Pushing the Limits by Brooke Cumberland Read Free Book Online Page B

don’t need to glance up to know he’s studying me from the front of the room.
    Before we’re dismissed, he reminds us to keep an eye out for his email about our first blog assignment.
    I have a feeling Professor Hampton is going to take up much more of my time than I suspected.
     

CHAPTER FOUR
    ASPEN
     
    The sound of my alarm wakes me up and before I can even manage to open my eyes, I reach for my phone and tap on the screen until the noise stops. It’s Saturday, and I have to be at work in less than an hour, but the heavy weight lying next to me reminds me that I’m not alone.
    Jake, or maybe it was John, is a guy I met during happy hour, and when two drinks turned into four and six, I invited him back to my place.
    But I don’t have time to casually escort him out and exchange numbers—not that I’d give him mine anyway. That’s not how this works. I avoid any kind of attachment, friendship, or even a fuck buddy. I don’t feel that compassion toward relationships that most women do. I can’t be open, discuss my feelings, or have ‘talks’ about my past. It’s the exact reason I avoid it all in the first place. One-night stands and casual hookups are all I’m emotionally capable of giving.
    I need to shower and leave before I’m late to work again. So I slide out of bed¸ grab my towel hanging on the back of the door, and walk to the bathroom.
    He has exactly forty-two minutes to leave before I kick him out.
    I wash my body and hair, trying to remember the events of last night.
    Kendall and Zoe met me at Happy Joe’s for the two-for-one happy hour special.
    It was only meant to be a quick, fun girls’ night out, but it soon turned into a party of six after Kendall invited her boyfriend, Kellan.
    Jake, or John, was there with a friend from work—some name that I can’t remember either—and I can only assume Zoe took him home after Kendall and I left.
    As soon as I’m out of the shower, I dry off and head back to my room to search for some clothes. What’s his face is still lying face flat on my bed.
    Fucking hell .
    I open one of my drawers to grab some jeans and purposely slam it shut, hoping it’ll startle him enough to wake up.
    No such luck.
    On to Plan B.
    I walk over to the other side of the bed and start shaking his shoulder. “Wake up!” He barely flinches. I grab the covers and rip them off of him, only to realize he’s completely naked.
    I tilt my head and admire his firm ass for a quick second, but then shake my head away from the distraction. “You need to leave!” I say loud and insultingly slow.
    He finally starts stirring and mumbles something but doesn’t open his eyes.
    “I’m going to pour a bucket of cold water on you if you don’t get the hell out of my bed,” I threaten. “You have three seconds.”
    “ Jesus ,” he mutters, slowly shifting around, searching for the covers with one hand.
    “I have to get to work.” I walk back around my bed and start searching for a shirt in my closet. “Which means you have to leave.” I spell it out for him.
    “Where the hell do you work that you have to be up this damn early?” He finally sits up and starts searching for his clothes that are scattered on the floor.
    “I work at an art gallery.”
    “Sounds…boring.”
    I pull my shirt on and grimace. “Out,” I say firmly.
    “ What ?”
    He’s pulling his jeans up when I turn around and glare at him. “You can get out now .”
    “I’m working on it. Gees. You weren’t this bitchy last night.”
    My lips form into an oh-hell-no-he-didn’t scowl, and I bend down to grab one of my heels and throw it directly at him.
    “Ow! What the hell?”
    “First, you diss where I work, which by the way, is one of my favorite places to be in the whole world. And second, you call me a bitch!”
    I’m ready to throw the other heel at him, but he finally uses his brain cells to get the hell out.
    “BYE, Jake,” I yell at him as he walks down the hallway.
    “Bye, Satan,” he