Fearless (Broken Love Book 5)
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Authors: B.B. Reid
FEARLESS
Broken Love Series
BOOK FIVE
B.B. REID
Copyright © 2016 B.B. Reid
FEARLESS by B.B. Reid
All rights reserved.
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Cover Design by Amanda Simpson of Pixel Mischief Design.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the author or publisher constitutes unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use the material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained from the author.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead, are coincidental.
Table of Contents
LAKE
I never thought
I’d find a new reason never to want summer to end. “Baby,” I moaned against his sucking lips once more before pulling away. “You have to let me go at some point, you know.”
“No.” And to make his point clear, he gripped my ass tighter, pulling me closer to him while I sat on his lap. I couldn’t help but smile against his chest.
“You’re being unreasonable.”
“You think I give a fuck?” His sharp tone was replaced with a softly worded plea. “Stay with me.”
Now how was I supposed to resist that? He so wasn’t playing fair and he knew it. To make it worse, he leaned down and rubbed his nose against mine. I could feel the sweet scent of his breath against my face.
Keiran had always been possessive, but this felt different. He was clinging to me in a desperate attempt to delay or stop what was already happening.
Tomorrow, I would be leaving Six Forks behind for Nebraska. A few months ago, leaving this place and the unrelenting torment he unleashed on me had been all I wanted. I never thought he would be the reason I would want to stay. He and I would be attending separate schools thirteen hundred miles away.
It felt like our fairytale was ending. Uneasiness turned my body cold. Would he go to his school in Arizona and forget about me? What if he realized I wasn’t what he wanted? What if he found someone stronger, fiercer, and better equipped to handle him?
The answer to his weird behavior was an epiphany brought on by my fears. A tidal wave of unwanted emotions shattered the light bulb and I found myself clutching him back. What if he felt as insecure as I did?
“Are you afraid?” I breathed evidence of our shared insecurities into the night air, letting it hang between us.
“Yes.”
I hadn’t expected honesty. Keiran had just admitted he was afraid. The idea that I could make him feel vulnerable made me both elated and afraid. We have been together for only a few months now, but I feel like I’ve been his forever.
In a way, I guess I have.
Before I could tell him I shared his fears, he emitted a sound between a growl and a grunt and abruptly lifted me to my feet. “Fine. Go then.”
I had no idea what set him off. Without another word or backward glance, he was gone, and I was left standing alone in the playground that had become our meeting place when we needed to be alone.
“What the fuck just happened?” I whispered aloud.
I stomped to the parking lot but found his car already gone. His behavior was unlike the possessiveness he’d shown since he claimed me as his for good. I hopped in my car confused and feeling a little bit played.
The next day, I was pulling up to the airport with Willow and Aunt Carissa feeling angry and hurt. I hadn’t heard from Keiran since he left me alone at the playground.
I was getting ready to leave my home behind for the first time, and he was off somewhere pacing like an angry, caged lion. I knew he wouldn’t be pouting. It just wasn’t his style, but it didn’t make him any less childish. I moved my suitcase and carry-on from the car with short angry movements. From the corner of my eye, I could see my aunt and best friend lift their eyebrows.
“Are you okay, honey?”
“Fine,” I barely pushed through my teeth. I didn’t want to be rude to my aunt, but Keiran’s absence had already consumed me. Each minute that stretched by, my anger rose. To avoid making eye contact, I stared at my shaking hand.
I heard Willow mumble something to my aunt. I wished they would leave so I could have a moment alone. It was getting harder to get on that plane knowing how we had left things.
“Hey.”
I tore my attention from my twitching hand to find a worried green gaze staring back at me. “What did he do?” I could tell by her sharp tone she wouldn’t leave it alone, so I looked around for my aunt, who seemed to have disappeared, before answering.
“What makes you think it was him and not me?” I wasn’t going to take the blame for our fight, but I was sick of people treating me with kid gloves when it came to Keiran.
“It doesn’t matter now, does it? You’re here and he’s not. He should be here.”
“We got into a fight last night.”
“About?”
“I wish I knew.”
“I’m not following,” she said impatiently.
“Keiran doesn’t want me to leave. I guess it was too much for him.” As if he’s the only one feeling it. My sudden awareness of how selfish he was acting did nothing to abate my anger.
“Are you sure you’re prepared for a long distance relationship?”
“I don’t know, Will. A few months ago, I was a target, not a girlfriend. I have no experience, but I always knew he’d be right there.” For fuck’s sake… why was I talking as if we’d broken up instead of had a fight?
“He needs a stiff kick in the dick.”
I didn’t want to laugh, but I did. I held my sides as I bent over from the hard laugh that shook my body. It wasn’t what she said but the level of frustration on her face as she said it. Her brow was pulled so tight she could have had a unibrow.
“Girls?” my aunt called as she approached with a fresh bottle of water. “It’s time to board.”
I took one last look around the busy parking garage and gave up the hope that he would change his mind and rescue my breaking heart.
Ten minutes later, I was waving goodbye to my aunt. Willow and I found our seats. She immediately pulled out a sketchpad, and I leaned my head back and closed my eyes.
When a loud shout and an even louder commotion erupted from the front of the plane, I was saved from the shame of a major breakdown by one Keiran Masters.
“Sir! Sir, you cannot board this plane without a ticket. Sir!”
Willow turned wide eyes on me at the same moment.
“No,” she groaned with disbelief and slammed her head against the headrest.
I swallowed hard and fought hard not to smile. She read my emotions immediately and shot me a look that said I was crazed. Maybe I was, but I knew in my gut who was the cause of the havoc.
My suspicions were confirmed when he rounded the corner at the exact moment my heavy heart picked up its beat again.
