Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
I frowned. “What the care do you hell?”
Her brows dipped. “What?”
“What the care do you hell?” Wait. No, that’s not right. I shook my head and attempted to unscramble the words. “What the care do you hell?” Fuck me.
“Are you…drunk?”
“What are you doing here, February?”
She blinked a few times. “I came to see you, of course.”
“What for? No-sock-wearing-motherfucker not get the job done?”
Her lips pursed. “I’m not sure what your problem is, but I think I should go.”
I leaned forward and spoke in her face. “You know what my problem is, Red?” She didn’t back down in the slightest. I have no clue why, but that turned me on. Though I tamped down the feeling. “Your buddy stopped in and told me what a great lay you were.”
February’s face twisted. “What?”
I nodded. “Mr. Three-Piece-Suit. Told me fucking you was addicting.”
Her head pulled back. “You spoke to Tobias?”
“Tobias?” I scoffed. “Figures that’s his name.”
“I don’t understand. How did you speak to Tobias?”
“Does it matter how I found out your secret?”
“My secret? Tobias coming was not a secret.”
“Well, you sure as hell didn’t mention it to me, and we spent the entire day together yesterday.”
“That’s because I had no idea he was coming.”
“Sure you didn’t.”
“Are you serious right now? You don’t believe me?”
“It doesn’t matter what I believe.”
“It does to me.”
“Why?”
“Because I care about you, you big doofus! And if you weren’t so pigheaded, maybe you could see that you care about me, too!” She looked away for a few heartbeats, and then pushed up on her tippy toes and got right in my face. “Why did it upset you when you found out Tobias visited me?”
I gritted my teeth. “You know why.”
“Yes!” She raised her hands into the air and waved them around. “I do know why! But you can’t even admit it to yourself.”
I stared at her, saying nothing.
“How would you feel if I told you I let Tobias touch me, Brock?”
My face was on fire, and it felt like steam was billowing from my nose and ears.
“No response?” She moved closer. “How would you feel if I told you I let Tobias fuck me then? Would that make you jealous?”
I closed my eyes, doing my best to hang on to my last shred of control. “Please stop.”
“Not until you tell me you were jealous!”
“Of course I was fucking jealous!”
“Then why don’t you do something about it already?”
My chest heaved up and down. She was so damn beautiful, so damn perfect, so not afraid to call me on my shit. I couldn’t resist her anymore. Cupping her cheeks, I backed her against the wall. I wanted this woman more than anything I’d ever wanted in my life, and it scared me to feel that out of control. So I took a deep breath and attempted to pull together whatever restraint I had before bending to kiss her. Just as my lips were about to connect with hers, she put a hand on my chest.
“Brock…wait.” February’s eyes met mine. “I’ve learned a lot about myself these last two weeks, and I am not going to allow myself to be used by people anymore. I want this as much as you do, maybe more. But not like this. You’re drunk.”
Fuck. She was right. I hung my head. “I’m sorry.”
She smiled sadly. “So am I. But if you ever want to kiss me while sober, just call. I’ll be waiting.”
***
The next morning, I was kicking myself in the ass for the way I’d acted last night. I needed to see February. There was no way I could wait until the next time she snuck out. So I took a calculated risk and walked in through the front door of Sierra Wellness Center.
“Hi. I’m here to visit my sister. I think I might be a little early for visiting hours.”
“Actually, I think you’re a little late,” said the woman at the desk. “Yesterday was visitors’ day.”
“Yesterday?” I did my best to look shocked. “You’re kidding me?”
The woman shook her head. “Visitors’ days are always on Sundays. I’m sorry.”
“Shoot.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I drove all night to get here in time. Took me twelve hours.”
“Oh my gosh. That’s a long way.”
“Yeah. My sister’s always been there for me. I’m a single dad with four kids, and she’s helped me out a lot, so I wanted to be here for her.”
The woman covered her heart with her hand. “That’s so sweet.”
“Is there any way I could just maybe…say hello? So she knows I was here at least?”
“It’s against policy, but let me check with her counselor.”
“Thanks. I really appreciate it.”
Fifteen minutes later, I walked into a small visitors’ room. February was already inside. Her eyes widened when she saw me. “Oh my God. You’re my surprise visitor who drove twelve hours?”
I stalked over to her. “Sorry about that. I couldn’t wait to see you, and that’s the best I could come up with.”