Tristan
The exhilaration coursing through my veins is so all-consuming that I hardly remember the drive home. I wanted to invite her over, but I couldn’t trust myself.
I wouldn’t be gentle with her tonight. Not after what she just told me.
“You’re one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met.”
She meant it too. Amy’s never had any reservations over calling me boring. And all I’ve ever wanted is to spark in her even a fraction of what she ignites in me. I wanted to be told that this drug-like intensity I feel for her is not completely one-sided.
Getting what I’ve always wanted is also terrifying. How will I ever be able to let her go?
I can’t stay obsessed forever. I already followed her to college, for Christ’s sake. I could be studying computational math at UCLA right now, building connections with some of the greatest minds in the country. Yet here I am, wasting my time chasing this girl around this tiny liberal arts university. My parents almost killed me when I chose Pacific Crest, but I was determined. I was a sap.
I don’t care.
Somehow, I don’t give a fuck.
There’s a knock at my door, and I jerk up in bed. A moment later, Harper walks into my room, and it takes everything within me to keep from groaning.
“Can I study here?” she asks. “My roommate has her boyfriend over.” Her smile doesn’t reach her eyes. “They wanted privacy.”
Fuck, I want privacy too.
I want to jerk off thinking of Amy. Maybe even pull out those panties she gave me while I do it.
Harper hasn’t come over here in months. She knows it annoys me. Having her here when I’m sleeping confuses me. It feels too uncomfortably similar to when we were a couple.
Thank fuck, she’s never come over when Amy’s here. That would’ve been a disaster.
I’ve been careless in my eagerness to win Amy. I’ve spun too many lies. I’m lucky none of them backfired.
“Sure,” I say. “But I need to sleep, so don’t stay too late.”
“Don’t wait up for me. I’ll just have your desk lamp on. And I’ll be super quiet.
Her concern for my welfare makes the hairs on my arms stand up. When has she ever given a shit whether I’ve been able to sleep? She’s come over here crying over guys who weren’t me—her damn ex-boyfriend—and had no compunction about making me stay up with her and talk through what went wrong.
Fuck, I’m being a shit friend. I’ve been the deceitful one, not her. And for all of Harper’s faults, she’s been a loyal friend to me.
“You can leave the lights on,” I say. “You know I can sleep through anything.”
She smiles wide, and my uneasiness sends a sharp pang to my chest.
Don’t be paranoid. You’ve already gotten everything you’ve ever wanted.
CHAPTER 21
Amy
“You’re precious to me.”
The words are like music as they play over and over again in my head.
Tristan isn’t a Marvel villain. Why on earth would he execute such an elaborate and painstaking plan when he’s the campus god? He can have any woman he wants. It makes no sense that he’s been so obsessed with taking me down that he’d spend weeks earning my trust.
Maybe there really is something to what his mom said last night. Maybe I’ve misjudged him all along.
Elizabeth misjudged Mr. Darcy in a lot of ways. She was right about some things, but he wasn’t a villain either. Just a really flawed man. A flawed man capable of change.
