Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 58397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
He nodded and stared at our joined hands.
He had a lot on his mind, I could tell, and I wanted him to get back on topic. He hadn’t finished his story.
I pushed back a piece of his hair and brushed my thumb over his cheek. “Did your mother go to rehab before or after she’d been to prison?”
“After.” He didn’t look up from our hands. “It’s part of the trust issues I have today. She’s been to rehab twice since getting out, and she tried to hide the problems both times.” He swallowed. “I’m not being entirely fair to her. The first time, she was just overwhelmed and trying to catch up. She didn’t want me to lift a finger—or rather, she wanted me to focus on my own life for once, so she worked all hours of the day, pretty much.”
“She handled the stress with alcohol,” I guessed.
He dipped his chin. “Second time was shame. She felt like a failure, and instead of talking to me about it—which she said would be to burden me—” he rolled his eyes “—she hit the bottle. And just like the first time, I found out eventually, and I shipped her off to rehab.”
My God. My heart went out to him. I hadn’t been in his shoes, or remotely close to being there, and even I felt a pang of betrayal and hopelessness.
“Part of me keeps waiting for the next time, you know?” He withdrew from my touch and ran a hand through his hair. “That’s why it’s not really fair of me. All that happened in a pretty short period of time after she got out. She’s been sober for over three years now.”
“Three years isn’t very long when compared to everything you’ve been through,” I reasoned.
“Maybe,” he conceded. “But it’s different this time. She took night classes and got a better job at the hospital. She was a nurse before—now she has a more administrative role. Less stress, higher pay, reasonable hours. She found a better apartment, she’s happier, and she goes to therapy sometimes just to check in with herself. She doesn’t hide anymore.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” I smiled carefully.
He returned it and rested his head on my shoulder.
It wasn’t good enough for me, so I made room for him to get comfortable between my legs. “Come here.”
He made his way over my leg and leaned back against my chest with a long sigh.
As the burning sun touched the horizon, the sea took on an almost purple color.
I kissed the top of Peyton’s head.
“My mom wants to meet you,” he murmured. “She’ll probably treat you like a celebrity.”
I snorted softly. “Has she never met any of your previous partners?”
“She met my first girlfriend when I was thirteen. Does that count?”
I chuckled against his hair and rested a hand on his chest.
“You’ll have to forgive her,” he muttered. “She loves Hollywood gossip and has never been around money. She’s weirdly humble and knows what to value more than a monetary fortune, but she gets starstruck by fame and success.”
Oh dear. “I’m sorry to disappoint, but most of that monetary fortune didn’t come from me,” I replied. “It’s my grandfather’s work.”
When he died, I bought my penthouse, and I gave away half of the inheritance to my grandfather’s favorite cause because he once lost his twin brother to leukemia. The rest sat untouched in various bonds, stock portfolios, and accounts, I explained to Peyton. I told him everything. It made me a bit uncomfortable to discuss it, but I figured he should know. I was one of those who’d literally been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and no one wanted to hear one of us complain.
The grass may look greener on our side, but it was maintained by a guy from El Salvador, and the kids who ran on that lawn were raised by a woman who’d been flown in from England.
I shook my head and gazed up at the sky. I didn’t have any complaints, but it felt entirely wrong to glorify what I’d grown up with.
“I was lucky to have my grandfather,” I said. “He was down-to-earth, and he quickly taught me to build my own family. Blood wasn’t everything.”
Peyton tilted his face up to look at me. “That’s what you did with Sandra and Mona.”
I nodded and dipped down to kiss him. I kissed him unhurriedly, reconnecting after all the heavy talk, and his presence stabilized me.
“It’s what I’m hoping to do with you too,” I murmured. “You don’t know how happy you make me, Peyton.”
Breaking the kiss as little as possible, he turned around and straddled my thighs instead. Then he kissed me hard and locked his arms around my neck.
Sheer serenity flooded my senses, and I squeezed him to me.
Thirteen
“Almost,” Peyton gasped.
“Shh, baby.” I gnashed my teeth and gripped the counter with one hand, using the other to stroke myself off.