Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 94(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 94(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
“No, I’m not,” I reply, getting pissed. I jump up from the table. “What is wrong with you?” He doesn’t answer me; he just pulls me to him and kisses me. God, I love his kisses.
“I see you have come to your senses, Alton,” Carter says, laughing.
“Yes,” he replies, eyes still on me. “I’m sorry I kicked your ass.”
“Yeah, well, it wasn’t the first time, but it had better the last time. Lavinia and I are just friends, but if you don’t treat her like the gem she is, I’ll kick your ass. Jasper, Geeb, Paul, and Jude will kick your ass. Whoever Rachel marries will kick your ass. You’re on notice. Now, take your wife home and fix this. Don’t be a fucking idiot your whole life. Vinny, lunch next week? You better bring the scones that I like so much,” Carter says, getting up and walking out of the building. The rest of the bar has cleared out. I guess Wednesdays aren’t too busy around here.
“Come with me?” Alton asks. I could refuse him, make him sweat a little but I don’t want to. Besides, that just isn’t me.
“Yes.” He laces his fingers with mine, and we walk out of the bar. I don’t see his truck anywhere. I really hope we aren’t walking home because my feet would be all kinds of messed up before we got there.
Instead of turning onto 1st Street, we continue down the sidewalk to the church. Around the back, his truck is in the parking lot, but we walk right past it. Instead, we enter the church and go straight into his office.
“What are we doing here?” I ask.
“My parents are still here, and I have a lot to say to you.”
“Oh, okay,” I say, sitting in the chair he led me to. He starts pacing.
“I don’t think I properly explained myself last time. What happened last time, can’t happen again,” he says, and I frown.
“We’re not having sex again?”
“Is that a question or a statement?”
“I don’t know….”
“If you don’t want to be with me Lavinia, I’ll let you go. It’ll fucking kill me, but I’ll do it. I want you to be happy and I need you to get everything you want and deserve. Even if I’m not the man to give that to you. I just need you to understand why I’m so messed up and why I shield Kelly from my mother the way I do.”
“I understand why you do that Alton. Your mother is toxic, in the worst way. She messed you up, and while you said something you probably meant at the time, but then you got to know me, and everything changed. Is that about right?”
“No,” he says, dropping to his knees in front of me. He grabs my hands in his and squeezes them. “I didn’t mean it. I said it because I thought I should. Fuck. It’s stupid. It was juvenile, middle school bullshit. I should have shouted from the rooftops how much I wanted you. I should have taken you then and used Lloyd’s harebrained scheme as the excuse I needed to get my head out of my ass. I wasn’t a man about it, but no more. If you’ll have me, I’m the man who will live for you and I’ll spend the rest of my life making up for the fact that I made you think you were anything less than beautiful. I can’t stand the thought of you with another man. It makes me insane to think another man would touch you, make you come, make you scream his name. You’re mine, Lavinia. You’re my wife. My incredibly sexy wife. You have no idea how much I wanted you the day we met. You fucked with my head. It was your damn laugh that did me in, your real laugh. I heard it from across the room, and I wanted you then. The first of many lies I told myself regarding you began in that moment. I was a coward, but no more. I am so fucking head over heels in love with you, Lavinia. I couldn’t breathe when you weren’t near me. Sleeping has been impossible without you. I can’t listen to music because all I want to do is dance in our kitchen with you. You turned my house into a home. I’m lost without you. I’ve gone so far over the edge of sanity that I made Toby give me the extra key to your room. I had to be near you in some way. I love that you sleep naked. You should do that at home. I never want to be away from you again. I can’t do it.” By the time he’s done, I’m sobbing, my contacts shifting. “Don’t cry, sugar. Please don’t cry. Talk to me. Tell me what you’re thinking.”