Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“Damn it!” I say again.
“You don’t have any business here, do you?” she says.
I do, but it’s not any serious business. I don’t reply.
“So why are you here, then?” she asks.
“I’m worried about you,” I say.
“I’m a grown woman.”
“I know that.”
“Why worry, then?”
“Just because I can’t be with you doesn’t mean I no longer love you.” I trail one finger over her cheek.
“I love you too. Why can’t we make this work?”
“You know why.”
“Why do you think I came here?” she says. “I came here to start at the beginning. To figure myself out.”
I nod.
“So why are you here?” she asks again. “And don’t tell me you’re worried about me. You know I can take care of myself. Tell me why, Braden.”
“Maybe I came here to try to figure you out, too.”
“Is it me you want to figure out, Braden?” She inhales a deep breath. “Or is it yourself?”
Chapter Nine
Again, I don’t answer.
I don’t answer because her words make me think.
I’ve told her she’s a challenge, and she is. But in this moment, she has challenged me more than she ever has before.
I know myself. I’ve been to hell and back, and I know who I am, how far I’m willing to go for what I want, and what my limitations are.
So why does her question perplex me?
“I think I have my answer,” she says.
Still, I say nothing.
“You’ve looked in the mirror, haven’t you?” she continues. “Just as I have. And you’re not exactly sure what you see.”
“To the contrary, Skye, I know exactly what I see.”
“Do you? Or do you only think you know? What are you hiding, Braden?”
Again her words make me think, but instead of answering, I push my hands into my pants pockets. “I could ask you the same question.”
“You could, but I don’t have an answer. I came here to find one.”
“And you can’t believe that maybe I came here for the same reason?”
“You have no history here. That belongs to me. You want to find yourself? Start in South Boston. Start with Addie.”
Addie. Why does it always come back to Addie? I’d prefer to forget that Addie even exists. “Damn it, Skye—”
“Scratch that. Addie came much later. Start with your father, Braden. Start with your mother.”
My jaw tenses again. “Damn you,” I say between clenched teeth.
“Damn you, too,” she counters. “Fucking damn you.”
Then my lips are on hers again, without even a semblance of gentleness. It’s harsh. It’s painful, even.
And it’s magnificent.
We stand in her parents’ front yard, our mouths fused together, and I’m ready. So ready. Ready to demand that she strip for me and make love right here, in front of the house where she grew up. Where she probably played in those cornfields.
She breaks the kiss and pushes me away. “Stop it.”
“No.”
“Yes, you will. Have your forgotten my parents are inside? Easily watching us through the window? My dad is probably loading his shotgun about now.”
Steve has a shotgun?
I’m not sure why I find that surprising. He probably has several.
Damn. I shouldn’t have come here.
I draw in a breath. “This was a mistake.”
“You bet it was. You crossed a line, Braden.”
She’s not wrong, but people in glass houses… I scoff. “I crossed a line? Have you forgotten how many lines you’ve crossed? Stealing a piece of mail from my house? Barging into my office and demanding information?”
“We’re not talking about me. We’re talking about you. But since you brought me into it, the last time I checked, I never showed up at your father’s home unannounced. That’s a major line.”
I don’t reply. I can’t argue her point.
“What are you really doing here?” she asks for the umpteenth time.
I shake my head. “I don’t honestly know, Skye. All I know is I was on the plane, ready to go to New York, and I told the pilot to change the flight plan.”
It’s not a lie. Though I had originally planned to come, something came up in New York. I figured it was a great excuse to hit the club, try to remember who the hell I am…
Then, midair, I changed my mind again.
“You didn’t know I was coming here?”
“No. I swear I didn’t.”
“Then why? Seriously. And don’t tell me you were worried about me or you were trying to understand me.”
“That’s actually the truth.”
“No, that’s the truth you told yourself so you could live with yourself for making this decision. I want the real truth.”
“I’m telling the truth. Or at least, the partial truth.”
“What’s the rest of it, then?”
“I don’t know. I just know…” I rake my fingers through my hair once more. “I’ve never felt this way before. It’s…unnerving.”
“Felt what way?”
I wrinkle my forehead. Purse my lips. Then I look away from her. “When did you talk to my brother?”
“Interesting pivot,” she says. “It’s not even slightly related to my question. But I’ll play along. He called me an hour ago, while I was in the cab coming here.”