Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
“And you think Ocean Kilpatrick can give you that? Do you know what they call him in the streets? Somehow, I doubt he’d win any husband or father of the year awards.”
I smiled a little as I thought of him. “You’d be surprised. Ocean’s actually kind of…sweet.”
“Sweet,” she echoed incredulously.
I shrugged. “Well, he is to me. I think I lo—” Suddenly, Hunter started touching my head. Her hand moved to several different spots before she leaned into my space to peer into my eyes. “Whaat are you doing?” I asked nervously.
“Checking for a bump. I suspect you must have hit your head during your escape. It’s either a concussion or Stockholm syndrome.”
I tugged her hand away from my head. “I’m fine, Hunter. I know how it sounds, but I don’t care. I know what everyone says about him, but he’s different with me. Softer.”
Ignoring that she said, “By the way, how did you escape?”
“I didn’t. He brought me back.”
Hunter’s expression soured even more. “He what?”
Unsure of how much detail I should share, I downplayed it a lot when I said, “I told him I couldn’t marry him and that I wanted to go home. He brought me back.”
“And you…believed him?” She frowned at me like I was the dumbest bitch alive.
“Why wouldn’t’t I?”
“Because a man like Ocean Kilpatrick doesn’t lose, Coby. There’s no way he just accepted you not wanting to marry him.” She was full-on hyperventilating now as she stood from the bed and started pacing.
Feeling the need to defend him, I argued, “You don’t know him. He’s a better man than you think, Hunter. You just have to—”
“Coby!” Her shout shut me up. “Do you know why I looked like I’ve been through hell when I found you tonight?” All I could do was shake my head. “It’s because I have. And not just today. I’ve been running from your fucking fiancé for a goddamn week! He put the word out, and now everybody is gunning for me. Coby…there’s a bounty on me for half a million dollars,” she said with tears streaming down her cheeks. “I couldn’t even turn to friends because with that much money on the table, I didn’t know who to trust. As for the ones I could, it would only mean putting them in danger, so I’ve been sleeping in Deborah,” she said, referring to her ’93 Ford Thunderbird. “At least, I was. She’s… she’s gone.”
It wasn’t the first time Hunter had been forced to sleep in the cranky old bitch. The last time had been shortly after we met. I remembered thinking how cool Hunter was for already having her own car at fifteen until I learned she’d been living in it and had no one else. It hadn’t been easy convincing Shaun to let Hunter move in with us. It wasn’t until my brother met her for the first time that he finally gave in, elevating him from my bossy older brother to a hero in my eyes. Hunter lived with us until we both turned eighteen and moved on campus at the university. Not long after that, Hunter and Roshaun fell out for good, but I still remembered when they got along.
“Wait, what do you mean gone? What happened to her?”
“Prince Charming happened,” she answered acerbically. “He sent one of his goons after me, and I got caught slipping. Sacrificing Deborah was the only way I could get away.”
“Hunter, I’m so sorry. I know how much she meant to you.”
I nodded. It hurt too much to think about Deb, so I quickly moved on. “I only came back here because I was getting ready to leave the city,” Hunter went on to explain, “but then I found you here, and it was like you never left. I just…forgot about it all.” It was silent for a moment while Hunter gathered herself. A week of running from a man with more power than God had obviously taken its toll. “So no,” she said once her voice was steady once more. “I may not know Ocean, but I’ve known men like him all my life. He didn’t go through all of that trouble backing me into a corner just to give up because his fiancée was homesick. If he let you go, it’s for a reason.”
I started to wonder if she was right until I remembered something she said earlier. “But he told you I was here, right? Ocean could have easily grabbed us both the moment you showed up, but he didn’t. Why?”
“I don’t know, Coby. Maybe you’re right,” she admitted while still looking ready to bolt. “But my gut is telling me that I am. I can’t explain why. I just feel it.”
“So what do you want to do because I’m with you no matter what,” I assured her. “Where you go, I go.” And then I smiled. “Ride or die, bestie.”