Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 154595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 773(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 773(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
“I’m at fifteen, I’ve just peed myself and/or thrown up all over the passenger in front of me.”
“Guess we’re driving then,” he replied.
“What? Just like that?”
“You want me to argue?”
“Nope. I really don’t. Driving is good. Driving will be fun. I promise. I mean, have you ever had a blow job while driving?”
He pointed at her. “Nope. That’s not happening. That’s not safe.”
“Oh.” She pouted.
“But after a long day of driving you can definitely give me one to wind down.”
“Goodie.” She clapped her hands in excitement. “Road trip with Grumpy Bear! Blow jobs and gummy bears for everyone.”
He shook his head. “Blow jobs are just for me, girl. And there will be no gummy bears.”
“Fine, fine, I’ll settle for gummy snakes then.”
“Are you wanting to head out on a long road trip while sitting on a hot ass?”
“No, thank you,” she said politely. “Have I told you this morning how handsome you look, Grumpy Bear? And that you’ve got a very talented tongue.”
“Got a very talented hand too, girl. Don’t forget it. Stay in bed, I’ll get you dressed once I’ve used the bathroom and we’ll go have breakfast.”
After he’d gotten them both dressed, she was wearing a purple skirt that went down in layers and ended just below her knees and a white T-shirt with a sequin smiley face on the front, he took hold of her hand and led her to the door.
He’d even managed to braid her hair. Sure, it was messy, but she didn’t care.
Gray paused in front of her shelf of awards and trophies. There were also a number of framed photos of her with her friends.
Great. Embarrassment had her cheeks going hot. She tugged at his hand.
“I’m hungry, Grumpy Bear.”
“Wait a minute. Citizenship award. Compliment champion. Sweetest smile. Best friend in the world. Kindest person ever. These are real awards?”
“No,” she whispered. “They’re things my friends sent me when I . . . when I needed cheering up. I kept them all these years. They’re silly, I know.” She reached up to grab one. She should have put them away, instead of keeping them out on display.
But then, she’d never expected anyone else to ever see them. She should have known that Gray wouldn’t just ignore them.
Gray took hold of her hand, pulling it away. “Leave them. They’re not stupid, girl.”
She sighed. Not stupid, no. Not at the time, anyway. She’d desperately needed them. But now . . . maybe they were.
She was older. She was supposed to be tougher and smarter. Wiser, right?
Yeah, she was still waiting on that to happen.
Then he pointed to a photo of them all dressed up. The three girls wore dresses, the four boys in suits as they did a silly pose for the camera. “Prom?”
“Sort of,” she said in a croaky voice. “If you can still have a prom after leaving school.”
“What?”
“I didn’t . . . I didn’t go to my prom.”
He just waited patiently.
She sighed. “Breakfast will be getting cold.”
Gray just stared down at her.
“In case it wasn’t glaringly obvious, I’m kind of . . . I’m kind of different.”
“So?”
“So, in high school being different is wrong, right?”
He frowned. “What?”
“Kids don’t like different. Or at least not in my small town high school.” The place had been filled with judgmental kids and the parents they’d learned that from.
“You didn’t all go to school together?” he asked.
“No.”
“I just assumed that’s where you’d met. So you met in college?” he asked.
“No.” She bit her lip. “This is a long story.”
“Just as well we have a long drive together then, huh?”
She sighed, but nodded. Although, maybe she should get started now. “I was bullied in high school.”
“Because you were different.”
“Yeah.”
“Fucking assholes.”
“It wasn’t . . . it wasn’t good.” Understatement of the year. “It’s part of the reason that I try to spread kindness around, you know? Like, I figure if people start to pay it forward, then maybe in some small way, the world might become a nicer place.”
“Baby.” He drew her around so he could kiss her forehead. “I fucking hate that you went through that. When you said that someone in your past called you names . . .”
“Yeah, I was talking about the bullying. It was pretty bad. Sometimes . . . sometimes it even got physical.”
“Christ.” He drew her in, hugging her and rocking her back and forth. She took all of the comfort he was offering, soaked it into her skin and just held on as hard as she could.
“Give me every name.”
“What?” she asked, not following.
He drew back, one hand cupping her chin so he could tilt her head back and stare into her face.
“I want all the names of the people who bullied you.”
She stared up at him in shock. Then it occurred to her why he was asking.
“Gray, you can’t go after them.”