Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 99949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
There were several beats of silence before Theo squeezed my hand and said, “I was on my knees and had just pulled Ford’s pants down when Jimmy opened the door. I didn’t even realize we weren’t alone any longer. Ford punched me, knocking me to the ground. He… he, um… he called me some names and then hit me again. Kicked me too. I figured out later that he probably needed to convince his family, Jimmy in particular, that I’d come on to Ford… had forced myself on him.”
I shook my head because my brain couldn’t process the Ford I knew being capable of such atrocities.
“Did you ever see each other again after that?”
Theo shook his head again. “Not until this past winter when Ford and Cam showed up on my doorstep. If it had been while we were still kids, I probably wouldn’t have understood, and I would have slammed the door in his face. But just seeing him there, the look in his eyes… I knew he’d relived that day and much worse from the moment Jimmy threw open that door. And when I saw the way Cam looked at him, the way he looked out for him, all I could think at that moment was that he’d finally made it. Ford had found the life he’d deserved.”
“You forgave him,” I murmured.
“We do what we need to survive. It took me a long time to learn that.”
I wondered if Theo was talking about himself or Ford. Probably both.
Theo scanned the woods around us, but I wasn’t sure if he was really seeing them or something else. “Forgiving Ford was one of the easiest things I’ve done in a long time.”
I could tell Theo meant it. His hand felt warm in mine, and it was hard to ignore the little zaps of electricity that were shooting up my arm.
“But coming up here to visit him wasn’t,” I murmured. I waited until Theo’s eyes met mine and then pointedly looked at the still-healing gash on his right arm. His entire body locked up tight and he immediately released my hand. He began to climb to his feet but to my surprise he stopped, then very slowly lowered himself back down to the ground.
“Lincoln, look,” he whispered. I followed his gaze across the stream and saw that the dog had returned. It looked like it was on the verge of taking off at any moment, so Theo and I sat in silence. The dog took a tentative step forward, then another. I slowly turned my head so I could watch Theo. The smile on his face would have knocked me on my ass if I hadn’t already been sitting down.
It was real.
Completely, totally fucking real.
I was so captivated that when he looked directly at me, I was completely blindsided, and it took several whispers of my name from those gorgeous lips to draw me from my reverie. When my eyes met Theo’s, he looked down at the plastic bag that was still sitting on the ground between my legs. I managed to drag my eyes from his so I could confirm that the dog was still there and then carefully handed the bag to Theo.
He began throwing the food across the stream and the dog eagerly ate each piece. But I wasn’t watching the dog anymore. I was too busy trying to control my reaction to the pure joy in Theo’s eyes every time the dog ate what Theo tossed him.
No masks.
No lies.
No pretending.
Just Theo.
The real Theo.
My chest constricted painfully, and it was all I could do not to lean in and capture his mouth with mine every time he looked at me. I wanted to cover his body with mine as the sounds of the forest came alive around us. I wanted to do anything and everything that would keep that smile on his face and the pain in his eyes away. I wanted to hear him whisper my name against my lips. I wanted to bury my face against his neck and finally take a breath. Not just any breath but the kind that swept through your whole system and made you feel like everything was okay.
“Lincoln?”
The confusion and hint of fear made it possible for me to snap back to reality. The bag in Theo’s hand was empty and a glance across the stream showed that the dog was gone.
Jesus, how long had I been staring at him like that for?
“We should probably head back,” I said. “It gets tricky to navigate these woods in the dark.”
I climbed to my feet and automatically held out a hand to help Theo up. He’d gone predictably quiet, which didn’t surprise me. God only knew what he thought I’d been thinking as I’d stared at him. I was glad when Theo took my hand and allowed me to pull him to his feet. The move had him nearly pressed against my chest. It was all I could do not to dip my head and claim what I knew in my heart was mine. His lips were slightly parted and he was breathing hard.