Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 131916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
But maybe she was naïve, after all.
Naïve to the extreme because she truly didn’t know what Frederick Winston was capable of.
TWENTY-ONE
RIVER
Had you ever taken a turn down the wrong road and traveled it anyway just to see where it would lead?
Knowing the path was treacherous and riddled with potholes and cracks, and you’d already received the warning that there was a dead-end up ahead, but you continued on because the scenery was so awe-inspiring you’d convinced yourself it wouldn’t hurt to take a detour through paradise?
Guessed it was so as I sat like a dumb fucker with his first crush grinning at my phone at just after seven in the morning.
Maybe that’s exactly what I was.
A dumb fucker who had his first crush because I wasn’t sure that I’d ever felt this way before. Fucking antsy as hell, anticipating her next text. Wondering exactly what she’d say and how it was gonna feel, but knowing every time her words did come through, I felt like I was flying.
We’d been texting back and forth for the last week, and with each one, I felt myself getting more caught up.
I glanced back at the text I’d sent her five minutes ago.
Me
You thinking about runnin’ today?
It was the same one I’d sent her every morning for the last seven days, though I’d told her it didn’t count as one of my twenty questions.
I’d used up to question nine.
Mostly I’d kept it pretty light because I didn’t want to spook her, and I sure as hell didn’t want to be the reason that her shining eyes went dim.
Besides, the bantering with this girl was fun.
No doubt, I was going to have to take it deeper, knock some bricks out of the wall she kept erected around her.
Fortified battlements around a castle, the girl in a tower and staring down, too fucking high for me to reach.
It also meant I was going to have to give her some of me, which was so goddamn reckless, the way I was contemplating giving her a glimpse when doing it should have been absolutely out of the question.
The rules had been set in place for a reason.
Still, I was grinning when a response finally blipped through.
Little Runner
Not today.
Me
Good girl.
Swore, I could almost feel her blush through the phone. The way she always got all shy and affected. Loved that about her. The way she was shuttered. A flower hidden behind her pains and fears.
But I could feel her, aching to bloom.
Me
How’d you sleep?
It didn’t take her long to respond.
Little Runner
You sure are using up those questions on silly things for someone who was hoping to get to know me better.
Me
Checking on you doesn’t count. You already know that.
I would have used up those questions on the first day if that was the case.
Little Runner
And how’s it you get to make the rules?
Me
Because I’m the big boss, like Nolan said.
Little Runner
Why am I getting the sense that you always get your way?
Me
I learned a long time ago that I have to push for the things I believe are right.
Little Runner
To survive?
I hesitated, tongue stroking my lip before I tapped out a response.
Me
Yeah. You have to fight to make your way through this world, whatever that looks like. No matter how ugly it might be.
Me
That counts as one for you.
You know, since she managed to get under my skin and make me reveal another piece that I was an idiot to give her. My crew would have my ass if they knew the way I was getting sucked under.
Little Runner
Not fair. You tricked me into that one.
Me
You’re the one who asked.
She sent me a slew of pouty face emojis, and I rumbled a chuckle as I typed out a response.
Me
Going to sign off. Know you need to get ready for work, and I’m going to need to feed my little dude. He’ll be up any minute.
It took a second for her text to blip through.
Little Runner
Give him a kiss for me?
Me
Yeah, as long as you’re sending along one for me, too.
I was surprised when a response came right through.
Little Runner
Kisses like this feel a whole lot safer.
My heart stalled out for a beat before I let my fingers fly across the screen.
Me
Because you’re afraid of me?
Little Runner
No, because I’m afraid every time a text comes through from you that I want to reach through the screen to touch you.
Me
Believe me, gorgeous, the feeling is mutual. Have a good day at work. Be safe.
Tossing my phone to my bed beside me, I flung myself back on the mattress. I crammed the heels of my hands into my eyes and wondered exactly what it was I thought I was doing. What I hoped to achieve.
Wondering most when I needed to put an end to this thing. Exactly when we’d hit that dead end.