Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 125866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
“This is serious, guys,” I said, heaving a long breath. “This man is a well-known vet in the area. A doctor. And he’s good at manipulating the system to get what he wants.” I swallowed. “He’s put his hands on her plenty of times without any recourse. But that shit ends now. I will do anything it takes to protect her.” I met their gazes. “Anything.”
There was a long pause, and then Leo folded his hands together, his brows furrowed. “Kyle, I respect that you want to keep her safe. But… is that the only reason you want to marry her?”
“No.”
I said it instantly, as if the fact that he’d even asked it was an insult.
“I just mean, you’ve only known her for… what? A couple months?”
“I’ve known her my whole life,” I argued. “And yes, while we only recently reconnected, I… I can’t explain it.”
“Try,” Zeke said.
And the way he looked at me, the history he and Riley had… I knew he understood before I even said a word.
“Since the day I met her when I was a fifteen-year-old kid, she’s been a part of me. She was just my annoying babysitter at first, but then she was my friend. And back then…” I swallowed. “A friend — a true friend — was impossible to come by. She showed me what it was to have someone care about me. She kept me safe in a time when no one else even realized I was in danger. She made me stronger. She brought out the side of me that could move mountains. And then… I fell in love with her.
“I fell hard, and fast — the way only a teenager can. And I know she fell for me, too. We fell in the way two people do when there’s nothing to lose, when there are no stakes, when it’s all just fun and warmth and of course we love each other. You know?”
They nodded, their gazes solemn.
“And then, our worlds came toppling down.” I didn’t need to elaborate — I’d already filled them in on our past. “But even when she hurt me, even when I thought she’d betrayed me, there was still this part of my heart reserved for her. Hell, maybe it was my entire heart. I never could open up to another woman. I never could let anyone in the way I did with her.”
“Relatable,” Leo murmured, and Mary squeezed his arm with a soft smile.
“When I saw her again earlier this summer… I hated her. At least, I wanted to — but the truth was that as soon as it happened, I was already planning how I could see her again, how I could talk to her, how I could get her to tell me what happened all those years ago.” I tongued my cheek. “I am and always have been hers. And being with her again, fighting through what we’ve had to, surviving what we did… there’s no one in this world I could ever want more than her. There’s no one who could ever make sense. She’s it for me. Period. End of story. She is… everything.”
Giana sniffled, dabbing at the corner of her eyes. “So much better than I love her.”
That made everyone laugh, lightening the mood a bit, and then Holden leaned toward the camera. “Okay, we appreciate you filling us in. And I think it’s safe to say we all understand how love can make us do some drastic things. But… what is it you need from us?”
“I need your help.”
“With what?” Riley asked.
I let out a long, heavy sigh. “Pulling off the proposal of a lifetime.”
Madelyn
Another yawn stretched my mouth wide as Kyle drove us into the city later that night, one hand on the steering wheel and the other gripping the inside of my knee.
“I see you’re so excited for our date,” he mused with an arched brow.
I shook off the yawn. “Sorry. I’ve been so tired the past couple of days.”
“Well, that doesn’t surprise me, considering you’re Super Mom.”
“Hardly,” I said, but my stomach was tied up in knots.
Just like I’d suspected, Marshall hadn’t fought me when I told him Sebastian wanted to be home tonight. All that drunken energy had left him.
But he’d wake up sober, and I knew he wouldn’t forget what he’d threatened. I knew he’d follow through.
I knew I was about to have to fight, whether I felt ready to or not.
My head was still spinning from the morning — from Marshall showing up, Kyle protecting me and my son, Marshall’s threat, Kyle’s proposal…
Literally — a proposal.
That part still didn’t feel real. No matter how many times I’d replayed it — his intent gaze, his hand holding mine, his knee hitting the ground, the words slipping from his lips…
It felt like a dream.
He’d hopped up almost immediately when I’d stared at him in shock, urging me not to answer — not yet. He kissed me hard and promised we’d talk more about it all tonight. Then, he’d followed me to drop Sebastian off at camp, making sure I got to my first house showing okay before we split for the day.