Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 102167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
She’s a nice woman and an innocent victim in a conflicted situation, but right now, her body against mine feels like the enemy. A betrayal to the nights I spent cuddled with Avery and the very real sex we had on the island—my cock deep inside her and my eyes locked on her face when she came.
It’s so fucking ironic that the reality is the exact opposite.
“God, Henry. I was so worried,” Ashley chokes out. “S-so scared.”
“I’m okay,” I say, my voice hollow. “I’m here.”
Ashley pulls back just enough to look at me, her hands still gripping my arms. “I can’t believe you’re actually here,” she says, her eyes searching mine. “I’ve been praying for you every single day, Henry. Praying that you’d come back to me.”
Come back to her.
Ashley’s grip tightens, and she presses her face into my chest. I wrap my arms around her out of reflex, but my eyes keep drifting back to the crowd, searching for Avery. She’s nowhere to be seen, and the ache in my chest deepens.
For thirteen days, it was just Avery and me. Together.
Now, there’s another woman in my arms, and I’m not sure where we stand at all.
Avery
If my island tan were just a little bronzier, not only would I feel like a goldfish in a bowl being ogled by an entire city, but I’d look like one too.
My ears ring from the helicopter, and my heart pounds in percussive harmony with the sound. The cameras haven’t stopped flashing, and my body hasn’t breathed air since we got here, smothered instead by the desperate hugs of my parents and grandparents and Beau and June and Addy, and now, to make matters worse, there’s a woman fondling Henry Callahan like she owns him, and she is not me.
“God, Avery!” June cries into my neck, still worked up fifteen minutes into our arrival. I barely manage to keep my balance as she clings to me. Her tiny baby bump presses against my stomach, and she’s sobbing again like a water main break. “I can’t believe you’re here! You’re really here!”
“Relax, June,” I say, patting her back as gently as I can. “I’m fine. See? All in one piece.”
She pulls back, mascara streaking her cheeks, and glares at me like I just insulted her unborn child. “Relax? Relax?! You were missing for two weeks, Avery! I thought I lost you! I thought I was never going to see you again! And you want me to relax? Are you kidding me!”
Oh boy.
“Juni, honey,” I say, gently putting my hand on her shoulder. “I think you need to calm down. You’re pregnant, and there’s no way it’s healthy to be this worked up. I mean, I know how scary a life without me in it sounded…” Beau and my mom both bark little laughs, obviously relieved to find I’m still the same Avery they know and love. “But I’m here. I’ve been here for fifteen minutes.”
“You’re impossible,” she huffs, swatting my arm away before pulling me into another hug. “I hate you. Don’t ever do that again.”
“I love you too,” I mumble into her shoulder.
When June finally lets me go, my gaze latches on to my dad’s face. He’s crying actual tears—something I haven’t seen him do in years, and a pang of serious discomfort runs through me. If he’s feeling things this strongly, they truly must have thought I was dead.
“Dad, are you crying?” I ask, my voice dripping with disbelief.
“Shut up, Avery,” he says, sniffing loudly. “Shut up and give me another hug because I thought I’d never see you again.”
I roll my eyes but step into his arms. His hug is tight, almost crushing and a little painful, but it’s comforting. There’s never been a problem my daddy couldn’t fix—or, at the very least, would try to with all the money and resources at his disposal. I can’t imagine the lack of control he felt not even being able to find me, let alone save me.
“Okay, okay, Neil. Release the vise grip, or else you’re going to break my ribs,” I say, laughing softly.
“Good,” he mutters, eventually letting me go. “Serves you right for scaring me half to death.”
My mother pulls me into another hug, her forty-seventh, if I recall, squeezing me a tiny bit less tightly because her breast implants make it tough to get as close, and then Beau is next, his expression a mix of relief and annoyance. “If you ever pull a stunt like this again, I swear…”
“You swear, what?” I retort, quirking a brow at him. “I only went on this trip because of the two of you, remember? You can’t back out. It’ll still be fun,” I mock, using my best version of his and June’s voices.
I don’t mean to place any blame or renew erroneous guilt at all—it’s a joke, at best—but good intentions or not, the words do not help June’s emotions. My niece Addy tries to console her with a few pats to her shoulders, but I have a feeling the pregnancy hormones are running this ship now. “Oh my God!” she wails. “I did this to you. We did this to you! We—”