Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 72154 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72154 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
I grinned. “Spying on the competition?”
Sterling grinned. “We practice after them. Their coach was still on the field going over a few things with him when I happened to head out.”
I nodded, then took the last turn that led to the ball field.
“Parker?”
I glanced at Sterling. “Yeah?”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
I shrugged. “I’ve been better.”
And that was the goddamn truth. But that better had been when I was a kid. Before I’d done the unthinkable and been forced into a life I’d never wanted to live.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
I sighed.
They pulled to a stop at the visiting team’s entrance. “You don’t have the time to hear what’s wrong. Maybe over a couple of beers, we can discuss it. But right now…it ain’t gonna happen.”
Sterling rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”
Then he punched me hard in the shoulder and bailed.
I watched his back—out of habit—until the door shut behind him. Then I accelerated out of the parking lot and ran a few errands. When I came back for the actual game and sat down next to Rafe, I took one look at the girl three seats down from my own and felt my heart skip a beat.
***
Kayla
I could still feel my heart pounding from the nightmares I’d had during my nap. I could practically taste my terror on my tongue.
“Come on, it’ll be fun.”
I rolled my eyes at my friend’s words. Janie had said those exact same words to me time and time again. And time and time again, I always got in trouble after hearing them.
The first time had been because Janie wanted to see how far we could walk without our legs giving out. That had ended up being five very long miles away from our house—and we’d gotten lost.
Six hours later, James and Sam had found us.
After hugging us both tight, we’d been grounded for life. Although that life sentence only ended up being about three days in total. But we weren’t allowed out of an adult’s sight for quite some time after that.
“I’m already going,” I sighed. “Loki asked me if I was going. And since I know he thinks I’m not handling it well, I decided to show him differently.”
It would be a lie, of course, but I could put on a mask like the rest of them. I wasn’t going to let on that I was freaking the fuck out. I now woke up at night with cold sweats wracking my body, and the taste of vomit on my tongue.
“But you aren’t handling it well,” she countered. “You’re not sleeping.”
I shrugged. “I’ll get over it. Don’t worry.”
Janie looked at me skeptically but ultimately dropped the subject. Thank God.
It was the last thing I wanted to talk about right then. Especially after the night we’d shared.
“Are you ever going to let me hold her?” I asked, looking at Janie.
Rafe, her husband, snorted. “Good luck. I’m the baby’s father and even I don’t get to hold her all that much. Between Janie and James, I feel like my own kid doesn’t even like me half the time because she’s not used to me.”
***
Two hours later
My eyes scanned the crowd as I thought about how many killers could possibly be surrounding me right this very moment, and I’d never know. I mean, I could be taken right the fuck out now, and brought somewhere and tortured and then cut up with a band saw. He could look like that man over there, or the old grandpa holding his grandson who was dressed exactly like him.
Or it could be that man right there in his tight t-shirt and skinny jeans.
Or…
The moment I saw him my heart skipped a beat.
Now he…he could be something.
He was tall, broad-shouldered and looked like he ate little girls like me for breakfast.
He had on jeans, a semi-loose t-shirt that was tight on the chest, loose on the waist, and reallllly tight on the arms. The Lumberjack logo that spread across his chest was stretched, partially distorting the mini lumberjack.
Then there was the ball cap covering what appeared to be dark brown hair with reddish highlights and a sprinkling of grays. His eyes were concealed by the ball cap, but his strong jaw, covered in that godforsaken beard—oh my God. It was divine.
I’ve always had a thing for beards. This man’s beard wasn’t big. It wasn’t bushy or long. It was well maintained and very short…but it was beautiful. It was as if he’d run a brush through his beard with a touch of white paint on a few bristles. The white wasn’t plentiful, but there was enough for me to see it running through his brown beard.
And I freakin’ liked it. A lot.
My eyes traveled down his strong arms, taking in every single tattoo, mole, freckle and scar. He had a lot of them. Scars and tattoos more than freckles or moles.