Total pages in book: 260
Estimated words: 245483 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1227(@200wpm)___ 982(@250wpm)___ 818(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 245483 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1227(@200wpm)___ 982(@250wpm)___ 818(@300wpm)
“Don’t say that—” He tries to interrupt me, his voice thick with sympathy I never fucking asked for.
The leather groans as I turn to look him in the eye. “It’s the truth. Some nights I blamed the fucking club. But I never dreaded seeing you or her.” Until now.
Gripping the handle in my right, and the strap to a duffle bag with essentials in my left, I swing open the old truck door and listen to it creak as I step out. Spending the night with Reed made me certain of one thing: we’re still the same.
“Now I need my hellcat back.” A nervousness prickles across my skin as the wind creeps up my leather jacket. “Even if she doesn’t want me,” I murmur beneath my breath as I hear the slam of Reed’s door and then his heavy footsteps quickening to catch up to me. “She fucking owes me.”
All I could think about every night was walking up these concrete porch steps. As Reed races to beat me to the door, using the iron knocker, I’m all too aware of how I pictured walking right in. Not stopping or hesitating in the least. She’d stand there, her eyes wide first with shock, then relief and adoration.
Sometimes that’s what I pictured as I fell asleep on that hard bed with images of her writhing under me in my head.
Other times, my eyes stayed open as I stared at the cracked ceiling of the cell, imagining how she’d back away, how she’d tell me she couldn’t be with a man like me. That she knew what I’d done and that I was all wrong for her. That everything we ever were was a mistake.
She told me then, in these fucking terrors that kept me wide awake just like it did last night, that she regretted ever being with me and it was over.
I prepare myself for whatever it is she has to say as a voice I know all too well calls out, “Coming!”
If she’s going to leave me, she’s going to have to do it to my face.
“I think this is a mistake.” Reed’s murmur is spoken just beneath his breath, as is my response.
“I’ll add it to my fucking résumé.”
The crickets are the only sounds I can hear over my racing heart until the door opens.
Thump, thump. The light of the foyer creates a golden halo around her. Standing all of five feet two, Kat stares up at me, her gorgeous eyes working their way up from my chest until she meets my gaze. Her expression isn’t at all how I pictured.
Time pauses for a moment. It’s gone too fast, but it stills long enough for me to take in her cherry lips, her hazel eyes and the shock that disappears far too quickly, replaced with a shadow that hides a woman I used to know.
Thump, thump. The door opens with a groan and she stands to the side, her gaze moving easily from me to Reed as she tells us to come in. Her cadence is soft but confident, and I nearly second-guess everything until she peeks up at me and her grip on the door tightens.
There’s the look I’ve been dreaming up, staring back at me through a glossy gaze. It’s nearly gone as quickly as I see it, but I know damn well it’s there as she glances to the floor and licks her lips. I don’t take my eyes from her and she’s quick to bring hers back up but it stops at my mouth.
Heat spikes through my blood. That’s my needy girl.
Even if she doesn’t openly admit it, even if she’s wary, she wants me still. The tension crackles between us, although it’s quickly extinguished.
“I could smell the beer and whiskey from all the way in the kitchen,” Lydia states evenly with a touch of humor as she leans against the open doorway through Kat’s home.
I’ve seen pictures of this place, Reed showed me. He kept tabs on her for me. And although the compliment is there—I like your place—there’s not a word that could leave my dried throat right now even if I tried.
It’s silent and awkward between Kat and me as Reed makes small talk with Lydia and I share stolen glances with the woman I never stopped loving.
Her thin cotton nightgown barely hides her curves although it’s baggy on her small frame. I know I’ve aged while I’ve been gone, with dark circles under my eyes that never used to be there and lines from constant stress and worry, but Kat’s changed too. Without an ounce of makeup on her, there are bags under her eyes and I wonder if it’s because she couldn’t sleep knowing I’d be knocking on her door tonight. Her hair is shorter, cut just above her shoulders and dyed a pretty blond that complements her olive skin tone.