Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
“The new patrol officer is a fag too? I wonder what the God-fearing residents of Havenwood will think about that!” he called after me. “Or is it that Griffin Caine has his dick so far up your ass that you protect his baby brother too? There was always somethin’ weird about the two of you!”
I nearly stumbled at his words, not because I cared what he or anyone else thought, but because I knew there would be people who agreed with him. It was shitty that there were people in this world who would care. That they would think assholes like Buck were better than people like Kellan…people like me…because of who we were attracted to or who we loved. It was bullshit, but that’s the way it was. I sure as shit didn’t care, and I wouldn’t hide who I was. Fuck them if they had a problem with it. Fuck Buck or anyone else. I didn’t give a shit. I only cared about Kellan.
I got in my truck and drove away.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Kellan
I didn’t look up from my seat on Chase’s porch stairs when I heard his truck pull down the driveway.
I didn’t want him to get home, because if he got home, we would have to talk. And when we talked, I was going to have to tell him that this wasn’t going to work between us. It didn’t matter that he’d said he didn’t want anyone but me. I couldn’t keep this going if he didn’t trust me enough to take care of myself, to know that I didn’t need him, but that when I did, I would go to him. He sure as shit didn’t have the right to run off to fight my battles when I’d asked him not to.
It had taken him a while to get here. He went back to my place first, and called when he realized I wasn’t home, and I texted back that I was here.
The truck turned off, then the door opened and closed. I heard his feet along the gravel before I saw his sneakers stop on the bottom step.
“Did you defend my honor?” Finally, I looked up at him.
“What are you talking about, Kell? I went over there and told him to keep his fucking hands off you, that he doesn’t have a right to touch you. That’s all I did.”
“You’re exactly like Griff! You don’t think I can take care of myself!” I shoved to my feet, my body flushing with anger as my pulse throbbed in my ears.
“No! I care about you, and that’s what people do when they care about someone!” he yelled back, and I sucked in a sharp breath. My whole life I’d wanted to hear Chase say he cared about me. Yes, earlier he said he couldn’t get me out of his head and that he didn’t want anyone but me, but that could be about sex and nothing more. Saying he cared felt heavier, like there was more meat to his words, more emotions, and part of me wanted to forget I was angry and drop to my knees or climb in his arms, but I couldn’t. If I did, I’d regret it. I’d be angry with myself for not being stronger and sticking up for myself.
Caring wasn’t enough. Not if Chase was going to keep appointing himself my savior. Not if he thought I couldn’t take care of myself.
Chase sighed. “Let’s go inside.”
I shook my head. If I went in there, I wouldn’t want to leave. It was easier to be strong out here, and I was determined to do what I needed to do, no matter how much it hurt. “This isn’t going to work. I think we need to put the brakes on what we’re doing.”
Chase frowned. “Because I told Buck not to touch you?” It sounded so small when he said it, but it wasn’t small to me.
“Because you didn’t listen when I asked you not to do it. Because you don’t think I can handle shit on my own.”
“That’s not true at all,” he said, then ran a hand through his hair and cursed.
“I already have a brother. If you’re going to be my lover, that’s all I need you to be. Someone I’m dating or fucking or whatever it is we’re doing. I need you to be that, not another Griff.”
“Fuck.” He locked his hands behind his head and paced in front of the porch. I could see the wheels turning in his brain, see him working it all out in his head. What I didn’t know was if he would be able to accept it.
“You know what kids used to say? That they had to be careful how much they teased me, or what they did to me, in case Griffin or Chase found out. No one gave a shit about me. They didn’t mind picking on me. They liked picking on me, and they had no worries about what I would do or say. They didn’t feel I could protect myself. They worried about what Griffin or Chase would do.”