Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
I saw her eyes flick over to me, and I sighed.
“Let’s go outside.”
I went to jump down, my jump to the ground a whole lot farther than I would’ve liked, but while I’d been sitting there with him, the bleachers around me had started to pack in. Meaning I either squished my way toward the bottom or launched myself over the side.
Being the introverted person I was, I obviously chose door number two.
But before I could catch any air whatsoever, Kobe reached up and caught me around the upper torso with only his hands. Thumbs brushing the lower outside swell of my breast, my breath hitched.
Then he was lifting me free of the bleachers, my iPad in hand, and setting me gently down on my feet.
There had to be a couple hundred people in the tent by now, and not a single one of them realized how my life had just irrevocably changed.
All he’d done was place his hands on me, yet it felt like he’d reached up, gathered a few pieces of my broken self, and reverently placed them back together before handing them back to me.
I licked my lips, cleared my throat, then started for the side flap that the staff used to enter and exit the large main tent.
When I’d first gotten here, I’d been just as awed as JP.
I mean, how often did you get to see a circus?
And, to that effect, how often did you get to be in the genetic makeup of one?
Over the last year, I’d found that it was a lot of freakin’ fun.
However, I always felt like I was missing the other half of my soul.
The other half of my soul lived in Accident with Morrigan and Kobe. Even with the rest of their motley crew, the Gator Bait MC.
As much fun as it was to spend time with large cats—being a vet came in handy when you were trying to pay your way in a circus when usually all you used were your skills to live—awesome people and the nightlife, my soul still yearned for a place to call home. A silent place where I could set up my computers, find my next adventure, and learn.
Though unless I could figure out my next step with my newest threat hanging over my head, I’d be playing the running game for another ten years of my life until JP turned eighteen.
My eyes felt like they were physically assaulted as I pushed through the flap into the sunlight.
I was unsurprised to find Keene and a few of the other sisters in the kids’ play area, where JP was on the monkey bars, playing with a few of the other circus kids.
Always on the lookout. Especially with a man here that they didn’t know.
They might not know my whole story, but Keene had guessed.
He wasn’t easy to fool, and though he liked to appear easygoing, he was most definitely an alpha male at heart. And would protect us at any cost.
To be completely honest, when it came to Kobe, I wasn’t sure he would win that fight.
I gave a chin nod at the group, once again made sure JP was okay, then went to the side of the tent area that would eventually lead back to the parking area.
Kobe followed like a silent wraith behind me, not completely hovering but not completely staying apart from me either.
It was as if he was staying close just to make sure I didn’t disappear again.
I swallowed hard past the feelings he evoked inside of me, then crossed my arms over my chest and came to a stop.
It was only as he came to a stop a little too close beside me that I looked up at him and said, “We’ll be here for another few days.”
He scoffed. “If I leave, you’ll just leave. And I’ll have to spend the next half a year looking for you.”
I felt my lips twitch.
He might be right.
The moment he was gone, there was no telling what I would do.
“Give me the file on your iPad,” he ordered. “I’ll read it right here.”
He pointed to a picnic table that was next to the funnel cake truck, which happened to be right next to the kid area where he knew I’d likely stay around since that was where JP was.
If he only knew…
“Okay,” I finally said.
Maybe it was time to rip the Band-Aid off…maybe it was time to see his reaction in real time.
Maybe…fuck. Maybe this was a really big mistake.
“I’ll sit here and explain as you read,” I said softly.
And hopefully you don’t hate me when you’re done.
CHAPTER 9
Inner peace begins with four words: not my fucking problem.
-Kobe’s secret thoughts
KOBE
I’d read through this particular file so many times that I’d lost count.
So I knew exactly what to expect when it opened up.
Only the first line was the same. The next few documents to pop up weren’t.