Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 37197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 149(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 149(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
I put up with it for far too long. Because my self-esteem and sense of self-worth were in the toilet back then, it took me a long time to work up the strength to leave him. Longer than I should have. But I eventually did. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life, but it was the best decision I ever made. It was the first decision I ever made for myself. Things with Micah got ugly. Like really ugly. But I don’t regret walking away from him for a second.
The difference between Hunter and his son couldn’t be starker. Hunter has always been kind to me. Whenever we talked back then, he was always thoughtful, seemed genuinely interested in me as a person, and was always encouraging. And over these past few days he’s been in the hospital, I see nothing on that front has changed. As far as I can see, he’s still the same man.
“Well… whatever Micah did to you, I’m sorry for it.”
“There’s nothing for you to be sorry for,” I tell him. “But like I said, some things are better left in the past where they belong. I’m happy now and that’s all that matters.”
Hunter looks at me for a long moment, a curious gleam in his eyes. But then the corners of his mouth curl upward and that smile that always used to fill my belly with butterflies whenever I saw him crosses his lips.
“You do seem happy. You seem content,” he says. “It’s something I never saw in you back then. That’s nice to see, Harlow.”
“Thank you. It’s nice to feel this way, to be honest.”
And as his smile widens, that feeling of gossamer wings brushing my insides returns with even more force than when I was nineteen except this time, it’s accompanied by a sultry warmth between my thighs. And as I feel myself growing uncomfortably wet, that schoolgirl crush I used to get whenever I saw Hunter evaporates and is replaced by a sense of womanly longing. It’s no longer a sweet and innocent crush I feel for him, but something visceral. Something raw.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
Images of straddling him in that bed and riding him hard until we’re both panting and shaking wildly from orgasms so powerful they leave us dizzy and breathless flash through my mind. It’s such a powerful image. I can practically feel his long, thick rod buried deep inside of me. I can practically hear our moans and feel my orgasm splitting me down the middle. I suddenly feel like a depraved sex addict. So… no. I wouldn’t exactly say I’m okay.
“I’m fine,” I lie through an awkward smile. “Anyway, I should probably get back to my rounds. I’m sure Marcy is wondering where the heck I am.”
“Sure. Yeah, of course. I unfortunately can’t deny other patients of your wonderfully warm and healing presence,” he says with that smile.
The pornographic montage flashing through my head is making my head spin so hard, I can’t think—let alone form—a coherent thought, so I simply offer him a smile and a pat on the shoulder as I hurry from the room. I need to get my head on straight before I get back to work. I’m sure Marcy is going to have a field day with this.
Before I do anything else, though, I need to change out of these dripping-wet panties.
5
HUNTER
I’ve been sitting in this goddamn bed all day, seeing that look on Harlow’s face when I asked her about Micah over and over and over again in my mind. And it’s not the hard anger etched into her otherwise soft, round face that’s bothering me. After the sort of acrimonious breakup she and Micah had, that’s to be expected. What’s bothering me and what I can’t get out of my head is seeing the unmistakable shine of fear and pain in her eyes when I brought up my son’s name.
Seeing that fear in her eyes tells me that Micah did something to her. Something awful. Something she can’t or won’t talk about. Something that still hurts her, even several years later. I know my kid. I know that he has zero motivation and has no real plan for his life. I know that all he wants to do is smoke, surf, and party with his friends. I try to tell myself he’s twenty-three, and that’s just how kids his age are. I keep hoping, however, that he’s going to wake up and realize he’s going nowhere and then do something to change that.
Aside from all that, I know Micah can be an asshole. He can be sarcastic. Vindictive. He has a horrible temper and is prone to saying some of the most fucked up things. God knows when he and I have gone at it, some really obnoxious, hateful shit has come flying out of his mouth. It’s like his default setting. Especially when he’s not getting his way about one thing or another. Micah can be rude and even cruel. He can be a bully. I know all this about my son and more.