Romances de Somto Emmanuel

LoriI saw Jessica and Ann run into the room through a terrifying blur of spots and watering eyes.They threw themselves onto Travis, screaming and ripping at his arms with everything they had. They pulled and clawed at his wrists until his fingers finally snapped away from my skin. The moment the pressure released, I slumped back against the pillows, coughing so violently that my chest burned. I couldn't breathe. I genuinely thought I was going to pass out right there.“What the hell is wrong with you?” Jessica shrieked, her face pale, her eyes wide with absolute shock.“Were you seriously trying to strangle her?” Ann yelled, stepping between Travis and my bed.“This is absolutely none of your business, you bitches!” Travis roared, his face twisted into an ugly, sweaty mask. He took a menacing step toward them, completely unhinged. “Leave me the hell alone with my girl. We aren't done talking.”I kept my hands pressed flat against my throat, trying desperately to force air back int

LoriThe fake smile completely slipped off my face the exact second the hospital door swung open.Ann and Jessica had called me last night, crying and apologizing over the phone for not making it to the hospital sooner. They had promised they would be here first thing in the morning. Because of that, I had spent the last twenty minutes practicing my brightest, most carefree smile in the reflection of my phone screen. I wanted to prove to them that I was totally fine. I absolutely hated it when Jessica worried too much about me.But it wasn't my best friends who walked through the door.It was Travis. He was holding a massive bouquet of red roses, looking around the room with a nervous, guilty squint.“What the hell are you doing here?” I snapped, the words cutting through the quiet room like ice.“Cliché,” he muttered, trying to sound casual as he stepped forward and set the flowers down on the plastic rolling table near my bed. “Honestly, Lori, I was expecting you to say exactly that

LoriI woke up to a searing pain around my ankle and knees. Blinking my eyes open, they met white ceiling. A deep frown pulled at my face. This definitely wasn't my bedroom. There were no cute, glow-in-the-dark star stickers scattered across the drywall here.It was only when the harsh scent of antiseptic hit my nose that the memory of the fall during the cheerleading practice came flooding in. I gasped, instinctively trying to bolt upright, but a sharp spike of pain shot through my leg, forcing me back down. Shaking, I managed to prop myself up on my elbows. My right leg was completely buried under a thick, rigid bandage, elevated on a stack of stiff pillows.I stared down at it, my mind racing. How the hell did a mistake like that happen? Our bases were solid. We practiced those exact landing formations a hundred times a week. The girls on the bottom didn't just drop people. Unless I had been too distracted. My brain had been a complete mess ever since my birthday night. It’s not

LucasI was supposed to be sweating over what the head coach was going to do to me. He had already given me a final warning the last time I let my temper get the best of me on the ice. But when that bastard came at me from behind, I couldn't hold back. I didn't want to.But honestly, the looming suspension wasn't what was actually occupying my mind. What was really stuck at the back of my brain was the scent of the sweetest girl I’ve ever had beneath me.Lori.Normally, if a girl panicked and bolted out of my dorm bed at three o'clock in the morning, leaving behind a complete mess of my sheets. I would have been pissed off. I would have blocked her number and forgotten she existed.But Lori was different. I couldn't get her out of my head. I had spent the whole day staring at her, first in the cafeteria, and then from across the stadium during the game. It had taken every single ounce of my willpower not to ignore the plays entirely and just skate over to where she was sitting.This h

Lori"You are absolutely not staying in tonight to cry over that cheating piece of trash," Jessica said. She threw a tight, cropped black top and a short leather skirt right onto the middle of my unmade bed. "There is a massive bonfire happening right now down at the campus lake. Travis is going to be there. Elena is definitely going to be there. So you also, are going to be there. Of course looking the hottest you have ever been. I need that silly Travis on his knees when he sees you."Standing there, I stared at the clothes which weren’t even my style. Some parts of my body were still aching from what I did with Lucas last night.My brain was a complete and total mess, too. I couldn't stop thinking about the brutal fight I had just watched him pick on the ice. I wasn’t interested in seducing Travis in some tight skimpy clothes. However, a second glance at the skirt had some ideas rushing into my head. Some dangerous ones at that.Instead of making Travis, who doesn’t even deserve

LoriIt was not just because of Lucas. It was because of the person sitting on the opposite side of the stadium.I looked up at the special seating section reserved for the varsity athletes. Travis sat right in the middle of his fraternity brothers, wearing his black football jacket. He looked good, but he was not watching the hockey game. He was leaning down, his head bent close to Elena. She sat a row below him, wearing her full cheerleading uniform.Elena laughed at something he whispered. She threw her head back, her fingers brushing against his knee. A real, physical ache hit me right in the chest. For half a year, he hid me from everyone. He treated me like a dirty secret. “The football team doesn’t need the distraction right now, Lor,” he had told me every time I asked. “Let’s just keep this between us for a little while longer.”Every single excuse he ever gave me turned into a lie that made me sick to my stomach. Now, here he was openly flirting with another girl. The worst