Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Sienna chuckles. “Oh yeah? Hey, Micah, Ellie likes this boy and wants to go on a date with—”
“Hell no,” I bark, not letting her finish that asinine statement. Dance school, I can handle. Dating, fuck that. “I was fifteen and know exactly how boys act at that age,” I say to Ellie. “Focus on dancing.”
“I was thinking…”
“Does your head hurt?”
I glare at Sienna, who laughs, thinking she’s cute. I mean, she is, but that’s beside the point. “I was thinking,” I say again. “I could buy you a dance studio, and then you could do what you love.”
We’re in bed, both of us naked and glistening with sweat. Sienna’s eyes are hooded over from the two orgasms I gave her, and my dick couldn’t get up if I begged it to. This is how it is every night after Ellie goes to bed. We talk and fuck and then fall asleep spent.
When Sienna doesn’t respond, I roll over to get a better look at her and find her staring up at the ceiling with tears in her eyes. “Hey, did I say something wrong?” I ask, pulling her into my side.
“No,” she chokes out. “You’re perfect. It’s just...I love dancing, but sometimes it’s hard because my love of it stems from my parents. They were dancers. It’s how they met. They fell in love dancing together. But once my dad was injured, and my mom got pregnant with me, everything slowly fell apart. Sometimes, I think I hold on to dancing because I couldn’t hold on to my parents.”
I squeeze her hip, so she knows I’m listening, encouraging her to continue. “I want to hate my mom,” she says softly. “After everything she’s put us through, she deserves for me to hate her. But I can’t because I can still remember the woman she used to be. I was young, but I can still remember her happy...before her broken heart destroyed her.”
She lifts up on her elbows, looking at me, and I edge higher so we’re more comfortable. “Ellie once said that maybe if our mom would’ve met a man like you, her heart wouldn’t have broken the way it did. I didn’t get it at the time, but now I do because every day, you put me together. If you broke my heart the way my dad—”
“It’s never happening,” I tell her. “I can’t predict the future, but I know I will never break you.”
She nods, but I can see a bit of hesitation in her features. I get it because heartbreak is all she’s ever known, but over time, she’ll see I mean it.
“I used to wish for her to disappear or die,” she says, after a few minutes of silence. “But now that I know what it’s like to be in love and can imagine what it would feel like to have my heart broken, I wish she’d get help. It’s probably too late, but...yeah, I hope one day she gets the help she needs.”
I wrap my arms tightly around her and kiss her soft lips. “And that’s why I love you, Hellcat. Because despite the fact that that woman has hurt you, you still wish her well. You have a huge fucking heart, and out of all the men you could choose to give your heart to, I’m so grateful that you chose to give your heart to me.” I kiss the tip of her nose and then her forehead. “And I promise, I will do whatever it takes to protect it.”
“Thank you,” she murmurs, laying her head back down on my shoulder. “I’ll think about the dance studio. I appreciate the offer, but I’m not sure if dancing is in my future. Right now, my only goals are to graduate and get guardianship of Ellie.”
Speaking of which...“You know you could apply now, right?”
She pops her head up. “What do you mean? I haven’t graduated yet.”
“You’re married to me. What’s mine is yours. And your mom has been gone for months. No judge is going to deny you guardianship of Ellie. As a matter of fact, it’s probably a good idea for you to apply now before the state finds out her mom has gone AWOL. You’ve already been raising her for years. At this point, it’s just about making it legal.”
“I don’t even know where to begin…”
“If you knew you could get approved, would you want to pursue it?”
“Hell yes,” she says. “Knowing Ellie is safe and can’t be taken away from me would mean everything to me.”
“Then I’ll make sure it happens.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
SIENNA
“By next week, I need the name of the professional you’ll be shadowing. Thirty hours is required.” The professor nods, indicating we’ve been dismissed, and I quickly jot down what I need to do in my planner, so I don’t forget.
“I’d be okay with you shadowing me,” a masculine voice says, making me practically fall out of my seat. When I spin around, I find Micah standing there, dressed to the nines in his CEO bad boy suit and grinning at me. With the threat gone, thanks to Micah, I’m back to being able to take classes on campus instead of online.