Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Surprise—and okay, fine, panic—hit me like a ton of bricks. “What? Where are you going?”
Nora shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Nowhere. He’s not going anywhere.”
“We’ll see about that,” he muttered, running his hand over the top of the bed, pressing into the soft pillowtop.
I pointedly flared my eyes at Nora in question, but she waved me off.
“We bought you some welcome home presents.” She opened the drawer on his end table and pulled out a new silver iPhone. “You know my number, but I programmed Thea’s into the contacts in case I’m not around and you need something. Your phone number is on the Post-it note in the box. Memorize it and give it to your parole officer tomorrow, okay?”
He flipped the phone in his hand. “You gonna teach me how to use this thing first?”
“Yep. You’ll be ignoring me to check your Instagram in no time.” She reached back into the drawer and retrieved my gift, which suddenly seemed paltry compared to hers. When I’d been shopping though, I’d been damn near giddy picking them out for him. “This one’s from Thea.”
As if it were an involuntary reaction, his eyes flicked to me for the first time since the restaurant.
One glance and my whole body came alive. It only lasted a heartbeat, but the hum in my veins remained long after he’d looked away.
It only hurt a little when he tried to hand it back to Nora.
She dodged the bag. “Open it, silly.”
With a ticking jaw, he glared at her for a long second, but in true Nora fashion, she stared back at him, smiling like she’d escaped from a 1950’s mental institution.
Nerves fluttered in my stomach as he stabbed his hand inside the bag.
And then he froze.
And then I froze.
And then I wished like hell I’d never given it to him at all.
He pulled out a pack of red-and-green gum. Watermelon. The wrapper was different now, but it had been his favorite when we were younger. And, most recently, it had been what he tasted like in my mind each and every time I touched myself. His words from all those years earlier flittered through my brain.
“Sparrow, I think every time I’ve kissed you I’ve had gum in my mouth.”
His dark gaze came back to mine, and this time, it lingered. Tangible, as though it were the tip of a finger, his gaze swept from my mouth to my breasts before taking the slow path back to my eyes.
My breath hitched and a chill traveled down my spine even as I feared I might burst into flames.
Gum had been the likely choice when it came to picking out a present for him. Ramsey had never gone anywhere without at least one pack in his pocket. It was as much a part of him as the way he’d walked in the grass so I could have the sidewalk or the way he’d inhaled as if he could consume me each time he’d kissed me. I’d flown into a fit of hysteria the day Nora had told me he wasn’t allowed to have gum in prison, and that was after he’d already “scraped me off.”
A pack of gum could have been an innocent gesture from an old friend.
However, as my lungs burned while he plundered my emotions with nothing more than a stormy stare, we both knew there was nothing innocent about it.
He had been chewing gum the first time he kissed a path over my breasts.
The first time he timidly inched his fingers into my panties.
And the first time he made love to me under the stars before time stopped.
Oh, yes. I had fond, fond memories of Ramsey and his gum.
Which was probably why it felt like a slap to the face when he turned and dropped the entire bag in the trash can beside the bed.
“Jesus Christ,” Nora mumbled.
The remnants of my pride told me to run as far as I could and never look back.
But it was my heart covered in ugly scars and lesions that kept my feet rooted and my gaze locked on his. Rejection burned thick in my throat, but I refused to give him that victory.
“You’re welcome,” I snapped.
An arrogant smile that had never suited someone less curled his lips. “I don’t remember saying thank you.”
I slanted my head and ignored the festering desire to cry. “There seems to be a lot you don’t remember, Ramsey. Starting with how to be a decent human being. But don’t worry. We’ll get you there. And yes. I mean we. As in me and you. Because unlike you, when I make someone a promise, I actually keep it.”
And with that, I walked out of his room, straight to the hall bathroom, and proceeded to throw up the contents of my empty stomach. And for the way it felt, it contained a fair amount of my empty soul too.