he told me I’d take over the company one day and I had no choice in the matter?” I asked, snuggling into his side so I could steal his body heat—a comfort I craved in order to push back the negative emotions that’d radiated through me. “I was eleven, Caleb. Aren’t fathers supposed to tell their little girls they could be anything they wanted to be when they grew up? Mine told me I had no choice, and I’d run his company whether I liked it or not. Then he proceeded to remind me of it every single birthday. ‘One year closer to business school, Isla. Soon you’ll learn all there is to know so you can take over Skyline. With any luck, you won’t run it into the ground your first year.’ What I never understood was if he was so worried about me ruining the company, why was he so hell-bent on making me run it?”

“So how did you end up here and not at an Ivy league?”

“Ridgewood University’s business program is just as rigorous as many of the Ivy’s. I convinced my father that by allowing me to go to school here, he’d be saving an obscene amount of money on tuition. Once he had his assistant look into it and confirm, he allowed it.”

“Why would you choose here, though? Why not go anywhere else?”

“He still pushed for me to go to Ivy, but I just wanted to live a normal life for once. I wanted to be like a normal girl who could just get away from her parents and forget where she came from. Ridgewood University was one step closer to leading a normal life and breaking free from his grasp for a while. Running Skyline is something I’ll eventually have to do, but these last few years, I’ve had the chance to get to know myself. I’ve lived how I want to. The agreement was, if I wanted to live a normal life, I’d have to live with normal finances. He pays my tuition because it benefits him, but as far as everything else, we agreed on a specific allotment to be transferred into my bank account every month to help me with the rest. He’s waiting for me to break and come crawling back to his checkbook.”

“So he still pays your bills?” Caleb asked, and I couldn’t help but hear the skepticism in his tone. It was a lot to process, but I knew somehow within my explanation I had dug myself into a hole and made myself look bad in the process.

My head bobbed in a nod. “Yes, he covers the very basics, though barely. With the amount he gives me—the amount we agreed on—there are many months where I have literal cents in my bank account. Like when we met… I was on my last couple dollars and had left my wallet at home so I wouldn’t spend it on something stupid. I knew a couple dollars could cover two night’s worth of instant ramen if I needed it.”

Embarrassment swept through my body at the admission, making me feel small. Tears pricked the back of my eyes and I wondered if I was making the right choice after all. My life was mapped out for me… It was my path. Maybe I should accept my father’s plans and embrace them. I wouldn’t have to struggle like I was and I wouldn’t have to pretend I was the woman I wanted to be. Instead, I could just pretend to be the woman everyone else wanted me to be. I’d be rich, automatically successful. Life would be easy.

Caleb's voice pushed through the fog my mind had weaved with self-doubt. “But you want to be a veterinarian?”

“Yes,” I whispered, my voice barely audible as I choked back a sob. I wouldn’t let him see me cry.

He wiped away a traitorous tear that escaped and began peppering my face with quick kisses. It was so adorable, I couldn’t help the smile that appeared despite the storm cloud of emotions living in my chest. “Then my girl will be a veterinarian. Fuck your dad’s money, you don’t need it.”

“I kind of do,” I retorted quickly. “I don’t have a job, remember? No one wants to hire a twenty-two-year-old with no work experience.”

“If there’s a will, there’s a way,” he said, dipping his head down and pulling my nipple between his teeth. He used his tongue to roll it around, hardening it into a stiff peak before abandoning it completely. “First, we’ll find you a job. Any job, so you can start gaining experience. Then you’ll keep going to school until you get your degree finished. That’s not much longer, right? I think we will graduate around the same time. And then my girl’s off to animal doctor school.”

“Animal doctor school?” I laughed, but the laughter quickly turned into a sharp gasp as he found my other nipple and began using his tongue to play with it.

With my nipple clasped lightly between his teeth, he exhaled a deep breath, blowing air on to the sensitive flesh before licking it with the pad of his tongue. When he removed his mouth, he said, “Yep. My very own Doctor Dolittle.”

“That dream seems out of reach,” I sighed, racking my brain for any and all possibilities of making the idea actually work when in reality, the moment I graduated my father would swoop in and begin my training at Skyline Tech where I’d work until he was ready to retire. The path was already paved.

I was lost in thought and hadn’t noticed Caleb moving down the length of my body and settling between my legs until the warm flat of his tongue ran up the seam of my pussy. He groaned against it, as though he was bringing himself pleasure, and swirled the tip of his tongue against my clit. An unrecognizable slur of words fell from my mouth at the delicious intrusion and I welcomed the way it made me forget all other thoughts.

Right before he began to devour me whole, he looked up from between my legs, and with complete sincerity told me, “Your dream isn't out of reach, Isla. It’s as close to you as the stars you’re about to see.”

CHAPTERELEVEN

The sound of muffled metal music seeping through the headphones of a guy studying at the table behind me acted as a backdrop as I peered around the corner of a shelf of books, watching Isla from afar as she studied. Everything about this girl intrigued me, from the way she chewed on the cap of her pen in between writing notes to the way her fingertip moved across the pages as she read, following the sentences as she took every word in. It had been almost two weeks since we decided to give this thing between us a try, and we had practically been inseparable, barring the times I was at work or we were in class.

Isla still hadn’t found a job; she hadn’t even been called back for an interview for any of the eighteen places she had applied to around town and online. I could see the defeat behind her eyes as she skimmed her emails and checked her phone for missed calls, and I knew it was from lack of responses.

It killed me. Physically hurt me to see her frustration overshadow the determination she had. I had even asked my boss if we could hire one more person, only if part-time. The rush of endorphins that had her saying ‘yes’ was squashed immediately, when she followed it up with‘but only if it means you’re okay with being taken off the schedule.’

I’d gladly give up my job if it meant seeing a smile on her face, but it wasn’t truly an option. I was almost done with my degree in forensic science, which meant I was one step closer to the police academy. My goal was to be hired onto the force beforehand so I could work part-time hours once my schooling finished for the day.

I knew it’d take me longer to kick-start my career by prioritizing the police academy after graduation, but I needed a safety net to fall back on in case my career in forensics didn’t pan out. As soon as I could save up enough money and get my own place, I’d be out of the shithole I called home.

The dude behind me sneezed, pulling me from my thoughts as I looked at him, just as he wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his black trench coat and pushed the headphones that’d slipped back on top of his head. I snorted to myself as the guy continued to look over the papers scattered in front of him and turned my attention back to Isla.

Her back was to me and, given I had been standing there watching her for the last fifteen or so minutes, I decided it was time to greet my girl. Striding over to her, I pulled out the chair next to her and dropped into it, startling her as I did.

“Hey,” she blurted, her hand placed firmly in the middle of her chest as though I had given her the biggest scare of her life. I chuckled at the sight, leaning over to press a kiss on her lips.

“Hey.”

“How was work?” she asked. Her eyes flicked to her computer screen where her email was pulled up, but met mine again quickly.

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