Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 77842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
“That’s enough! Stop it!” I clap my hands at them, working to get their attention, but neither of them listens. Tears fill my eyes, and I look around the neighborhood, needing help.
“Heston?” Paige’s voice rings out, seizing the chill-biting wind. Everyone stills. Heston, who is still on top of Cam, looks over, finding Paige staring at him with wide eyes. The terror on her face makes her look pale. Cam shoves Heston off of him. Rolling onto all fours, he coughs then spits, looking at me with more hatred than when he arrived, if that’s possible. Heston stands next to me, and I fight back tears. “Was that necessary?” I mutter. He looks back at me without a word. Cam rubs his neck then brushes the grass off of his jeans as he stands.
Shoving past Heston, he walks over to me. “You’ll never replace me, Rain,” he says, so only I can hear. A string of dark memories fill my head landing on a particular time when he pinned me to the trailer floor and yelled I was unlovable. He was so loud I couldn’t hear for two days. Blinking the past away I fight back my tears and glare at him as he takes Paige to his truck. They both get in, and he peels out, driving off like a bat out of hell.
“So, that’s your ex?” Heston asks, brushing grass and dirt off his shirt, his chin covered in blood. His face is lighter, his inner monster back in its cage. He smiles, as if his question was meant to be funny. There’s nothing funny about what just happened. I imagined some pushing, maybe a few scathing words thrown, but Cam really got under his skin, showing me a scary side of Heston. I can feel eyes peeking through blinds, and I become jittery, unsure of what to say or do.
“Look, I’m sorry,” he begins to apologize, his tone soft and calm, like nothing bad happened.
“I just…I don’t want anyone hurting you. When I saw him throw you down like that…I snapped,” he explains. His words wrap around me like a shield, making me feel safe for the first time in a long time.
“I’m sorry. He was so late I didn’t think he was still coming today, and I’m sorry for putting you in that position—”
“No, don’t apologize. I’m glad I was here,” he interrupts, swiping a tear from my cheek with his thumb.
Taking my face in his hands, he makes me look up at him.
“Are you okay?” he mutters. My bottom lip quivers at the care in his tone. My stomach warms as much as my heart does, this feeling of affection from a man so unfamiliar.
“Yeah. I just lost my balance.” Acid threatens to burn my esophagus at my attempt to cover for Cam.
“No, that was a bitch move.” He growls. “You don’t put your hands on a woman. Especially the mother of your damn child.”
I scoff. “Cam used to hit me while I was pregnant. He didn’t care. I guess he missed the class about having morals.” I remember the shock that riddled my heart when he pushed me after announcing we were expecting. He wanted to watch the news and I didn’t, so I got up to do something else. He didn’t like that.
Heston inhales a large breath, his chest rising as if the mere thought of it causes him pain. Reaching out, he pulls me into him, wrapping his arms around me.
“The world is full of monsters. The only way to beat them is to become like them,” he breathes into the top of my head.
“You okay, Rain?”
My head whips to the left, and my eyes lock on Flynn, standing at the end of his driveway, his arms crossed, biceps bulging, stance wide. How long has he been watching?
“Yeah, I’m okay.” My nerves are a trainwreck, though. I raise my hand, waving him off as my pulse quickens. I bet the whole neighborhood just watched what went down.
Looks like I’m the guaranteed entertainment.
12
Heston sits on the toilet in my bathroom, looking up at me while I dab a wet towel on the tip of his chin, the blood staining the fabric. I feel his eyes on me while I work on his cut, the sound of his subtle breaths making it hard to concentrate.
“We need to put something on this.” My voice light.
“You mean a band-aid?” There’s laughter in his voice.
“Unfortunately, I think that’s all I have?”
He takes the rag from me and stands to look in the mirror. “Nah, it doesn’t need anything. I’m good.” Dropping the towel in the sink, he rests a hand on the counter and looks at me with hooded eyes. “You have the softest touch.”
I feel that down to my bones.
“Well, I have a tomboy for a kid, lots of scrapes and cuts,” I say.