Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 100476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“What?”
“Dad, dumbass. I told you last night.”
“He’s actually getting out?”
His throat bobs as he swallows hard. “He is out. As in, they let that asshole free.”
“Where is he?”
“Who the hell knows. He hasn’t reached out yet.”
Yet.
“You think he’s going to give you shit? It’s not like you have to go live with him. You and Roux are adults now,” I remind him.
“What if he wants to see Sebban?” he asks, worry shining in his eyes. “He’s an ex-convict.”
“So is your best friend.”
Said best friend prowls along the riverbank toward us, loaded down with bags and chairs, walking at a slow pace alongside Roux like he’s seconds from scooping her pregnant ass up along with everything else he’s carrying.
“Yeah,” Roan agrees. “Guess that asshole turned out all right.”
They reach us and I can’t help but gape at Roux’s stomach. It’s so big. She still has a few months yet before she delivers, but since she’s a skinny little thing, she’s all belly. A pang of something settles in my gut. These Hoodlums are out finding their happiness and I’ll be the first to admit it looks good on them. Like something I’d really, really like to have.
It’s then I hear it.
One sound.
Her.
A laugh that travels past everything and curls itself around my soul. I both love and hate that she has this effect on me. I tear my gaze from these Hoodlums to the one I need to see.
Goddamn.
Why does she have to be so…everything?
Like a wolf salivating over a little lamb, I stalk her way, watching every bounce of her shoulder-length blond waves, each jiggle of her tits in her brown and gold bikini, all the curves on her athletic body.
I want to eat her alive.
“Hungry Hoodlum twelve o’clock,” Tierra says, pointing my way.
She and Penny continue walking past, but Charlotte stops inches in front of me. Her bag slides off her shoulder, hitting the sandy earth with a soft thud.
Taste. Suck. Bite.
My veins burn with the need to consume her.
I settle for touch. Lifting my hand, I brush away a golden strand of hair that sticks to her glossy lips. I cup her jaw with my hand, rubbing absently at the gloss with my thumb. Blue eyes search mine, trying to understand what’s going on in my mind. Truth is, I don’t fucking know. All I do know is I want her. In my arms. In my bed. In my fucking soul because she’s already invaded my mind and my heart.
“Hey, loser,” I say with a smirk.
Her lips curl into a maddening smile beneath my thumb. I can feel her emotions pulsing through that simple touch—joy, confusion, surprise, excitement. My dick responds, thickening in my trunks.
She presses a soft kiss to my thumb, the blue in her eyes twinkling softly. This girl fucking wrecks me. I can’t think. Her presence blots out the world around me, muting and fading it all so that all I see is her.
Only her.
I am so fucked.
“Run, English. Run so far away from me,” I warn, my free hand curling possessively around her hip. “It’s your only chance.”
Her palm slides up my bare chest, teasing at one of my nipples. “I prefer to run into the fire, not away from it.”
“A good way to get burned,” I growl.
“After the bleak, numb year I’ve had, I like how the sting of the fire reminds me that I’m alive.”
She stands on her toes, pressing a chaste kiss to my lips before she pulls away to walk over to Roux. I stare after her, wondering when the hell she turned my world on its axis. I can’t pinpoint the moment. All I know is she did it. Everything is an upside-down Wonderland and is all fucked up, yet I can’t help but tumble down this proverbial hole with Alice.
We’re both a little mad, it would seem.
Charlotte
Numb.
For so long, I’ve been numb.
And then the night of the accident changed it all. I was torn from the arms of the monster and given a second chance. Since, everything has become crystal clear. I can feel. I’d spent so long numbing my emotions, that I now feel them with twice the intensity.
It’s refreshing.
I see everything with new eyes.
As everyone sits in a circle, eating the burgers Cal’s dad, David, made, I can’t help but drink it all in, greedy for the simple ease of it all. Everyone is laughing and happy. Roux is adorable with her cute pregnant belly and the way Jordy dotes on her. I’m upset we lost a year, but I’m incredibly thankful in that time she found him. Seeing my brother be a dad and a husband is something I’d never cared about. Yet, the genuine smile that never leaves his face makes me smile too. Even seeing Penny lighten up and actually have a friend is nice. Tierra is sassy and funny. Somehow, they connect in a way Roux and I were able to despite our completely opposite personalities.