Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 70940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
I sit down onto the grass and a tear rolls down my cheek.
Fuck this.
Fuck him.
I pull out my phone and dial the only person I trust to come and get me and take me home. That won’t tell Mom what I’ve done and won’t put me in hot water.
“Briella, what’s goin’ on?” Flick’s voice is sleepy and rugged.
So damned sexy.
So much more of a man than Xander.
“I need a ride,” I say, my voice soft and a little broken.
“Where are you? What’s happened?”
“I’m at the lake. Xander and I ... it doesn’t matter but he left me here. I need to get home.”
“I’m comin’ to get you. Sit tight.”
I hang up the phone and do as he asks, I sit tight. About twenty minutes later, the bright lights from his truck shine down on me. I sit with my back facing him, and I don’t move even when I hear the car door slam and his heavy footsteps nearing. He stops beside me and then asks in a low, gruff tone, “Did he hurt you?”
“No,” I say, my voice low and shaky. “No, he didn’t.”
“What happened?”
I stand, not wanting to talk about it. So embarrassed that I actually thought Xander was a good guy. He’s not a good guy. He’s the worst kind of guy. He was trying to make me feel like a prude, like I was frigid, like he could get any other girl he wanted just so I’d sleep with him. He tried to take down my self-esteem to get what he wanted. That’s the worst kind of human there is. That’s the worst kind of man.
“Hey,” Alarick says when I start walking to his truck with my head dipped. “Look at me, Briella.”
“Nothing happened, Flick. It’s fine. Honestly. It was just a bad night.”
“Look at me,” he orders.
I stop and turn, looking at him.
God, in the moonlight he looks so handsome. The way the light shines off his skin, the way his big body looks so strong beneath it. I’m blurting my next words even before I think about them.
“He wanted to have sex and I said no. He made me feel like shit because I wouldn’t, saying that he would just go find it with someone else. I just didn’t want to. I wasn’t ready. At least, not with him. He kissed me and it was ... it was awful. It made me think god, is that what kissing really is? It was horrible. I never want to feel something so disgusting again. It’s like every dream and every fantasy I’ve ever had just got crushed. I always thought kissing was amazing and beautiful but—”
Flick steps forward and before I can ramble any further and embarrass myself any more, he’s grabbing my face and then his lips are on mine. For a moment, just a single moment, I can’t move. I can’t breathe. I can’t think. His lips cover mine; his hands are so much rougher than Xander’s, but his mouth is so much softer. His kiss, so tender.
I’m completely stunned.
I don’t know what to do.
But when Flick moves his mouth, and his tongue dances with mine, he undoes every bad thing that happened tonight. He replaces all the horrible memories with perfect ones. His kiss will outlast any kiss I ever have for the rest of my life. The way his lips move against mine, the way his tongue flickers in and out of my mouth so gently it’s no more than a soft tease, the way his hand cups my face, his thumb stroking over my cheek ... and the way he makes my knees tremble.
I am floating by the time he pulls back.
Every part of my body now knows who Alarick is.
Every part of my body now belongs to him.
Even if I don’t know it yet.
“Don’t ever let that mother fucker dictate to you how something should feel. Every time you wonder if it gets better, remember this moment, and know that it will always be fuckin’ better with me.”
Then he turns and walks to his truck.
Oh, my god.
What just happened?
8
NOW – BRIELLA
“You need to have surgery, Briella. I’ve booked it in for two weeks from now, I recommend you come home. The tumor hasn’t grown, which is a good thing, but every day you waste you’re pushing your luck further.”
I exhale over the phone to Doc, who just got my most recent results after the hospital Mykel took me too ran a few more scans. They checked everything out and advised they were sending everything to him. He called almost immediately to give me the news I have known all along, but have been trying to avoid.
I need surgery.
Now.
“Okay,” I say into the phone. “Okay, I will be back in two weeks for the surgery.”
“You need to be back at least two days prior so we can do bloods, scans, and get you prepared.”