Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 81994 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81994 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
I wish you all the best,
Autumn
I press send and hope that he understands. I know he may think that he cares about me or wants a relationship with me, but I’ve had a front-row seat to Sid’s dating life over the last few years, and if he really wanted something serious with me, I doubt he would’ve paraded all of those women in front of me.
I close down the computer and yell to Justin as I’m passing the living room that I’m going to get ready for work. He says something back that I don’t really understand due to the loud sounds coming from the TV.
*
Kenton
“Fuck, man. Good to see you,” Link says as soon as he spots me when I exit the airport.
I pull him in for a one-armed hug and pat him on the back, and he does the same before we separate. He pops the trunk for his SUV. I toss my duffel bag in and then walk around and climb into the passenger’s seat.
“I wish you were here under different circumstances,” he says, running a hand over his head and using the other to start up the car.
“Me too, brother.” I pull out my phone and see a message from Justin letting me know that he’s at the house and Autumn is home safe from work. I don’t think it’ll be long before she messages me, telling me off about Justin being there.
“The police really wanted to call Autumn, but I told them she’s in Europe and I would get a message to her as soon as possible,” Link says.
“Fuck,” I clip. “I don’t want her to know her place was broken into.”
Yesterday, while I was still wrapped around her in bed, Justin called and woke me up to tell me that Link had been trying to get ahold of me to let me know that Autumn’s condo had been broken into. I didn’t want her to know what was going on, but I needed to see for myself if I could find out what had gone down and if the break-in had anything to do with the shooting at the club.
“Chances are the two things are completely separate. Someone probably noticed that her place has been empty for a while and wanted to see if they could find anything worth pawning,” Link deduces.
Those are my thoughts too, but I’m not going to chance it. I know the local PD is trying to find out what’s going on, but they’re taking way too fucking long. “I’m not leaving this shit to chance. While I’m here, I need to see the tapes from the night of the shooting.”
“They’re at the club,” he says, pulling onto the highway. “Sid’s there tonight. He’ll let you look them over. I figure you can sleep for a while, and then we can head to the club later.”
“Sounds good.”
We drive in silence for a few minutes, and I know that he’s dying to ask about Autumn. I’m just waiting for him to say something, hoping it doesn’t piss me off when he does.
“How’s Autumn?”
I smirk, looking over at him. “A pain in my ass.”
“She got to you, didn’t she?” he asks softly, tapping his thumbs on the top of the steering wheel.
“Yeah, man.” I shake my head. “She’s not what I expected.”
“She’s thinkin’ about movin’ to Tennessee.”
“I know,” I reply, feeling a hint of jealousy that she talked to Link about it.
“Don’t hurt her, man. She’s a good woman,” he says.
I feel a growl start to vibrate my chest. I know there’s never been anything between them, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t piss me right the fuck off that he feels like he can look out for her.
“Don’t,” I say, hoping he gets it.
“There’s a lot you don’t know.”
“I know she has a sadness inside her that she tries to fight, but it’s so deep that she gets lost in it and has a hard time finding her way out. I know she freaks when she’s tickled and has a hard time letting people in. I know she has a boy she lost, and the loss still haunts her. But I also know that she smells like flowers, loves to be held even if she denies it, is cute as fuck when she’s angry, and is funny as hell when she lets down her walls. I may not know everything, but I know enough that I want to know more,” I tell him, hoping he gets that this isn’t some passing fuck to me.
I also hope that he understands that, yes, he may know more than I do, but she is mine to worry about now. I don’t like explaining myself to people, but I want him to comprehend that she is not a conquest; she is mine, and I take looking out for her very seriously.