Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 106797 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106797 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
“Natalie, please,” my mom begged. I looked to her once more, feeling my heart ache at the sight of her tears, before I did as she asked. I didn’t chance another look at Dale before jogging up the stairs and into my room. Shutting the door behind me, I reached for my phone and quickly typed out a text to Rhodes. He was working the first night shift at his new job, serving as one of the cooks in the small diner right across the street from the high school. It wasn’t everything he wanted, but it was a start. And right now, it was a major inconvenience to me. I hated how selfish I felt, but I needed him. When ten minutes went by without him responding, I knew I wouldn’t hear from him until his shift ended.
Fighting back my own tears, I collapsed into the covers of my bed and wrapped them around me. I stared at my closed door, listening to the shuffling and muffled voices of Mom and Dale down the hall. I had no idea what was happening. Was it Dale’s addiction? What exactly was he addicted to? Had he hit Mom? Would he hit Mom?
It seemed like an eternity had passed by when Mom finally slipped through my door, holding her finger to her lips to ask me to stay quiet. I simply held up the covers so she could crawl into bed with me. When she did, I wrapped my arms around her and told her I loved her.
And she cried.
I wanted to ask her what happened. I wanted her to stop acting like I wasn’t old enough to handle whatever was happening. But, in that moment, I knew all she needed was for me to be there, so I didn’t ask anything at all. I hugged her and let her know she wasn’t alone. That was what she needed.
Mom fell asleep after a while, and I tried to rest, but failed. Around one, Mom kissed me on the forehead and slipped out of bed. I pretended to be asleep, but I listened to her feet pad down the hallway to her and Dale’s room. Once she was inside, I reached for my phone and sighed with relief when I saw the text from Rhodes.
- Come over. -
I pulled on a pair of yoga pants and a PBHS hoodie before quietly sneaking out. Although I probably didn’t need to be quiet at all — Dale was clearly wasted and I knew Mom had left my room to go take a sleeping pill. She’d been self-medicating almost every night that summer and didn’t think I had noticed.
Rhodes was standing outside when I pulled into his apartment. He yanked the driver door open and I leapt into his arms, burying my face into his neck. He held me tight, gently took the keys from my hand, locked the Rover, and carried me inside.
He helped me to the couch and brought me a glass of water, but I set it to the side without taking a drink. Rhodes opened his arm for me and I snuggled into his chest.
“Want to talk about it?”
I shook my head, kissing the hot skin of his neck. He had already changed into navy blue basketball shorts and a plain white t-shirt and his hair was damp from a shower, but he still smelled faintly of grease.
“You sure?”
“I don’t really know what’s going on, to be honest. Dale has a problem, Mom is treating me like I’m too young to understand, and I just don’t want to be home right now.”
He nodded. “I know that feeling. Are you hungry?”
“Not really.”
“Tired?”
“Definitely not.”
Rhodes frowned. “Tell me how to help you, Bug.” He lifted my chin with his knuckle, his viridescent eyes flicking back and forth between my chocolate irises. My eyes fell to his lips, and without hesitating, he answered the request I didn’t have to speak aloud.
He winced as his lips met mine, as if my mouth had burned his, and maybe it had. I felt the heat every time Rhodes touched me, and at this point, I wasn’t ruling out that maybe I had the power to do the same to him.
No matter how many times Rhodes kissed me, my heart still hammered in my chest every time his tongue snaked in to meet mine. He sensed it, gently laying me down on the couch. He moved between my thighs, his rough hand hiking one up and hitching it around his waist. I gasped at the feel of him pressed against me and he smirked against my lips.
“How do you do that?” I breathed.
He sucked my lower lip between his teeth and released it with a pop. “Do what?”
“Make me forget all the pain?”
Rhodes stilled, his thumb softly grazing the exposed skin between my pants and hoodie. His eyes searched mine before he pulled me up just enough to strip my sweater over my head. Dropping it to the floor, he ran the pad of his thumb across my lower lip where his teeth had just marked me for his own.