The Fight In Us: A Brother's Best Friend College Romance (The Four Book 4) Becca Steele (speld decodable readers .TXT) 📖

A slow smile spread across my face. Weston had been giving me the silent treatment, but now I had an excuse to contact him. He may have written us off, but I wasn’t going to give him up without a fight. Not now I’d had a taste of him. I knew we could get past the mess we’d made of things.

I just had to convince him to try.

Opening up my Kryptos app, I sent a code yellow alert to Weston. I shouldn’t abuse our alert system, but I was fairly sure he wouldn’t talk to me otherwise. In under five minutes, I got a response.

Nitro: ???

Me: Hi, I’m Mercury.

There was a long pause, during which I held my breath, and finally, a reply appeared on my screen.

Nitro: Hi. I’m Nitro.

My heart leapt, and a smile spread across my face. He was playing along. Maybe there was still hope for us. I was done with keeping my distance, done with being scared. I’d dealt with what had happened with him, and if it happened again, I’d deal with it again. I was strong. I’d made it through the fire and survived the burns.

And the way he’d kissed me…there had to be hope.

Me: Nice to meet you. Virtually

This time, the pause stretched out, so I quickly added another message.

Me: WYR meet someone who had something important to show you, or stay at home?

Nitro: WYR be betrayed by your family or your friends?

Me: WYR forgive people or continue to act like a stubborn bastard?

Nitro: Too soon to joke about that

I sighed. We weren’t getting anywhere with this conversation.

Me: I have something important to show you. Can you meet me?

Another long pause. Tapping out a rhythm with my fingers on my steering wheel, I forced myself not to push. Finally, my patience was rewarded with another message.

Nitro: Where?

Me: Anywhere you want.

Nitro: Castle.

Me: I’ll be there in 10.

He signed out of the chat, and I started up my car.

NINETEEN

Pulling up at the Alstone Castle ruins, I saw that Weston’s car was already parked. Nervous excitement thrummed through me, and I relished the feeling. As I headed over to the ruined castle, picking my way between the boulders that lay scattered in the grass, he appeared on the clifftop. Standing there in dark sweatpants and a royal blue hoodie, his hair ruffled by the breeze, he looked so gorgeous that my breath caught in my throat and my heart beat faster. But it wasn’t just the way he looked. I loved his upbeat personality, his kindness and generosity, his charm, and his smile…fuck, that smile was lethal.

In short, for me, he was all I’d ever wanted.

He was everything.

“Hi,” I said when I reached him, and when his gorgeous mouth curved into that smile I loved, I couldn’t help myself. Closing the final bit of distance between us, I stood as close as I dared, not quite touching him, but I could feel the heat from his body against mine.

Deep blue pools swirled through with green and grey met my gaze. There was no longer any anger in them.

Maybe…was there a tentative hope?

My breath stuttered, and my heart pounded out of my throat.

Taking what felt like the biggest risk of my life, I reached up and hesitantly pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

He froze, and I pulled back, my cheeks flaming. What the fuck had I been thinking? We hadn’t even spoken for two weeks, and how did—

My racing thoughts were interrupted by his hand reaching around the back of my neck, holding me still, and then his lips were on mine again.

The slide of his mouth against mine and his hand gripping me, holding me in place with such strength but so carefully…it was like a puzzle piece clicked into place deep inside me, and I knew with complete certainty that this man would never do anything to physically hurt me.

A shiver ran through my body, and he pulled me closer, trailing kisses across my jaw and down my neck. “Is this okay for you?” he murmured against my skin, his voice a husky rasp, and the fact that he was taking so much care brought a lump to my throat.

“More than okay,” I assured him, pressing closer, and in reply, he brought his other hand up to span my waist while he lightly scraped his teeth along my earlobe. A soft moan escaped my throat, and he nipped me harder, his grip on me tightening.

Bolts of sensation peppered my skin, like nothing I’d ever felt before. There was a kind of euphoric high that I got when I outsmarted an opponent in martial arts training, or when I managed to crack a high-level security or software code. But this…this was pure, addictive pleasure. A high that I never wanted to come down from.

All too soon, though, it ended. Weston drew back from me, releasing his grip. Staring at me through heavy-lidded eyes, he licked his lips. We were both silent for a moment, unsure how to navigate this situation between us.

Running a hand through his hair, he blew out a heavy breath. “We need to talk.”

Emboldened by his kiss, the words tumbled from my mouth before I could think them through. “Can’t we kiss some more?”

My hopeful suggestion was met with a firm head shake. “Nope. You need to tell me what was so important that you sent me a code yellow alert. Then, maybe, we’ll kiss after.” A smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth, and I rolled my eyes.

“Fine. I guess.”

He headed over to a large flat rock that was situated in the courtyard area of the castle, with a makeshift firepit in front of it. He dropped onto the rock, stretching out his legs in front of him, so I went and straddled him, threading my arms around his neck. Fuck it. If he didn’t want me near him, he could tell me.

“Lena…” His tone was filled with warning, and I gave him