Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 119650 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119650 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
I’ve been such a mess. My life has been rapidly falling apart, but now with Tanner back in my arms and the promise of trying again, a little flame of hope ignites within me. As long as I have him at the end of the day, I know that whatever I must face with Erica and Colby’s false allegations, I’ll be alright.
Not wanting to push his luck, Tanner pulls back and meets my stare as he braces himself on his elbows above me, the rest of our limbs tangled in a desperate mess. “We’re going to be okay, Bri.”
My lips press into a hard line, the weight of my situation coming back to me. “I don’t know,” I tell him. “Orlando is refusing to take my case because it’s a conflict of interest with Colby, and my mom … she thinks I really had something to do with it, no matter how many times I go over it. She’s already treating me like a criminal.”
“The fuck do you mean he won’t take your case?” Tanner demands, grabbing me and rolling us until I’m straddled over his hips. “He won’t drop Colby as a client to defend you?”
I shake my head. “Nope. Apparently, Colby’s case is big enough to have his name in lights. He’s doing it all for publicity, but he said he’d set me up with someone else.”
“That’s not the point,” he says. “He married your mom. He should have your back no matter what.”
“You’d think,” I scoff. “I can’t wait ’til my brother gets back from boot camp. He’d have no issue putting Orlando in his place for this. Hell, Mom and Erica too.”
“Is it true Erica set you up? I thought maybe Colby had done it.”
“Nope,” I say. “Well … kinda. He confirmed Erica’s story, but she’s the one who gave them my name. I saw the footage of her statement. She completely threw me under the bus and fabricated evidence to go along with it. I can prove she was lying, but it doesn’t make it suck any less.” I let out a heavy breath before meeting his gaze again. “On the plus side, the detective told me they were able to match Colby’s DNA to the rape kit they took from Addison and was confident he’d go down for it. Though, he was also confident that I’d go down for it. He was claiming I was in the room with Colby and just sat back and watched it all go down. They think I put him up to it.”
Tanner sits up and rests against the headboard of his bed, pulling me into his chest and holding me tight. “Don’t worry, Bri. We’re going to get this sorted out, and Colby is going to suffer for it. I swear to you, I won’t let anything happen to you. You’re not going down for this.”
I nod against his chest just as we hear the faintest click of the lock. The door creaks open and Riley’s head pokes through the small gap, his eyes brimming with hesitation. “I haven’t heard any screaming,” he says, his gaze narrowing as he looks at us on the bed.
“You better be here to free us, otherwise, I’m going to castrate you,” I warn him.
His hand slips through the gap and he holds out a takeout container. I immediately smell noodles and my stomach growls after skipping dinner with my mom. “I thought you guys might be hungry, but seeing as though things are looking better, maybe you’d wanna join me? Jax bailed twenty minutes ago, and I’ve been sitting downstairs by myself. Though, I haven’t heard any fucking yet … so maybe things aren’t going as well as I thought.”
I roll my eyes and climb off Tanner’s lap before barging past Riley and grabbing the noodles in the process. “Things were going just fine until you shoved your big head through the door,” I tell him. “And for the record, you’re lucky I’m hungry, otherwise, your balls would be mine.”
Riley grins wide, reminding me that the fucker must be into some twisted kinks. And with that, I make my way downstairs with the boys on my heels, my stomach rumbling, and my shattered heart slowly piecing itself back together.
Chapter 7
TANNER
Logan’s good, I’ll give him that.
I watch him through the rearview mirror as his black Camaro tears around the track behind me. The dirt from my tires cloud around him, almost like an insult. He’s the only competitor who’s ever been able to stay so close on my ass, the only one to give me a run for my money, but he’s never been able to beat me.
We do the same dance every few months when Logan’s ego outgrows his abilities. He gets in my face and forces me onto the track, and I oblige simply to remind him why I still hold the title. He wants to be the best, he craves it, but it’s nothing but a title for him, which is why he’ll never take it from me. For me, this is the fucking air I breathe. The speed, the adrenaline, the win. It comes as easy as waking up in the morning. Whether I’m on my bike or in the Mustang, I will always win.