Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 154037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
The hate. The thirst that remained unquenched. The resentment that he didn’t get to end the four who lay bleeding around him.
All mixed with a tiny spark of something bigger. A tiny glow beneath the moon that rained a murky, silvered haze from above.
The fact that he was alive.
SIXTY
OTTO
I pulled my truck up to the curb in front of Sunrise to Sunset Café. A heavy sigh puffed from my nose as I shifted it into park and looked out the driver’s side window at Moonflower across the street.
The panes of glass glinted beneath the rays of the rising sun.
A beacon.
Blinding like the woman.
I killed the engine and grabbed the two to-go cups from Morning Dew Brewhouse.
Raven’s favorite.
And considering I had some groveling to do, I needed everything available in my arsenal.
River had taken off right after Raven had, not saying another word to me, though the spite in his expression had said everything he needed to.
I’d thrashed, wanting to go after Raven. Pick her up and hold her and wipe the hurt I’d inflicted from her gorgeous face.
I’d seen it, what my silence had done. But I’d been gripped by shame, my throat constricted and unable to give any defense as I’d stood guilty in front of my best friend.
But that guilt wasn’t greater than the remorse I’d felt for not standing up and claiming exactly what Raven was to me.
Kane and Theo had held me back, telling me to cool off, that everyone needed to process what had just gone down. Kane had promised to find out where Raven was staying and keep an eye on her.
He’d texted me forty minutes later and told me she’d gone to Moonflower.
Fuckin’ Moonflower.
Without a bed.
She was stubborn, all right.
But I didn’t blame her. Wanting to shut herself away from the rest of us when we’d acted like imbeciles.
Kane had told me he’d be here and that I needed to keep my ass at my own house and lay low.
Give it the night.
I hadn’t slept a fuckin’ wink, so I’d been out the door with the sun.
Now, I clicked the truck door open and stepped into the cool air of the morning. I tossed the door shut with an elbow, and I jutted my chin at Kane from over the top of the hood.
“How’s it goin’?”
He scoffed with a smirk. “My ass is tired thanks to you dippin’ your dick where it isn’t supposed to be, so one of those coffees had better be for me.”
Except the asshole grinned when he said it, and I shook my head as I rounded the truck and stepped onto the sidewalk.
“It’s not like that,” I told him as I came to stand by his side, hating that any of them would think I was toying with Raven.
That she was just a fuck.
Not when she was everything.
Kane blew out a huff as he raked his fingers through his hair. “I’m just giving you shit, man. You think we all haven’t known it?”
I inhaled a shaky breath. “And what’s that?”
“That you’re fucking mad over Raven? I’ve spent the last seven years watchin’ you watch her. It’s plain as day. Not sure how River never saw it.”
A flicker of that guilt bubbled up again. “He did, but I swore to him that he had it all wrong. That I’d never look at her like that. Would never touch her.”
Kane gave me a shrug. “It was bound to happen. You can’t keep something that profound contained for long. Honestly can’t believe it hadn’t happened sooner.”
“Should’ve done it all different, though.”
“What, like not fuck her on a table at my bar?” An amused accusation lifted his brow.
A contrite chuckle skated out of me. “Yeah, that probably would have been a prudent start. She makes me crazy, though. Can’t think straight when I’m around her.”
“Love drunk fool.”
A heavy shot of air blew from my nose. “Apparently.”
He clapped me on the shoulder and pulled me close to him. “You’ll make this right. Fix your shit with your girl, then fix your shit with River. He loves you, man. He’s going to see through the anger to what’s been clear to the rest of us for years.”
“Thanks, brother.”
“You owe me big.” His grin was all teeth.
I handed him one of the cups which was, in fact, for him, and he lifted it in the air and pointed at me with his index finger of that hand. “Now this is a prudent start. If only it had a shot of whiskey in it.”
He winked and brought it to his lips. “Now go get on your knees and beg her to forgive you so I can drag my ass to bed.”
I let go of a short laugh before I was jogging across the street, feeling both heavy and light as I went straight to the door. It was still two hours before opening, so I knew it’d be locked.