Young Love Dies Hard: The Young Brothers, Book 1 by Nikki Lane (best memoirs of all time txt) 📕

makes me sick, quite frankly.” She shot me a smile before she tried a shade of my lipstick.

“You could sense it?”

“Sure.” She turned around to face me and leaned her butt against the counter. “I have this sixth sense when it comes to love. I’m like a relationship psychic.”

I chewed my bottom lip. “When’s the last time you were in a relationship?”

She scrunched her face. “Like a serious one?”

“Like any kind of one.”

“It’s been a while. Maybe a year.”

“Was it a long one?”

“Almost six months. Why?”

“Just wondering.”

Six months? Shit. Sarah and I shared the same philosophy on sex so I never thought she’d been in an actual relationship. Where did that leave me? I didn’t think my perpetual singlehood was all that abnormal, but that thought was slowly crumbling.

“How about you?” she asked.

“Only one. But it was in high school, so I’m not even sure it counts.”

“Relationships aren’t for everyone,” she said, slipping on her thigh-highs. “I found that out the hard way.”

“Jacob was with the same girl for years.”

“Doesn’t surprise me. I sensed that from him, too.” She stripped off her shirt and grimaced. “Does he know you work here?”

I shook my head. “Absolutely not.”

“He’s going to find out.”

“No,” I said. “He’s not.”

“That’s ridiculous. You should tell him.”

I scoffed. “You’re crazy.”

“He might take it better than you think.”

“Do you go out of your way to tell people you work here?” I leaned my weight against the back of the seat and crossed my arms.

“No,” she said. “And it’s no one’s business. But this is different.” She stood next to me topless as she reached for her clothes out of her bag. She raised her eyebrows like there was nothing left for me to do besides concede her point.

I got up from my chair to finish getting ready. “Why should I say anything? I’m sure, any day now, it’s not going to matter.”

“Why wouldn’t it matter?”

“Because…” I didn’t want to explain this. Didn’t know how. But there was no way I was telling him the truth. No. Fucking. Way.

Sal came busting through the door again, shouting at those of us who still weren’t ready. I slipped on my shoes, feeling kind of relieved to go out on the floor.

Chapter Fifteen

It took a couple weeks, but the bruises finally disappeared. I had a few great nights at work, which gave me a little extra cash after all the bills were paid. The tenderness in my muscles had disappeared, and I had felt good enough to catch a few more dance classes in between studying for finals.

I scurried back to campus and found Jacob in the library, assuming his normal position. Head ducked low into a book. Hand behind head with the lamp illuminating the immediate space around him. Even with the usual grimace on his face he got when studying too hard, it was near impossible not to admire him. He’d been consumed with work the last few weeks, even more so than usual. The door clicked closed behind me, and Jacob looked up from his book and smiled at me. A warm buzz zinged through my body as I approached the table to sit down.

“Hey, beautiful,” he whispered.

“Hey.”

I peeled off my coat and sat in the chair opposite him, fighting the cheesy smile trying to make an appearance on my face. It was the first sign of flirting since our one and only night together. I would have liked to think it was my extremely durable will power that kept Jacob and me from having sex again. But it wasn’t. Not even close. Jacob had been treating me like a china doll ever since the incident with Doug on Thanksgiving. I couldn’t say that I would have turned him down if he’d made an attempt. But I was hoping that he would save me the job of telling him nothing more could happen between us.

I reached into my backpack and pulled out my books and notebooks. I promptly skimmed through my notes, trying with all my might to stay focused on the words. I read the same sentence over and over, feeling something brush up against my leg. My eyes peered over to Jacob who was still reading. I let my eyes fall back on the pages when I felt another brush against my leg. I peered back up at Jacob who was now wearing a halfcocked smile.

“Are you playing footsy with me?” I whispered.

His eyes met mine, the light of the lamp reflecting in his glasses. “Maybe.”

“Well, stop,” I said, once again trying not to smile. “I need to concentrate.”

He continued to smirk but dropped his gaze back down to his book. I managed to read a few pages of notes before I felt the familiar brush of his foot against my leg again.

“Jacob,” I said, a little too loud.

I gave him a swift kick, and he let out a quiet howl of pain. A few people, studying around us, looked up. I think we even got shushed.

I mouthed the word Stop. He smiled wide, making the darkened room of the library seem just a little bit brighter. I continued to read when I heard something slide across the table. It was Jacob’s opened notebook, a message scrawled out in messy print.

Spandex is a good look for you.

I smiled behind the back of my hand and responded.

Not many people can pull this kind of look off.

I slid the notebook back his way. Even though my focus was back down at my book, I could see him scrawl another message in my peripheral vision.

Bet I could.

I smiled harder and wrote one more response. There was no fucking way I was going to get any studying done if we kept this up.

Don’t even think of trying on my leotards when I’m not home.

I slid the notebook back to him without looking up and heard his faint chuckle after he read the message. He slid the notebook back.

You look sexy. Ever done it in a library?

My eyes flared opened. Was