Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77857 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77857 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
My jaw drops.
Rory loves me? The most beautiful woman in Snow Creek loves me?
The woman who has her pick of not just all the men in Snow Creek but also all the women? She chose me?
“Oh my God, Rory.” I pull her into my arms, kiss the side of her neck. Revel in the feel of her against me.
“I never imagined…” she says.
“God, neither did I.”
“Brock…”
“Yeah?”
“I need you to let go of me for a minute. Because there’s something we need to talk about.”
I reluctantly let her go. “All right.”
She sits back down at the table and motions for me to join her.
“I am totally in love with you,” she says.
“Sweetheart, that makes me the happiest man alive.”
“But we’re in two different places, Brock. I’m ready for a child. You’re not.”
I nod. I can’t help myself. I’m not ready. “Rory… If you’re pregnant, I’m going to be there. I love you, and I will love our child.”
Her face softens then, and she glows. Damn, the woman glows.
“But if I’m not pregnant…”
“If you’re not pregnant, I’m still in love with you. Our relationship will grow, and one day… I hope we will have a child.”
“So you’re saying… You’re saying this is a forever love for you?”
“What other kind of love is there, Rory?”
My heart nearly falls into my stomach. Is there another kind of love for her?
Maybe there’s a reason I’ve never said I loved anyone before. Maybe because love itself is forever for me but not for her. I hate the idea of her ever having loved another when I haven’t.
“I’ve been in love before,” she says, “and I’ve found that it’s not forever.”
“I see.” But I don’t see. I just feel a thick nausea that wants to consume me.
“But let me be honest with you,” she says. “What I feel for you is stronger. Stronger than anything I’ve ever felt before. It frightens me, the intensity of it.”
I cup her cheek. “It frightens me too.”
“It’s just… I have been in love before, so I know this is different. If you’ve never been in love before, then what if… What if this isn’t really love for you, Brock?”
“How can you say that? I’ve never said those three words to anyone. This is something I’ve truly never felt, and it’s… It’s something I never imagined. Right now, I can’t imagine being with anyone but you, Rory. Why do you think that’s going to change?”
“I don’t necessarily think it’s going to change. But you and I both know that you’re young and you’re kind of a playboy.”
“I am young. But I’m no longer a playboy. I haven’t been able to think of anyone but you since we started this, and that’s never happened to me before.”
“My God… How can I love you this much? You’re so not who I thought I’d end up with.” She breaks into her dazzling smile.
“However much you love me,” I say, “I love you just as much or more. You’re everything to me, Rory. Every fucking thing.”
“So if I’m pregnant…”
“If you’re pregnant, we deal with it. We become parents. But if you’re not… I’d like to wait a little while. If that’s okay with you.”
“Relationships are a two-way street. I know that. So we’ll come to some kind of compromise. I mean, it’s not like we’re engaged or anything.”
“We’re in love. Right now, let’s just concentrate on that.”
She closes her eyes and exhales. Then she opens them. “All right. With everything else going on in both our lives, I think being in love and concentrating on that sounds perfect.”
And with those words, I love her even more.
I stand then, take her hand, and lead her to my bedroom.
We undress each other slowly, and then we lie naked on the bed, and we kiss each other. We kiss for a long time.
I grab a condom from my nightstand drawer, sheath myself, and then I slide into her slowly. And we make love that way. Slowly and seductively.
And this time… I make sure she comes.
I jerk awake at the sound of my phone. Rory lies in my bed, sleeping soundly.
What the hell time is it anyway?
Four thirty a.m.
Who the hell is calling me at this hour?
I grab my phone. It’s Dale’s number.
“Dale, what is it? Is everything all right? Is it Uncle Talon?”
“Dad’s fine,” Dale says. “I’m sorry to alarm you. I’ve got Donny on the line as well.”
“Don?”
“I’m here.” Donny’s voice.
“Why are you calling so early?” I demand. “If everything’s okay, I don’t understand—”
“I didn’t want to wait,” Dale says. “Remember the guy Aunt Ruby referred me to? The one who was going to check out those bones we found?”
“Yeah.” I stifle a yawn.
“He got back to me. Just now. He didn’t want to wait, and I don’t want to wait either.”
A feeling of impending doom settles in my stomach. With everything that’s been making my stomach and bowels react lately, I’ve been keeping Pepto-Bismol in business.