Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92841 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92841 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
After getting everything set up, I turn the music on my phone on soft and then go about stripping Kinsley out of her clothes. She’s quiet and withdrawn the entire time, but she goes into the tub willingly.
“Join me,” she murmurs, her glassy eyes pleading.
I wasn’t planning to, wanting to keep it about her and not us, but when she looks at me like that, there’s nothing I wouldn’t give her.
“Of course,” I say, quickly getting undressed and then sliding in behind Kinsley so she’s able to lean against me.
I had my bathroom renovated when I bought the house, so the tub is a decent size and fits us both easily. With the music playing, we sit in silence for a few minutes. I use the silkiness of the water to rub my hands up and down her arms, hoping I’m comforting her, and when she sighs further into me, I know it’s working.
“Tell me about him,” I say, continuing to wash her.
She momentarily tenses up, and I wonder if I said the wrong thing. Another guy might be jealous or resentful that his girlfriend loves another man, regardless that he’s no longer here, but I accept that Kinsley’s heart will always be filled with love for other people. Luckily, she has a huge heart that can hold love for several people at once.
“He was rough around the edges,” she begins. “Came from a shitty home and was lost when he showed up at Forbidden Ink, the tattoo shop that my family owns in the city …”
She goes on to tell me about their friendship and how it eventually turned into something more. Their wedding, moving in together, deciding to have a baby, and the night her life changed for the worse. While she talks, I listen and wash her so she knows I’m paying attention. Nothing I say will change what happened, and really, Kinsley doesn’t need me to say anything. She just needs me to listen, to understand, to know that she’s safe, talking to me about an important part of her life that will always be a part of who she is.
“I told my therapist about you,” she says, shocking me. “I told her that for the first time, because of you, I feel things I didn’t think I would ever feel again. Feelings I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to feel again.”
She glances back at me sheepishly. “I wish I could snap my fingers and move forward, leaving the past where it belongs. I feel like you deserve so much more than a woman who’s still hung up on her dead husband three years later.”
She goes to turn away, but I grasp her chin, holding her gaze.
“That’s not how I see it at all. I’m proud of you, Kins.” I lean in and press my lips to hers and then pull back. “Every year, you’ve spent today alone, and had you chosen to spend today alone, I would’ve understood because I’m not trying to compete with your past. It’s part of what makes you who you are, and I love you exactly the way you are. But the fact that you showed up on my doorstep on your own, trusting me with your broken heart, means the world to me.”
Her eyes widen at my use of the L-word, and truth be told, I didn’t mean for it to come out like that, but I don’t regret it because it’s the truth. I love Kinsley Bryson, and I’m going to do everything in my power to show her that.
“Shane.” She turns around so she’s facing me, and the water in the tub sloshes around, but neither of us pays attention to it, too focused on one another. “I need you to help me forget.” She frames the sides of my face. “To remind me that even though they’re gone, I’m still here, and I deserve to be.”
“Kinsley …” I brush my lips against hers. They’re soft and plump, and they taste salty from the tears sliding down her face. “You deserve to be here, and if I have to remind you of that every day for the rest of our lives, I will.”
TWENTY-ONE
Kinsley
“You deserve to be here …”
Shane’s words permeate deep within me as he cups my jaw, and his mouth gently presses against mine. The kiss starts out slow and tender, until he pushes my lips apart and deepens the kiss, giving me what I need.
“… if I have to remind you of that every day for the rest of our lives, I will.”
Craving more of Shane, I slide my palms down his chiseled torso, my fingers exploring every ridge of his six-pack, until I get to the hard length that’s bobbing between us.
“Kins,” he groans into my mouth when I wrap my fingers around his shaft and pump it up and down, relishing in the velvety-smooth skin. “Fuck, baby, I need to be inside you now.”