His hair was disheveled and his eyes crazed as he wildly searched the cabin. His chest moved up and down as if he’d just run a race. When his eyes were finally connected to mine, he froze. His expression quickly morphed from desperate to unsure and then to possessive. I never even realized he was moving until he was right in front of me and on his knees.
“Lake.”
“The next words out of your mouth better be in the form of begging,” Willow grumbled next to me. Her eyes were closed and her face finally relaxed as if his presence was as much a healing balm for her as it was for me.
“If she’ll listen, then yes.” I searched his eyes as he held mine. “I want to beg, baby.”
* * *
ONE MONTH LATER
I bounced from
one foot to the other, waiting for Willow to collect her colorful pens. Some things never change.
Since we were freshmen and taking general courses, we were able to take three out of five courses together. I didn’t know what I would do if I had to start my first year of college thirteen hundred miles away from my boyfriend and without my best friend, too.
“Willow, hurry, will you?”
“Ugh. God, Lake. As if he wouldn’t wait or call you a million times if you’re even a minute late for your Skype date.”
“He’s not that bad.”
“Oh, yes he is. But it’s kind of cute, I guess.”
Keiran had always been possessive, but the distance separating us had brought a vulnerable side to him that I never thought I’d see.
Sheldon said it was normal for guys who think something or someone belongs to them. He had already marked his territory but was now unable to defend it, which is the reason he’d become agitated.
Those were her words.
I didn’t know whether to take her advice as the truth or if it was a result of pregnancy hormones talking. I still couldn’t believe she was going to have a baby and my crazy fuck of a boyfriend was the one to convince her to go through with it when she wanted to terminate.
If possible, I fell in love with him even more because he had. He’s grown up knowing only death. I never thought he would value life in any way other than living.
She finally finished packing her stuff and met me at the door.
“Sorry, I can’t do lunch today. I have a test in my next class, and I need all the studying I can get.”
“Nerd,” I teased.
“Whatever. You’d be the same if you weren’t so stuck up Keiran’s as—”
“Hey.”
Willow and I both jumped at the sudden sound of Keiran’s deep rumble. He stood across the expansive hallway with his hands shoved in his jeans wearing a pleased grin.
“Hi, Willow,” he taunted. It was evident he caught her remark.
She rolled her eyes and wiggled her fingers dismissively. He knew her well enough by now not to be offended by her pissy attitude. Willow was hurting. We all knew it, and so did she.
His eyes finally shifted to me and instant heat assaulted me. We stood frozen on opposite sides of the hallway, content to drink one another in. “Hey, you.”
It took me a few extra seconds too long to realize he’d spoken. “Hi.” Breathe. It’s all the one syllable word managed to be, and yet I felt completely breathless.
My first romantic relationship.
My first boyfriend.
My first love.
What a sap I turned out to be.
“Turn down the sexual energy, will you? I feel pregnant just looking at you two.”
“Willow!”
I had no reason to be surprised. Willow usually said exactly what came to mind. Her attitude was as flamboyant as her dress code.
She rolled her eyes at my shock. “I’m off to the land of the nerds. I bought a fresh can of Lysol. Please be sure to clean every surface after use. You know… ‘cause people gotta eat on ‘em.”
Willow quickly retreated, her laughter trailing behind her. I looked over to Keiran, who was noticeably holding in his own.
“Don’t encourage her.”
He regarded me with hooded eyes, letting the heat in them consume me. “Would you rather I didn’t fuck you on every surface?”
Oh. My. Fuck.
“Then stop staring at me like you want to be fucked.”
“So how should I look at you?”
He chuckled and finally moved to touch me. “As much as I want to,” he fingered my hair, “a responsible man feeds his woman first.”
“Fine time for you to be chivalrous.”
His smile only widened at my quip. “Maybe I want to be better for you.” He lifted his hand, palm up for mine to take. It took longer than necessary for me to oblige. I was lost in the sincere emotion in his eyes.
Hand in hand, he made me show him to the nearest dining facility. Unfortunately, Brady Hall was the closest. I didn’t like eating there because it was jock haven, but I figured Keiran would fit right in. The guys were always rambunctious and rude. Willow and I had been subjected to many catcalls and lewd suggestions.
On second thought…
“Babe?”
“Yeah?” He was pulling the door open and waiting for me to go in.
“I’m not very hungry.”
He looked at me suspiciously and then cracked a smile. “Nice try,” he said, thinking I was seeking a shortcut to sex. He pulled me inside by my wrist, and we made our way to the cashier where I swiped my meal card and Keiran paid cash. As we grabbed food, I prayed the jocks had already come and gone. We had a game tomorrow, which was when they were usually the rowdiest.
As we made our way to a table, I realized my prayers had gone unanswered. Why, why, why would I pick this stupid cafeteria? There were two more on campus, yet I had to pick this one.
“Baby, if I have to call your name again, you might just get my hands on your ass, but not in the way you had imagined.”
“Huh? Oh… what?”
“What’s up? Why are you so tense?”
“Oh, nothing.”
His jaw clenched, and I knew my lie hadn’t gone unnoticed. He usually read me like an open book.
“You don’t lie to me. Ever. You keep looking around like you’re waiting for someone to jump out at you.” If it were possible, his jaw seemed to clench even more. “Has someone been fucking with you?” It was his turn to look around as if he knew who the culprit would be. When his gaze landed on the tables full of football players, his eyes narrowed. I should have known he would know. “Have they?” His voice was full of grit and fire as he nodded at the table of players.
“I don’t understand your question.” It was another lie. I understood him—just as I knew what would happen next if I confirmed his suspicions. Keiran was thousands of miles away from home in Arizona. He was alone, and there were too many of them for him to take. Jocks stuck together—right or wrong. I was sure Keiran knew that considering he was a jock, but the way his chest heaved, I knew defending my honor would be more important.