Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 110273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 551(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 551(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
They were both chuckling as they returned to the couches.
I didn’t like that, for some reason. I didn’t know why.
I noted who else was there.
Friends. Guy. Chester. Torie. Tamara. Melissa was on the end, tucked next to Matt, who was whispering into her ear.
I frowned at that. I thought that was done with?
Then I felt the absence beside me and looked. Where was Kash?
There he was. He was coming back into the room, putting his phone away. He looked up, meeting my gaze, and he faltered in his step.
He smiled, then frowned, his head cocked to the side.
Three weeks later … or maybe four?
“She needs to go back to counseling! This is enough.”
I was awake and sitting in an office. That was Peter, yelling on the other side of the door.
“No, she doesn’t.” That was Kash.
It was dark, with no lights on in here. The glow of the light from their side shone under the door.
“Bailey?”
A whisper from the side and I turned. Seraphina was pushing open a different door, peering in, biting her lip.
“I’m here.” I waved her over, patting the couch beside me. I had a blanket. I didn’t know why it was there but it was, and I lifted up an end of it. “Come cuddle with your sister.”
She’d taken a step toward me, her eyes worried, still chewing on her lip. Her hands were twisted around each other, but at my last suggestion, her eyes lit up. She stopped biting her lip, and her hands came free from each other. “Yeah?” She grinned, almost literally brightening up the room.
“Yeah.” I could smile. I noticed it then. It didn’t hurt my cheeks, and when she slipped under my blanket, I drew her to me.
I liked this.
Kash had my back on the other side of the door. I wasn’t worried, and I had my little sister in my arms.
My shoulders seemed a little lighter.
Five weeks later
I was straddling Kash.
My legs around his waist.
He was sitting up against the bed’s headboard, his hand to my neck, and he angled his head, taking my mouth harder. He was thrusting up into me. I was riding him. My hands were bracing against the headboard behind him.
It was hot.
Everything was buzzing.
Good. Not good.
I was—I was writhing. I was needing.
I was feeling.
Then I was screaming and I was climaxing, and my body began shaking.
My body wouldn’t stop shaking.
I was crying.
Kash was holding me, cradling me to his chest.
I was lying down.
He was smoothing back my hair.
He was whispering to me, telling me he loved me.
I felt safe in his arms.
Loved.
Warm.
I didn’t want to feel warm.
Why didn’t I want to feel warm again?
Six weeks later
Kash
She was waking up.
I could tell. It was small, but it was significant. A little bit, every day.
I was the only one who noticed. No, that wasn’t true. Sera- phina had noticed. She was smiling more around Bailey, drawn to her, reaching for her hand and hugging her more often.
That was good.
And one night at the dinner table, Bailey turned to me, tears in her eyes, and asked, “Do you know where my laptop is?”
Matt dropped his fork. It clattered on his plate.
Seraphina gasped.
Marie had been pouring some milk into Cyclone’s glass and cursed. “Dios!”
Cyclone looked up, squinting at Bailey.
Peter’s eyes filled with tears. His hand covered his mouth.
I smiled back at her. “I’ll get it for you after dinner.”
She smiled back. “Thank you.”
She was waking up.
SEVEN
Bailey
Holy fucking hell, my chest hurt.
I woke and everything hurt. Everything ached.
My eyeballs. My arms. The hairs on my fingers. The nails on my toes. Even the nuclei in my cells. They were pounding in agony.
I jerked upright and I gasped for breath, bending over, my hands clutching at my chest.
Christ.
I felt like I was having a heart attack.
God.
Jesus.
What the ever-loving fuck was happening to me?
But I knew.
The bed was empty. I looked over, saw it was three in the morning, and I was having so many different types of flashbacks all at once. I was panting and gritting my teeth just to get through wave after wave of slicing pain. And the other flashback—the bed was empty. Kash had been here. He’d come to bed with me, so I knew he wasn’t gone on another business trip. He would’ve woken me and told me if he had to leave last minute.
I ignored all the extra aches cutting into every orifice on my body.
Padding barefoot, I went to the bathroom and used some mouthwash super quick. Raking my fingers through my hair, I grabbed one of Kash’s sweatshirts. He had these large ones that dwarfed me. I could’ve stopped and grabbed some pajama pants or sweats, but I kept with my sleeping shorts. His sweatshirt fell almost to my knees. It was fine. And then, without taking the time to realize my feet were cold and I should grab some socks or at least some slippers, I headed out.