Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 62404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 312(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 312(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
“Yes, they are,” I answer.
“So, like I said, why are you here?” she asks again. She puts the pizza down and leans her head on the side of the counter.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“I’m tired.” Her eyes start to close, and she jolts as she starts to fall asleep sitting up. Shit! How high is she? I go back and shut the door, not one of them moving as I do. I pull a blanket from the couch, one that isn’t covering her friend and place it over her mother before I bend down and reach for Oriana, picking up her light frame. Her arms go around my neck as I cradle her to me and I take her to her room. Clothes are everywhere, and her bed is a mess. Walking her over to it, I place her down then move her clothes out of the way.
“Jake,” she mumbles sleepily.
“Hmm…” I lean down, brushing her red hair from her face.
“I hate that I like you.” I smile at her words as she scoots over and opens her arms, her eyelids lifting just a little. “Cuddle me.”
“I don’t cuddle,” I warn her.
“You do now. Now, cuddle me,” she demands.
I kick off my shoes and climb into bed with her, then she flings a leg over me as she places her head on my chest.
“If I wasn’t so drunk and high right now, we could totally do the nasty.”
I brush her hair down with a laugh. “We can tomorrow,” I tell her.
“Good. I like the nasty with you…” She pauses, nuzzling into me. “Do you like it with me?”
“Yes, every second of it.” I don’t know if she hears me because a soft snore leaves her mouth. Her grip loosens as she falls deeper into sleep.
I go to move, but she somehow knows and holds me tighter.
I don’t sleep in the same room with anyone.
It’s better that way.
Always has been.
So why do I not fight it when my eyes close?
Because I know I should.
Yet…
Chapter 24
Life flashes at weird times
Oriana
I can’t breathe.
My hands are scraping at his neck, and I can’t breathe. Trying to scratch and pry his hands off me is doing nothing, and I can’t reach his eyes. I feel myself getting lighter and lighter, the air leaving my body fully.
How is this possible?
How can he…
“Fuck, Oriana.” The hands around my throat suddenly disappear.
I suck in a huge breath and manage to army crawl off my bed. How did I get into this position? I don’t even know. I was sleeping, until I wasn’t. I moved on him, and somehow, I got flipped onto my back, and the life was almost strangled out of me.
“Fuck.” His hands go to his head and pull at his hair.
I crawl on the floor until I reach the corner, just barely holding myself together.
“Fuck, are you okay?” He makes to approach me, but I hold out my hand to stop him. “Oriana…”
“Y-you should leave. P-please leave…” I manage to gasp in some fresh air, but the pain in my neck makes it feel that much more painful.
“It’s why I don’t sleep with other people. I had…” He pauses. “Fuck, I told you I don’t,” he says it again, and this time he does leave, leaving me on the floor trying to gather air and stop the tingling sensation throughout my body. I blink a few times trying to get my bearings and as I’m about to get up, he suddenly walks back in with a bag of ice.
He cautiously walks over to me and holds it out. “My stepfather used to come in when I was sleeping and beat me.” I’m so shocked by his admission that I sit there, stunned into a silent stupor. “When I got older, my first reaction was to reach out and grab what I could to protect myself. That is…until I took his life.”
Jake sucks in a breath, still holding out the ice. “Take the ice, it will help your neck.” I do as he says and place it on the front where it’s currently burning. He scratches the back of his neck, looking nothing like the man I’ve come to know. “I didn’t mean—”
“I get it.” I don’t get it completely, but I also do. He didn’t mean to hurt me, yet he did.
Badly.
So badly that I think I’m going to have trouble sleeping next to anyone, ever again.
“You need to see someone,” I tell him as I stand. “You can’t do that again. You have to see someone.”
“Yeah, that’s what Cap says.”
“He’s right.”
“It’s never been an issue for me before. I never let another person sleep next to me,” he tells me, and there’s vulnerability in his voice. Something he never shares with me. He’s always so…rude, crass, even vulgar sometimes. “I’ll see someone,” he finally says after a long pause, looking over his shoulder to the door. “No one is here…” He pauses unsure of his next move which is so unlike him. “They must have left. I should stay until someone can be here with you.”