Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 57471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 230(@250wpm)___ 192(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 230(@250wpm)___ 192(@300wpm)
“Oh, my little kitten has grown some claws. I like it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Cut the crap, Travis. Put him down and let him go to the house.”
He paused and stared at me in disbelief. “If this is some kind of trick, I’ll make you both pay.”
“Seriously? He’s a small kid and the house is right there,” I pointed at the main house off in the distance. “Let him run back home, and then we can get out of here.”
Travis stared at me for a long minute, indecision warring in his pale blue eyes as he weighed his options. He would have to take the risk that I might run right along with Hunter or hang back and go with him.
Truthfully, I thought about taking off as soon as Hunter’s feet hit the ground, but he’d catch Hunter easily, and we’d be right back where we started. “Let him go,” I said and took a step closer. “Run, Hunter, as fast as you can, okay?”
“Without you?” His brows furrowed. “No.”
“You have to, buddy. I’ll be okay, I promise. You just be big and strong and run real fast, okay? And if you get scared, Billy should be in the barn.”
“Enough already!” Travis was so angry that someone else was getting my attention—a common theme in our old relationship—that he practically vibrated with it. He set Hunter on the ground so abruptly that he tumbled, bracing his palms on the grass. “Go! Run now. Go!”
Hunter gasped, and tears filled his eyes as they swung to me. “Molly?”
“I love you, Hunter. Make sure you tell Peanut Butter I love him too, yeah?”
He nodded and flung himself at me for the second time today. “Love you too, Molly.” He turned and took off as fast as his little legs would carry him, and when the front door closed behind him, I turned to Travis.
“Well, what’s your plan?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he growled, grabbing my arm.
I yanked out of his hold. “I said I would go with you, not that you could manhandle me.”
He frowned. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Gee, Travis, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that we’ve been broken up for months, and now you’re here at my job to what, kidnap me?” I shook my head and walked beside him, grumbling under my breath. “Did you expect me to welcome you with open arms?”
“Kind of, yeah. You used to love me.”
I shook my head. “No, Travis. I used to date you. I broke up with you because I didn’t love you. If I did, I might’ve found your jealousy endearing instead of repulsive.”
His brows furrowed. “I wasn’t jealous.”
“Sure you were.” Now that he was firmly in my past, I saw all of his behavior for what it was. “Always accusing me of wanting your grimy friends, of cheating on you.”
He let out a bitter laugh and grabbed my arm again; this time, his expression was dark and worrisome. “Well, now I know why you weren’t interested in my friends. You’ve been fucking that old dude, slutting it up for him when you’re mine.”
“I’m not yours, Travis, and if you were honest with yourself for one second, you could admit that you don’t want me.” He was probably upset that I’d been the one to break up with him instead of the other way around. “What is this all about?”
“I never thought you were a chick with daddy issues,” he growled, pulling me forward.
“Daddy issues? Hardly. Maybe it’s just that he sees me as I am, not how he wants me to be, and certainly not through the lens of his own insecurities.” I thought of the way Colton found it amusing when Wyatt flirted with me, putting on his most charming grin. He wasn’t bothered by it at all because he knew Wyatt flirted with every female from nine months to ninety-nine years.
That’s what an evolved, secure man looked like.
“You’ll forget about the old dude as soon as you’re mine.” The look in his eyes put me on edge, but when I tried to free myself from his hold, Travis’ grip tightened.
“If you’re fine with taking what isn’t given freely, you do what you have to do, Travis. Just don’t expect this to change anything between us.” A chill pulsed through my body at his words as well as my own, and suddenly I was no longer simply annoyed by my current circumstances.
I was terrified.
After a few minutes of silence, a car appeared in the distance, a small green pickup truck that had seen better days. “I won’t have to take anything, sweetheart. You’ll remember how you feel about me, and you’ll come to me willingly.”
“I do remember how I feel about you, Travis. I barely even liked you as a person by the end of our relationship. You did everything you could to make me feel bad about myself, to make me feel bad for not wanting to go to bed with you. That makes you the bad guy in our relationship, not me. So there’s no need for me to remember anything. I remember it all, vividly.”