Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 72074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
She puts her hand to her mouth before a sob comes out. I pull her to me, and I let her cry. Kissing her head, I want to say that I would have come for her. I would be there for her. I would have never let her sit in there for fourteen hours. I would have never let anything happen to her. But I swallow the words down. Instead, I do the only thing I can do. I hold her in my arms until she goes limp, the whole time making a checklist of the people who are going to suffer for all of this.
Chapter Eleven
Olivia
I feel so much heat around me, yet I can’t help but sink into it more. I open my eyes, seeing the sun peeking into the room, and I have to blink two or three times before I register that I’m in Casey’s room. As I look down at the arms around me, there is no mistaking that those belong to Casey.
Yesterday was pretty much a blur after he tried to kiss me. The whole night felt like a dream or, better yet, a nightmare. I went into Casey’s bathroom and literally fell to my knees. Rocking back and forth, I repeated the same words over and over again. “It’s never going to stop.” Kallie cried with me as she peeled my clothes off me. She filled the bath, but not even the hot water could stop my body from violently shaking. Nothing could stop it. I was in daze, but I could hear Kallie tell me it was going to be okay. I could hear it, but I just couldn’t come out of the daze. I didn’t even try to fight her when she put me in Casey’s bed. I just wanted to feel warm again. I wanted the cold that had seeped into my bones to leave.
“Morning, darlin’,” he says from behind me, and I shiver when I feel his breath on my neck.
“Morning,” I say, not turning around. I can’t face him right now. Last night, I poured more of my heart out to him and told him about the nightmare that started this. Whatever little piece of dignity I had left was gone the minute he caught me in his arms and carried me back to his bed.
“How did you sleep?” he asks. I want to turn around and maybe wrap my arms around his neck. I want to go back to yesterday afternoon when he was going to kiss me.
“Better than expected,” I answer. Honestly, I thought I would have nothing but nightmares after the first one, but in his arms, I felt safer than I care to admit. This isn’t good.
“Are you hungry?” he asks, and I chuckle. He is his mother’s son.
“A little.” Turning around in his arms, I come face-to-face with his bare chest. I look up into his blue eyes when my stomach decides that it’s time to eat. Letting out the biggest rumble that I’ve ever heard, it cuts the tension, and we both laugh now.
“If my mother was here,” he starts saying, and I like when his voice is soft. My hands go to his chest, and his smile goes away. The two of us are so close, but he pulls me even closer with one hand around my shoulder and the other around my waist.
“It’s just me and you,” I say, and I don’t know why my stomach is going nuts. I don’t know why I’m so scared for this one kiss. I’ve kissed a man before, but I just haven’t experienced the whole belly flutters with clammy hands.
“It’s just me and you,” he whispers. He lowers his head, and right before his lips touch mine, we hear a soft knock. I roll my lips while he groans. He looks at me one last time before rolling out of bed and storming out of the room.
“Yeah, Mom.” When I hear him, I pull the covers aside and sit up. I’m wearing pants and a shirt, but I am still going to be coming out of Casey’s room. Even though nothing happened, I don’t know if she’ll think something happened. I’m still contemplating whether to go out there when I see Casey standing in the doorway.
“Are you okay?” He looks worried.
“Yeah,” I say softly. “I’m fine. I just …” I look down at my hands. “I didn’t want your mom to think I spent the night with you.”
“You live here.” He walks over to me, squatting down in front of me, and takes my hands in his.
“It’s just I didn’t want her to think …” I shake my head. “That I slept with you.” Looking at him, all I can think of is cupping his face and kissing him. I lift one of my hands to his face, and the stubble stings my hand just a touch as my thumb rubs his cheek. “Yesterday,” I say, “was one of the worst days of my life.” I shake my head. “I mean, the past month has pretty much been the worst ever.” I smile just a touch. “But when you took my face into your hands, and I thought you were going to kiss me, I forgot.” He just looks at me, his eyes going a light shade of blue. It’s the blue you can get lost in; a color blue you can look at every day for the rest of your life and never get tired of. “For one second, I forgot my life was in an uproar. I forgot everything.”