Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 122514 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122514 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
Maybe if Damian couldn’t—yeah. I wasn’t going there. Not yet, but my hosting duties were done for the night. I uncorked the wine, sat down by the bed, and took a swallow.
Rosé all day, or in my case, the rest of the night.
I heard them leave.
Hadley knocked on the door a few minutes later and poked her head inside. “We’re heading to Janet’s. You want Owen and me to stay here tonight instead of Grant and Sophia?”
I shook my head. “No. I’m fine. Let’s stick to the original Grant plan. I’m sorry for being dramatic.”
“It’s okay.” Her smile slipped. “My grandpa had Alzheimer’s, but to lose Owen to it? That’s not how it’s supposed to go, you know? Not that it’s supposed to ever happen, but you know what I mean.”
Maybe. Regardless of circumstances, I didn’t think the sting ever went away—whether it was parent, grandparent, or in my case, someone who was supposed to be my husband.
“We’ll see you tomorrow then?”
I nodded, gripping that wine bottle so tightly. “Sounds good.”
Grant stopped behind her, saying over her head, “Sophia and I will be back later tonight. That okay?”
I nodded again. “Sounds good. We’ll see you later on.”
His eyes were hooded, and he dipped his head before heading out.
Hadley gave me a small wave, disappearing after him.
Then Reese was in the doorway, and he let out a long breath of air. “I feel like I fucked up earlier.”
I shook my head, as he came into the room, but I didn’t need to worry about moving. He came over and deposited me on his lap, sitting on the floor.
He tugged the wine bottle out of my hand, taking a drink and handing it back.
I took it back. “I messed up. I got emotional.”
“Seems like you have a right.” He brushed my hair back, resting his head against the mattress. “I don’t think any of us can imagine what you’re going through.”
“You can.”
He shook his head, pursing his lips together. “Not even a little bit. My brother’s an asshole to the umpteenth degree. He’s in jail right now, and he’s mad he can’t get anyone to post his bail. He’s pissed that I won’t take his calls and my lawyers are fielding everything from him. Now, if my mom decides to use her money to post for him, that’s on her. All I can do is protect myself against them. That’s not the same situation as yours at all.”
But he was wrong. For both of us, there was a hole where our family was supposed to be. Damian had created mine. His brother had created his.
I settled back against him. “Loved ones aren’t supposed to go away, whether it’s their choice or not. That’s not how life is supposed to be.”
He ran a hand down from my face, cupping my cheek before falling away. “You’re not close to your family?”
“It’s not that there’s anything really wrong with them. It’s just… They couldn’t support me while I was losing Damian, and that put a wedge between us. I don’t know how to make that right, especially when they won’t acknowledge it.”
“They know you guys broke up, right?”
“No. I had no reason to tell them.”
He cursed softly, hugging me close. “You shouldn’t go through that alone.”
I tipped my head back. “But I’m not. Not anymore.”
A look flashed in his depths.
Raw. Tender. It was the way he’d looked at me last time when we were having sex, and I turned away from it. I wasn’t ready to see it. After a moment I shifted up, raising my hand to his face. My thumb grazed his chiseled jawline, the dip around his mouth, the rough stubble that told me he’d shaved last night, and then finally, I traced his lips. His breathing grew shallow, and his hand moved more insistently behind me, molding over my hip.
He turned me to face him more directly, sliding his hand under my leg.
My breasts pressed against his chest, our foreheads resting together.
Our lips so close, a tantalizing temptation. He licked his, his eyes never moving from mine.
“If we do this, it’s not going to not mean anything,” he whispered.
I swallowed over a lump. I knew what he was saying—a question not in question form. But I couldn’t stop it anymore.
The calling. The texts. The jokes. The concern. Him being here, making me a priority. And him just being him—I couldn’t go back. I was too far gone by now.
“I know.”
He cupped the side of my face, his palm resting against my skin. “It’s going to mean something.”
He was giving me an out.
I could pull away, slip off his lap, walk out of the room.
But really? Could I?
A door opened inside of me, letting everything out. It flooded me, going through every vein in my body, warming me, filling me with something akin to lightness, hope…happiness.