Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 24894 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 124(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 83(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24894 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 124(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 83(@300wpm)
“Really? I didn’t feel it at all.” She says it nonchalantly as she sits up to look at it, and all I can do is take a step back.
A vibration ignites in my chest, and I stop moving. The shock of how easily I could do her harm scares me out of my lust-filled fog, and I take another step away. I have to put some distance between us while I get myself under control. I forgot what I’m capable of, and I could have hurt the woman I love.
“Key, what’s wrong? Why are you walking away from me?” She sits up, and I see that I’ve smeared her makeup and tangled her hair. She looks like she’s been mauled by an animal, and maybe she has. Maybe that’s all I am.
“It’s nothing, I—” I stop talking when her eyes narrow. I can’t lie to her, not only because it would kill me to do it, but because she’s always been able to read me better than anyone.
“You’ve been gone six years, and I think you owe me an explanation.”
I sigh as I run a hand down my face and try to gain control. Somehow my dick isn’t getting the message, so I have to reach down and adjust myself so it’s not so painful. The way her eyes watch me and then widen only makes me harder. I curse as I turn around so that I can clear my head and get a breath of fresh air. With all these heightened senses, I swear it’s like I can feel her all over me.
“Listen, there’s something I need to tell you,” I say after a moment and turn back around. She’s still in the same spot, only this time she’s got her arms crossed over her chest defensively. “You remember the day we had the accident.”
“Yes, I think I can recall the moment my life changed forever,” she deadpans.
Just then the door to her bedroom bursts open, and in come my parents with her parents right behind them.
Chapter Seven
ELSY
This cannot be happening. I glance down at myself to at least make sure no intimate parts of me are showing. My face is already rushing with heat as both Keaton’s parents and my own stare at us with wide eyes. Why do I suddenly feel fifteen again and not twenty-one?
“You can’t just burst into my bedroom.” I’m the first one to break the silence, but someone needs to.
“We wanted to check on you,” Nora, my mom, says. She’s got her hand pressed to her neck, and she’s not sure what to do at this moment. The embarrassment is written all over her face.
I know the Walkers adopted me years ago after they fostered me for a bit, but I still find myself sliding between calling her “Mom” and Nora. I think it’s because I can still remember parts of my parents. There aren’t a lot of memories, but their faces are branded in my mind.
“Keaton?” Dr. Lone calls to his son. “Is everything okay?”
There’s no missing the concern in his voice, and my irritation only grows. Oh, I can’t show up at the gates of your home, but you can let yourself right into my bedroom?
“Yes.” Keaton runs his hand through his short hair and it’s then I notice that it’s already unruly from my fingers holding on to it. Oh god, I wonder what I look like right now. “I mean no,” he says and drops his head.
“No?” I hiss. The one word is a sharp slice to my already wounded heart.
“I mean—fuck, I don’t know!” He shouts the last part, his voice gruff and animalistic. It makes my insides flutter while everyone else takes a step back. My body wants to be closer to his.
Keaton turns his back on all of us so he’s facing the large window in my bedroom. There’s a bench in front of it that I spent many nights as a teen sitting on while I was on the phone with Keaton.
I can still see the side of his face, and I notice his eyes are closed tightly. He tries to even out his breathing, and as he does it, I slip off the bed. There’s something pulling me to him and on instinct, I follow it.
“Can you give us a moment?” I ask them all as I place my hands on Keaton’s back. The tension begins to melt off him, and his muscles relax under my touch. “This is kind of my bedroom.”
“Of course,” my parents are quick to say but Keaton’s not so much. I stare at Dr. Lone and dare him to tell me no. I’m not scared of him even though the rest of the world kisses his ass.
“You said when Keaton wanted to see me, he would.” I remind him of his own words. Ones that I could never forget. They were burned on my heart the day he said it.