Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 73230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
She finally relaxed completely, and her hands fell limply at her sides. I turned and motioned to my sisters that it was all right. I had this.
“I’m sorry,” she finally sounded halfway normal. “I’m so sorry.”
I pressed my lips against hers.
They were soft and salty from her tears.
And slowly it morphed into something more.
Something that wasn’t exactly the kind of kiss meant to soothe her frayed emotions.
I pulled away, looking down into her eyes.
“You wanna talk to me about it?” I asked.
She stared up at the ceiling, and she began to talk.
“I met Jet when I was ten. We spent every waking moment we could together,” she whispered, staring at nothing and everything all at once. “I already told you about the fire. He was burned badly, over nearly seventy-five percent of his body.”
She bit her lip, then moved over until she was on the opposite side of the bed.
“Turn the light off and get up here. It’s easier to talk in the dark,” she ordered me.
I hid a smile and turned off the light, then settled down onto the bed beside her.
But I didn’t stop there.
I pulled her into my chest and wrapped my arms around her frame.
She laid her head down over my heart, and I worked my hand through the mass of wavy hair that cascaded down our sides.
“To prove to him that I didn’t care about his burns, I made love to him. It was good for a first time, too. But he couldn’t get past the fact that his ‘damaged’ skin rubbed on my ‘beautiful’ skin,” she whispered.
I didn’t actually see her make the air quotes, but I felt them, and it made me smile that, even though she was upset, she still was the same old Tasha that I was used to.
“He killed himself by popping about thirty pain pills at once,” she croaked.
My eyes closed as a wave of unease rolled through me.
“I was six weeks pregnant with our baby at the time.”
I swallowed thickly, but never let her know my emotions. Never let her see how affected I was by her.
“It was a mess. He died at the hospital. His parents refused to let me see him afterwards, then held the funeral out of town. My parents found out about the baby. They weren’t happy with me.” She shook her head. “And I had to have a baby at seventeen that belonged to the man that was supposed to be my forever.”
An irrational surge of jealously poured through me, but I tamped it down.
She didn’t need that part of me right then.
“And I lost her when I was thirty-six weeks pregnant. Went to my ultrasound and she was gone. No heartbeat,” she whispered brokenly.
“God,” I said gruffly. “Tasha.”
She shrugged. “That was the scar that you saw. That was where they took my baby from me, because I couldn’t have her normally.”
I did the only thing I could do.
I held her as the sobs overtook her once again.
“She was my only thing left and she was gone, too.”
“I’m sorry, T. I’m so sorry.”
She didn’t say anything after that.
The only thing filling the empty night air around us was her ragged breathing that would, every once in a while, hitch up from a sob that caught in her throat.
And I never went back to sleep.
Wasn’t sure if I ever could sleep normally again.
Chapter 7
Don’t keep calm. Grab my hair, spin me around, and fuck me like you hate me.
-Tasha’s secret thoughts
Casten
The next morning, I got out of Tasha’s temporary bed, and cursed myself.
I was ruined.
Totally and forever gone for the woman.
She looked good spread out on the crisp white sheets that usually graced my bed.
Her hair was in a messy halo around her head, and her face was set in peace instead of the agony from the night before.
I tiptoed out of the room, heading straight for mine.
“She okay?” Rhea asked.
I looked up to see both her and CeeCee at the dining room table.
I nodded.
“She’s fine.”
“Okay,” Rhea’s small voice followed me into my room as I closed the door.
I showered and partially shaved, leaving my goatee because it covered up a few more scars on my face.
I got dressed and ready for work before I went out to the kitchen, towards the smell of frying bacon.
What surprised me, though, was that it wasn’t my sisters who were frying the bacon.
It was Tasha.
“Mornin’,” I rumbled, making all three of them turn toward me.
My eyes were all for Tasha, though.
She smiled shyly at me.
“What kind of eggs do you like?” She waved the spatula in her hand.
“Runny,” Rhea answered.
“Eww,” Tasha lifted her lip. “That reminds me of snot.”
I laughed.
“Good tasting snot. You should try it,” I shot back, going to the coffee pot for my morning dose of caffeine. “I gotta go to the office before we leave. Do you want to come with me, or do you want to stay here?”