Read No One's Hero (Chadwell Hearts) for Free Online

licks his lips. "I mean—”
    "Watch out!"
    Alerted by my outburst, Kevin slams on the brakes and narrowly misses hitting a woman walking her dog. The tires squeal in admonition as he leans into the wheel, straightening the truck between the lines. "Shit." Kevin breathes heavily as the woman shoots us a dirty look from the safety of the sidewalk. He tosses her a small wave by way of apology, then continues as if nothing happened. "What I mean is, you’re beautiful, sure, but I don't want to complicate—”
    “—I didn't mean with you." I can't help being a bit flattered and a bit annoyed, all at once. I mean, how freaking cocky is he, assuming I meant I wanted to have sex with him. It’s not like I’ve got super-high standards, and if I’m going to make up for lost time I can’t afford to be too picky. But Kevin has already been crossed off my mental possibility list. Even if I do keep finding the thought of his arms around me flickering through my mind. I’m sure it’s just because I don’t have a lot of experience, and I’m so anxious to remedy that. I’m not actually attracted to him for real. Even if he did just call me beautiful.
    I smile, thinking about it.
    "Well, that’s sort of humiliating.” He rubs absentmindedly at his chin, where a honey brown layer of stubble is just visible. “I just thought... Well, never mind, it doesn’t matter. So...you’re a virgin?" He flushes red, then quickly adds, “Not that that matters, either.”
    Right. My turn to be humiliated now. My virginity isn’t something I generally discuss with anyone, much less with gorgeous boys who make my insides quiver even as they ignite my temper, so I’m not even sure why I brought it up. Except, I feel an indisputable need to make him understand why my freedom is so important to me. I’m not just a spoiled brat, and I know that must be what he’s thinking.  “It’s not that I didn’t have the chance, you know. Guys used to be into me, before Axel scared them all away. His excuse was that the guy I was dating wasn’t good enough for me, but between him and my parents, chances to date have sort of been slim. How much did he tell you about my mom and my sister?” I pause, waiting for him to offer some sort of reaction.
    “Nothing really.”
    His nothing is clearly something. Axel is nothing if not thorough—well, thorough and blind, but that’s a whole different matter altogether. He probably provided Kevin with my entire life’s history. Even though I tried hard to keep the different parts of my world separate, I’m not surprised Axel knew more than he let on. “My sister died in the hospital right after we were born. It was sudden, and my mother never really recovered. For my entire life, I've been forced to fill the hole. Trying to live for someone who's dead is...”
    “Suffocating,” he finishes for me, in a voice that tells me he knows firsthand.
    “I've been sheltered for the last eighteen years, unable to do anything that might be considered a risk. Between Axel and my parents, it's been like being stuck as a little girl. And I'm not. I need college to be different. I'm planning to live as much as possible. I'm going to make bad choices without feeling guilty for giving myself the chance to learn from my mistakes. I'm going to have sex. Hopefully a lot of sex, and if you or Axel have problems with that, you might as well go home now, because while I agreed to let you bodyguard me, I didn't agree to let you to take away my chance to live. My parents didn't know how to let me live, because they were so afraid something would happen to me too. My freedom died that day along with my twin's. Yes, I understand that Nick is a threat, but I'm not going to give up my chance to live just because he might want me to die. Seems to me living is my best revenge.”
    “I'm not saying you can't live, you just have to be cautious.”
    “That's just it. I'm done with caution. I want to drink till I'm stupid and stay up