Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 106346 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106346 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“I have no interest in working with Andrew again,” he says and then walks to me. “She doesn’t deserve the shit he’s putting her through, and she doesn’t deserve the shit that is going to come.”
I get into the driver’s seat and slam my door, and I want to pound my fist on the steering wheel. I have never in my life felt more powerless than I do at this moment.
I don’t sleep that night; I toss and turn, and when the sun starts to come up, I’m out the door. I pick up coffee and sandwiches for us, and when I walk into the apartment building, it’s quiet. I make my way to her apartment and softly knock on the door. I wait a couple of minutes, and when I’m about to knock again, the door opens just a touch, but it’s Dylan who greets me.
One of his eyes open while he smiles. “Hey, buddy,” I say, and he walks back, and I see that the apartment is still dark with just a little light coming from the bathroom. “I brought you food, sausage and egg sandwiches,” I say. He grabs the bag of food, walking over to the table and sitting down. I walk over and sit with him, grabbing my own breakfast. The bathroom door opens, and she comes out and she’s wrapped in a towel with her hair piled on her head. She stops when she sees me and walks back into the bathroom, closing the door. When she comes out again, she’s dressed in what she was wearing last night.
“I brought coffee,” I say softly. “And breakfast.” She looks at me and then looks at Dylan, who doesn’t care what’s going on. All he knows is that he’s eating.
“Can I talk to you?” she asks, and then I get up, grabbing a cup of coffee and bringing it to her. “Thank you,” she says softly and turns to walk into the room. “I’m going to talk to Justin for a second.”
“Okay, Mom,” he says.
“I bought you two,” I say, and he pulls his arm back and whispers yes.
I stand in the bedroom that I know she shares with Dylan, and I wonder how much longer it will be until he takes over the whole double bed. “This has to stop,” she says when she turns to me. “You can’t just come here and give me lifts and buy us stuff.”
“Why?” I ask, and I have to think she is the proudest person I have ever met.
“Because you just can’t.”
“What if I want to?” I say softly. “What if I want to take you to dinner?” I ask.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she says.
“I don’t care,” I finally say, and she looks at me in shock. “I don’t care what is a good idea and what isn’t. What I care about is that I want to get to know you, and I want you to give me a chance.”
“You just feel sorry for me,” she says, trying not to let her voice get louder.
I look at her, and it takes me two seconds to step really close to her. “I feel a lot of things for you, Caroline, but sorry isn’t one of them.” I’m so close to her, she stops, and I hear her take a deep breath. “Now get dressed because I brought you breakfast.”
I don’t let her answer. Instead, I turn around and walk out of the room. Closing the door behind me, I try to get my hard-on to go down before Dylan sees it.
Chapter Ten
Caroline
Justin closes the door softly behind him, and I have to sit on the bed, or I will fall to the floor. He’s come into my life, and I feel like this roller coaster I’m on is finally slowing down. When he walked out of the apartment last night, I watched him walk to his SUV and have a conversation with Vince. I can only imagine what was said. I thought for sure Vince would tell him all my dirty secrets—well, not mine but Andrew’s—and once again, I hated him.
I didn’t go to the bed. Instead, I went to the couch and lay down, but my mind never shut down. No matter how many times I closed my eyes. So many things are up in the air that I don’t know what will happen. I got up and woke Dylan once, stepping into the shower. Walking out, I never expected Justin to be standing there with his hair all over the place and his white shirt pulled across his chest with his shorts low on his hips. All I could do was go back in the bathroom to steady my heartbeat. I knew we had to have a talk. This needed to stop, literally now!
“Mom,” Dylan says. I get up, opening the door, and I see them sitting at the table eating and laughing while they discuss hockey. “How many goals did I score in one game?”