Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 167204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 557(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 557(@300wpm)
His jaw is locked and his eyes are dark with anger, and for a split second, I can’t even figure out what he’s talking about.
I don’t know anyone named Victor.
“What?” I ask, my confusion clear on my face.
His dark eyes rise, and he releases my arms to grab my phone off the ground next to me.
Oh.
It hits me then, and I grab for the phone, but he holds it up out of reach.
“It’s not funny, Killian. Give it back,” I say, lifting up as far as I can with him on top of me to reach for the phone. “It’s not—I don’t know anyone named Victor. It’s a joke, I forgot I even did it.”
He can be unreasonable when he’s jealous, and admittedly, my desperate ramble and reach probably didn’t make him think it was nothing, so he swipes the screen open despite my protests.
“It’s my mom,” I finally blurt. “Please don’t read it. I don’t know what it says, but it doesn’t matter. I always delete her messages.”
Killian frowns down at me skeptically. “Your mom’s name is Victor?”
I roll my eyes at my own stupid private joke with myself. “No. I changed her name in my phone when I was reading Frankenstein for class.”
As the words are coming out, I’m hearing them and realizing they sound like a desperate lie.
“I can’t believe you went to Paris without telling me,” he reads aloud. “Who is that guy?” he continues. “Are you ignoring me?”
I grimace. “I can see how that sounds… not great.”
Killian types something on the phone, and my eyes widen.
“Please, please don’t do that. This isn’t like Addison, it’s not funny. Killian, I’m serious,” I say, grabbing his wrist and looking up at him pleadingly.
He stops short of pressing send, but I can tell he doesn’t believe me. Which, on the one hand I get, but on another, is a little crazy. I know we haven’t officially labeled our relationship, but what have I ever done to make him think I’m the type of person who would entertain another guy when I’m living with him? I’m not an asshole.
Jealousy isn’t always logical, though, and it’s got a firm grip on him right now. He drops the phone and leans down, sliding his fingers around my throat and leaning close so he can threaten me. “Let me make one thing perfectly fucking clear, Brynn. And I’m gonna preface this by saying that I know it’s crazy and maybe even colossally unfair, but it’s also the truth. If I ever, ever see you with another guy, I will retaliate, and I’ll make what I did to Kyle look kind.”
I swallow, feeling my throat work beneath his tight grip and my heart start to race.
“It really is my mom,” I say softly. “I don’t talk to her, so if you send that message, it’s just… it’s going to open a whole Pandora’s box that I don’t want to deal with. I went no-contact before I moved to Boston. She texts me every now and then to bait me into responding, but I know better, so… I don’t.”
His grip eases ever so slightly, but he doesn’t let go of my throat. “Why?”
“Because if I did, she’d never leave me alone, and I don’t have time for that.”
“No, not why… Why don’t you talk to your mom?”
Oh boy.
I swallow again, and he must interpret it as discomfort because this time he lets go of my throat.
To be honest, I would rather be choked out than talk about this.
I don’t even know where to begin.
The idea of talking about it is so overwhelming, I have to close my eyes for a few seconds and gather my thoughts. Finally, I open them back up, and attempt an explanation.
“My parents split up when I was really little. I think I told you that before.”
“You mentioned it.”
I nod. “When it comes to this, I usually mention just enough to make people feel like they know the story and it’s boring, so I don’t have to worry about them asking follow-up questions.”
His brow furrows slightly, but he waits to hear more.
“So, of course, my mom dated different guys as I was growing up. But there was this one guy, AJ, who… well, he liked my mom, but he didn’t like me. So my earliest memories are of him being mean to me. He used to push me around and call me names and act like it was funny. And then he started hitting me. My mom never stepped in, and I was really little, so I didn’t know any better. At the time, I thought it was normal to be treated that way. I would just work extra hard not to get in his way. The abuse only stopped because my mom got pregnant, and he didn’t like the responsibility of having kids around, that’s why he didn’t want me around, so once she had the baby, he left. He stayed gone for years, but then he got laid off and was out of work for a while due to an injury, and he started drinking, so he couldn’t get hired anywhere else. The girlfriend he had at the time got sick of his shit once he wasn’t bringing home a paycheck, so she kicked him out. He didn’t have anywhere to go, so he asked my mom if he could stay with us.”