Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
“Good,” she croaked, burying her face in my neck.
No other words were needed. We moved together in a dance as old as time, and when she came, I followed her right over the edge, moaning as I tucked my face into the curve of her neck, my body shuddering just as much as she was trembling in my arms.
Chapter Twelve
Trinity
Wyatt held up a cookie to me, and I smiled despite how stressed I currently felt. Opening my mouth, I stuck out my tongue, making him giggle as he placed the small cookie on my tongue. Covering my mouth with my hand, I said, “Thank you, baby.”
He nodded. “You looked sad, Mommy. Cookies always cheer me up.”
I laughed softly and reached down to ruffle his red hair. “Cookies cheer me up, too,” I told him. They didn’t, but I’d pretend for his sake. I didn’t want my problems to touch him.
I’d been working hard all morning to get in touch with the proper people to pull out of school and end my internship at the hospital Zac worked at. I was hoping I would be able to avoid paying fees by pulling out in the middle of the semester due to my extenuating circumstances, but my hopes weren’t really high for it.
Colleges were greedy, and they wanted every penny they could get.
Jimmie stepped inside, his skin sun kissed. A baseball cap rested on his head, and he’d pulled his long, dark hair through the loop in the back, wrapping it into a small bun to keep it off the nape of his neck. He smiled at me and Wyatt before coming to sit on the floor beside Wyatt, stealing one of his cookies.
“What are we watching?” Jimmie asked. He’d had to do something in one of his fields this morning and had offered to take Wyatt with him, but I’d declined. Wyatt was a good distraction, and he’d kept me from spiraling. I didn’t need to be alone with my thoughts right now. Jimmie had understood and promised he’d be back before Wyatt had to go down for his afternoon nap.
Cookies probably weren’t the best for him before his nap, but he’d asked, and I hadn’t been able to deny him.
Wyatt rattled off the name of the show he’d put on, and I went back to typing up my email to the school while Wyatt and Jimmie watched the cartoon playing on the TV. I finished typing up my email, then closed my laptop and set it aside. Jimmie leaned his head back to look up at me, a frown tugging at his lips. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I said quietly. “Just pulling out of school and trying to avoid paying tuition out of pocket.”
“If they hit you with it, just let me know. I’ll pay it for you.”
I sighed even while my chest clenched. He was too damn good for me. “You don’t have to do that, Jimmie.”
“I know,” he gently replied, “but I want to. So please let me take care of you, baby. You’ve got enough going on.”
I gripped his shoulder, giving it a little squeeze. Then, I looked at Wyatt. “Alright, bud. Time for a nap.”
He groaned but got to his feet regardless. I stood and followed him to his room. Once he was on his bed, I tucked him in and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “When you get up, we can go outside and play, okay?”
He nodded. “Promise?”
I smiled and ran my hand over his hair. “I promise, baby.”
Leaving his room, I quietly shut his door behind me, then headed into the living room. Jimmie had moved to the couch, and he patted the spot beside him, so I took a seat, leaning into his side. He wrapped his arm around me and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “Have you thought about pressing charges on Zac yet?” he quietly asked, making sure his voice didn’t carry beyond the living room. The last thing we needed was Wyatt figuring out something was wrong. Or well, more than he already had.
I nodded. “Yeah,” I said quietly. Blowing out a soft breath, I leaned forward and grabbed my phone from the coffee table. “I was going to do it when I was sure Wyatt was asleep.”
Jimmie’s arm tightened around me. “I know this is terrifying, but I’m proud of you. And I’ll get you the best attorney I can find to represent you. He won’t get away with this.”
I swallowed thickly and nodded. “Thank you,” I croaked, my throat thick.
“You don’t have to thank me, baby,” Jimmie said quietly. “I just want what’s best for you, and I want that son of a bitch to pay for what he did to you and Wyatt. I won’t stop until he’s serving time behind bars.”
Tears burned in my eyes, but I didn’t let them fall. “I think I need therapy, too,” I quietly confessed.