Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 60852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
“What about Charlie?” she cries, “What about everything we had? We were so good together, Brian. So good. You loved me, I know you did, and I know you still do ...”
“You’re right, I do,” I answer her, “but I love her more. She’s my future. I don’t want to have to hurt you, Harper, so I’m askin’ you, please fuckin’ leave.”
She sobs loudly, and it breaks my heart.
Fuck.
I don’t want to hurt her, I truly don’t.
“Please,” she begs, stepping forward and clutching my shirt, “please don’t leave me. I need you. I love you. I don’t want anyone else. I can’t live without you, Brian. I’m begging you. Please give me a chance.”
“Harper,” I say, my voice stern even though I hate having to speak to her like this, “it’s over, nothin’ you do or say will change that. I need you to accept it, and I need you to move on.”
“I can’t,” she screams. “I can’t.”
“You can. It hurts, I know, but you can get through this.”
Shoving me back, she turns and stumbles down the front steps. Following her, I reach for her arm and stop her, the rain soaking my hair as I do. “Let me take you home.”
“No,” she screeches, her tiny fists slamming into my chest. “No, fuck you.”
Then, she turns and runs, disappearing into the rain.
“Harper!” I bark, but she’s gone.
Fuck.
Fucking hell.
I walk out onto the street, looking up and down, but she’s nowhere to be seen. Storming inside, I get my keys and take my truck around the streets, but she’s gone. I can’t do anything else to help her right now, she just needs to process. Heading back home, I walk inside, soaking wet, and Janine is standing in the kitchen. She stares at me, and, for the first time, it’s not with hurt, it’s with pity.
She feels for her.
“She really loves you,” she whispers.
“Didn’t mean for you to see that,” I growl, throwing my keys down.
Turning, I walk toward the stairs, but Janine stops me by calling my name.
I look back at her.
“When you’re dry, I want you to tell me about her, about Charlie, about everything.”
Shocked, I jerk back a little.
She wants me to tell her about my past?
“You sure about that?” I murmur.
She nods. “The woman I just saw, she was truly heartbroken. I know how that feels. I want to know more about what happened back then, and the two of you. It’s the only way I can move on.”
Nodding, I turn and disappear.
She wants the truth; I’ll tell it to her.
Anything to make her see she’s the only way forward.
She’s all I need.
18 – Janine
I FELT BAD FOR HER.
I couldn’t deny it.
Seeing the way she was crying; I know exactly how that feels. She loves him, and it truly hurt me seeing that she was breaking as much as I was only weeks ago. I guess it’s hard not to love Muff, there is something about him that draws you in and makes everything inside you come to life. He’s the best man there is, and I don’t know how anyone could ever let him go.
I want to know about their life, even if it hurts.
I didn’t give Muff a chance to tell me, I was so blinded by hurt when Harper returned that I just couldn’t see past it. I felt betrayed, hurt and broken. I wanted no part in whatever their past held, but now I can see a little more clearly, and I know I probably wasn’t being fair when I never let him explain.
We both did so many things wrong, a harsh reality check for a relationship I thought was perfect.
We have work to do.
Muff sits down on the sofa across from me, and I can see he’s not entirely sure that I’m making the right choice. I have assured him that it’s time I know about his history with Harper, and I’m ready to hear it.
I mean that.
“Start whenever you’re ready,” I say, pulling a blanket up to my chest and getting comfortable.
My body is starting to ache, the sex making everything inside me hurt, but I’m not complaining because it was incredible.
“Was just the three of us, all our lives. Harper, Charlie and I,” Muff begins, leaning back and crossing his arms, how tense he is feeling shows with every movement, but I let him be. “We grew up together and we were always friends. Harper had a shit life, her father was into some bad things and her family was rough.”
He pauses for a moment.
“Charlie just kind of fit in. He was always a loner, mysterious, and kept to himself, but with us, he could just be who he wanted to be. We were everything to each other, and when we lost Charlie, it was soul crushing. It fucking destroyed a piece of both Harper and me, and it drew us closer together. We had been together a while before he died, but that was the moment we both knew we had to be a part of each other's lives.”