Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
I was annoyed. Why? It was just Gathe being Gathe. What did I care if he came over to join our conversation? It didn’t matter. But I was fucking annoyed anyway.
Elsie looked uncertain, but Gathe put the damn thing up to her lips, not giving her an option. Her eyes flickered to me before she bit into it. The image of her full, glossy lips opening up like that made my dick stir to attention, and I knew that was not a good thing. At least, I thought it wasn’t. I wasn’t supposed to fuck her. She lived here now, for however long. I couldn’t get away from her after I fucked her. She’d be in my face all the time.
No. Not going there. That was drama.
“It’s good,” Gathe said. “Right?”
She chewed, and I caught myself being a little too fascinated in her tongue darting out to lick the drop of caramel from her lips.
When she nodded, Gathe held up the rest of it to her. “This one is yours. I’ve had three already.”
She took the stick from him and thanked him, but, dammit, those eyes of hers kept darting back to me, almost as if she was making sure I hadn’t left her here. Fuck. What was I going to do with that? Were we friends now? Hell, she’d just gotten here. We’d not had time to form any friendship, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like her company.
“Forge!” Saylor called my name from across the room.
I turned to see what she wanted.
“Picture with the uncles. Come on!” She was waving me toward the balloon-arch thing, where Kash, Winslet, and Oz—who looked like he needed a stiff drink—stood.
Gathe snickered. “Isn’t she a ray of sunshine?”
I shot a glare at him. “Shut up,” I snarled before leaving him there with Elsie while I went over for the damn picture.
Twelve
Elsie
While everyone was busy celebrating, I slipped away and went back to my room.
I’d been able to keep busy helping so that I didn’t dwell on reality for several hours. But as the evening began to creep in, it was all there. Waiting to haunt me in my dreams. I had come to dread going to sleep. Being alone wasn’t ideal, but I’d felt out of place. I’d just met them all, and while they’d been welcoming, even when they didn’t have to be, I was still the outsider.
Sitting back in the window seat, I pulled my knees under my chin, wrapping my arms around my legs, and stared out at the sunset. The days were getting longer. My mom had loved that about the spring. She had hated when it got dark early, and Dad would complain that she would turn every light in the house on to brighten things up. A faint smile tugged at my lips as I thought about it. I missed them.
It was the deepest ache. To miss someone you wouldn’t ever see again. To know you would never see them smile, or hear their voice, or feel their arms around you. I missed the way my mother had smelled of lavender and whatever else was in her favorite perfume.
A tear slipped down my cheek, and I wiped it on my knee.
She had been planning for us to take a cruise together this summer. While Dad was away at work, she wanted to cruise up the coast and into Canada. Planning trips was what got her through the winter. Mom had loved the sunshine and warmth.
Sniffling, I wiped at my face with my hand this time. I wanted to talk to Calvin. This was worse than I’d imagined. Not having anyone around me who loved me. Who knew me. Who had known my parents.
A knock sounded on my door, and I jumped, not expecting it. Dropping my legs to the floor, I stood up and used the shirt I was wearing to dry my face completely. I didn’t want to answer it, but I was a guest in this house and felt as if I had to. This wasn’t my room. I didn’t have a place of my own. Not here. Not anywhere.
Walking over to the door, I hesitated, then opened it.
Forge stood there, and his eyes scanned my face. I hoped it wasn’t red and splotchy. I wanted to grieve alone.
He held up a paper. “Got something for you,” he told me.
I stared at the paper, unsure what that would be.
“Calvin sent you a letter through the private server.”
Oh! I reached for it then, desperate for some contact.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. The party get too much for you?”
I nodded. “I, uh, just thought …” I stopped, not sure how to tell him why I had left.
“You wanted to get away from a crowd of strangers being loud as fuck because you’re grieving.”
I swallowed. “Yeah,” I replied softly.