Total pages in book: 200
Estimated words: 189898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 949(@200wpm)___ 760(@250wpm)___ 633(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 189898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 949(@200wpm)___ 760(@250wpm)___ 633(@300wpm)
My hands found her thighs, and I began to caress her through her jeans, hoping to soothe when she started to shake. “What do you mean?”
“I can’t tell when I’m scared or when I’m happy or excited. There are no smells or tastes to tell me. I’ve never learned how to identify my emotions without them. What if I’ve lost the ability to feel anything at all? I’m afraid—”
“Right there,” I told her, cutting her off. “You’re afraid. How do you know?”
“I…” She shook her head with a frustrated frown. “I don’t know.”
“Your emotions were never just a neurological response. It’s also been about instinct. What’s in your gut and what’s in your heart. You don’t have to think.” I lifted her chin when she lowered her gaze. There was nothing for her down there. “You just have to feel. Your brain gave you an extra advantage that you’ve relied on until now, but you’ve always been a quick learner, Braxton. You’ll figure this one out too.” I kissed her. “We’ll help you,” I told her as Loren and Rich closed in.
They stole her attention, and she took her time kissing each of them before leaning back on her hands and smiling at us.
“Good, because I have something to tell you.”
“What?” the three of us asked a little too eagerly.
She shook her head, and damn that teasing smile. It already did unspeakable things to me without the added suspense. “Later.”
“You know, I’ve been thinking,” Loren said.
Braxton, Rich, and I groaned before he had the chance to say more.
Loren thinking was never a good thing since it usually involved him igniting the flame and setting the world on fire.
“What’s up?” Rich reluctantly asked him.
“First of all, fuck you.” He paused long enough to wink at Braxton. “I’ve been thinking about that fight with your mom,” he said to her. “And baby sis.”
In an instant, Braxton’s brown eyes were sad, and she didn’t bother to hide the emotion or push it aside. She let us see. “What about them?”
“You said it was too late for Rosalie. Why does it have to be?”
“Because she’s Faithful’s now,” Braxton answered, her tone leaving no room for argument. She knew that town and its people better than we did.
Loren, however, was just as stubborn. “You joined Bound to send a message.” His eyes flickered to me for some reason before returning to her. “Maybe you just weren’t loud enough.”
“But Braxen’s here now,” she reminded Loren, referring to her nephew. “And I don’t regret him. Neither does Rosalie.” Braxton grimaced suddenly. “I just wish I could say the same about her husband, Pete. Apparently, my sister’s talking to the atheist she met online again.”
“That’s kind of my point, babe.” Loren flashed her a patient smile. “Baby sis hasn’t made up her mind yet. You can still get through to her.”
Braxton stiffened. I could see the struggle not to hope in her eyes. “How?” she eventually asked him anyway.
Loren’s eyes returned to me, and this time, they held. It only took a moment for me to read his mind.
It took even less time for me to decide.
A door slammed behind me, and I flinched from the unexpected sound as keys scraped inside the lock before I heard the click from it turning.
“How long do we have?” Houston asked cryptically. I knew it was him that took my arm a moment later and began steering me forward.
“Not long,” Loren muttered. It was his birthday today, and for his present, he asked me to wear a blindfold.
I drew in a nervous breath.
Hopefully, today wouldn’t be a repeat of Houston’s birthday two and a half months ago. We had to delay the tour again while my brain healed, and it wasn’t scheduled to resume until the end of summer—pending my doctor’s approval, of course.
I was already back to feeling normal. Mostly.
There were still no phantom smells or tastes, but as promised, I was adjusting. I was learning how to identify my emotions without my superpowers, as Loren dubbed them. Emily’s attack had changed us all, but it wouldn’t define what we became.
Suddenly, my brows dipped, but not from that memory. From another.
Why did this place smell so familiar?
I recognized that sweet, warm, and woodsy incense. It only grew stronger as the wooden floor creaked underneath my feet. I was being led…somewhere.
I still wasn’t allowed to see.
We’d flown three hours to get here, drove for thirty minutes once we landed, and the entire time I kept my blindfold on for them.
Houston, Loren, and Rich.
The four of us rarely separated for longer than a couple of hours since I was released from the hospital. Where one went, we all went.
“Careful.”
I was slowly led up three short steps.
“Do I get to see now?” I asked once we finally stopped.
The floor was softer here. I could feel the thick carpeting underneath my feet, and for whatever reason, my mind conjured red fibers.