Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Her birthday is in a few days. I could get her a gift, but even drunk I know grand gestures aren’t going to cut it. I didn’t accidentally run over her puppy; I cheated on her. For most, that’s an unforgivable act. Hell, if the shoe were on the other foot I’m not sure what I would do.
“Kid?” I hear from the open doorway of the garage.
I turn and see Emmalyn standing standoffishly on the threshold. She has a pained, unsure expression on her face. I don’t even bother to wipe away the tears I can’t seem to stop pouring from my eyes. I swallow thickly and keep pacing, knowing my voice would break the second I tried to mutter a word.
On my pacing turn toward the door, I see her sit in one of the chairs around the small wooden table in the corner of the garage.
“Snapper should never have gone with you,” she consoles.
I shake my head roughly. The motion makes it swim, increasing the blurriness in my vision already hindered by the alcohol.
“This is all on me, Em. I did this. I’ve ruined any chance of getting her back.” I reach for a beer out of the fridge on my way by.
She doesn’t counter my words, adding even more dread that my ramblings are more truth than not. The pacing isn’t helping so I lean against the wall and take a long pull from the beer bottle.
“How can I fix this?” I ask staring at the poster of a half-naked woman on the wall. Even the sight of the blonde clad only in a tiny bikini that Snatch hung up years ago disgusts me. I close my eyes and let my body slide down the wall, defeated.
“I don’t know,” she says softly.
With legs drawn up, I place my arms on my bent knees, holding the beer bottle between both hands. I hang my head, counting the cracks in the concrete between my thighs.
“The only woman I’ve ever loved, and I ruined what we had in less than a month,” I tell the speck of an ant crawling aimlessly near my boot.
“You didn’t remember her,” Em offers similar words to what she’d told me earlier inside.
I raise my head and look into her sad eyes. “How could I forget her?” The tears begin again. “How could I lose the warmth that rages in my blood at just the sight of her? How could I fuck that slut and enjoy myself? I enjoyed sleeping with her.” I close my eyes again attempting to combat the sickness creeping up my throat again. “It was innate for me to come home from a job and grab a girl for the night. I did exactly what I’ve always done. How will she ever believe I love her if I can do that after a bump to the head?”
I see a tear roll down Emmalyn’s cheek before she speaks. “It’s more complicated than that, Kid, and you know it.”
“I can’t live my life without her, Em. My world was empty before she came along. I don’t want to lose her.”
“Give her time. That’s the only advice I can give you. She knows your memories were gone. This isn’t the same situation as if you were running around behind her back, or sleeping with Snapper to get back at her.” Emmalyn gets up from the chair, walking to the fridge. She reaches in and pulls out a beer and hands it to me, taking the empty bottle in my hands and throwing it in the large metal trash can with a thud.
“What if this were Diego? What would you do?”
She shakes her head back and forth as if she doesn’t even want the scenario in her head. “I can’t even fathom what Khloe is going through. Diego? I imagine he would be a lot like you are now.” She swipes at another tear. “I’d probably run, only, this time, he wouldn’t be able to just show up and bring me back. My heart would be utterly shattered.”
I nod my head, acknowledging my future without Khloe.
“She’s planning on leaving after her birthday,” Em says delivering the worst news yet.
I can’t blame Khloe if she chooses to leave.
“Where will she go? She has no one,” I implore trying to see the future in her soft blue eyes.
“She doesn’t even know at this point,” she answers. “Give her time,” she says again getting up from the chair and softly kissing the top of my lowered head. “Just give her time.”
Chapter 35
Khloe
That tear. The pain in his eyes. The tremble in his hand when he reached for me. The way his voice cracked when he said my name for the first time after his memories came back.
It broke me. I had to get out of there as fast as possible. If I’d stayed, I would’ve wrapped him in my arms and held him while he cried. I would’ve put his pain above my own, and that’s not something I’m going to do any longer. Putting others first is how I got in this damn situation to begin with. I should never have opened my heart to anyone. Not just him, it included Alec and my parents.