Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 74390 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74390 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
“I wish you knew how much I’ve missed you.”
“I missed you, too. More than you’ll ever know.”
“It seems strange. It’s been so long, but being here with you feels so right, like I just stepped back into the place I was meant to be.”
“Because that’s exactly what we just did. I just wish it would’ve happened a hell of a lot sooner, but not much I can do about that now.”
“I’m really sorry. It shouldn’t have been this way.” Her voice trembled as she said, “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive my father for saying what he said to you.”
The mere mention of her father had me wanting to go over to his place and kick his ass. And, if he had been anyone else, I would’ve done that and more. Hell, I’d kill a man for less, but in the end, he was Londyn’s dad and Dalton’s grandfather. Hurting him would only end up hurting them.
Like it or not, I would have to find a way to come to terms with my anger. “I’m not exactly happy with him myself, but he’s your father, Londyn. He loves you and at the time, he thought he was doing what was best for you.”
“Maybe at first, but all those months after....” She looked up at me with anguish in her eyes as she said, “You don’t know how distraught I was after the breakup. It took me months to be able to get through a day without breaking down into a crying, hysterical mess. And Dad knew that. He saw. He heard, and yet, he did nothing to rectify what he’d done. How can I forgive him for that?”
“I don’t know, babe.” I leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “But holding onto that kind of anger is only going to make things harder for you.”
“Stop being nice about it, Malcomb. He took five years from us. I can’t just forgive and forget that.”
“Okay. What do you wanna do? Go burn his house down? I’ll bring the fucking matches.”
“No, but I might wanna yell at him and give him the cold shoulder for a while. Make him think about what he’s done.”
“And you think that’ll change anything?”
“No, but it’ll make me feel better.”
“Okay, babe.” I smiled. “You do whatever you gotta do. I’ve got your back.”
“You really think I’m wrong about being mad?”
“No, I never said that. Your dad did a shit thing to the both of us. I thought a lot of him and knew he wouldn’t say what he did unless he meant it.” I let out a breath, then added, “Him saying it is on him. My believing it and acting on it is on me. I should’ve trusted you. More than that, I should’ve trusted us, and I didn’t.”
“You really thought you were doing the right thing? No question about it?”
“Oh, I questioned it. Hell, I questioned it every fucking day, but I always believed you should take the scholarship. You’d worked hard for it, and I didn’t want anything to stand in your way of getting it, especially me.”
“But why not check in to see if you’d made the right choice?”
“I did. I had Big look it up, and he saw that you’d taken the scholarship.” My chest tightened as I told her, “I should’ve been happy that my plan worked, but I wasn’t. There was a piece of me that hoped you would’ve stuck around and gone to school closer to home. When I found out that didn’t happen, it fucked me up. That’s when I decided to shut it down. I couldn’t see you. I couldn’t talk to you. I couldn’t even talk about you. I had to put you behind me. It was the only way I could get through the day.”
“I get it.”
“It was a stupid move. I get that now, but back then, I was a fucking mess.”
“You weren’t the only one.” Her voice trembled as she said, “I just kept thinking if I could talk to you then...”
“I’m sorry. If I could go back and change things, I would.”
“You don’t have to keep apologizing, Malcomb.” She eased up on her elbow. “We both made some ‘not so great’ decisions that ended up hurting us both, but we’re here now. The question is... do you think we’ll be able to put these past five years behind us?”
“We have to because I’m not losing you again.”
I leaned down and pressed my mouth against hers, kissing her in a possessive, demanding kiss that left me wanting her once again. And if the way she was writhing beneath me was any indication, she wanted me just as much.
I spent the entire night making love to her, taking my time to burn every inch of her body into my memory.
I wanted to remember every moment, every touch, so I’d have something to hold onto when I had to head back home. Once we were both sated, we gave in to our exhaustion and fell asleep. The next morning, I awoke to Londyn rushing about the room, picking up clothes off the floor. Her hair was wet, and she was wearing a camisole with slacks, and she looked a little frantic.