FROM THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHORS OF THE CHEATER.FAKER.TROUBLEMAKER SERIES (WATTY'S 2016, FICTION AWARDS 2016, HACHETTE AUDIO 2017), JENNY ROSEN & KRISTEN MAGLONZO.
After bullies, braces, and brutal heartbreak shatters his faith in love, soon-to-be fre...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Note: Calling all new and old audiobook listeners! If you're in the mood to listen to the crazy drama of this chapter play out, tune in to kaelking12's killer performance of the audiobook! Featuring music by Justin Bieber (ft. Halsey), Brand New, Taking Back Sunday, and The Used.
CHAPTER 5
Elias
Nikki's gone at sunrise.
Her place next to me's empty.
Cold.
Night and day different from what it was six hours ago.
I shut my eyes, lean back against the pillows, and disappear into a memory. One where these same sheets were warm and wrapped around Nikki who was unbelievably wrapped around me.
Snapshots of everything we did last night play out in my head in the kind of detail that has me ready to beg her for round two.
See, that's the thing.
As badly as I want her right now, I don't wanna look desperate—'cause I'm not.
At least, I think I'm not.
I don't need Nikki to like me.
Or even to talk to me after today.
I just—
—want her to pull me back into her atmosphere long enough for me to hit the high I did with her last night. Nikki taught me how to let go. How to feel weightless, guiltless, and completely unlike myself.
Like a stranger in the same skin.
And I liked it.
I liked being someone else.
The kinda guy who learned how to be confident enough to take the lead with a girl who was way out of his league.
Maybe it was the drugs.
Maybe it was guilt.
Or the girl that got me there.
But I want that feeling back.
I need Nikki and her little magic pills to take me out of myself one more time.
But now she's gone.
I look for her before even trying to find the rest of my clothes. Maybe that reads a little clingy, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little star struck by this girl. Josh says the secret to being suave with older women is acting like you get laid all the time, and that you don't care about where your girl goes after the fact.
