Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
They still loathed the idea of me. Only now, it made sense. I was living, breathing proof of my mother’s infidelity.
Ever since I’d discovered Cooper’s existence two years ago, I’d searched for information about him. I hit a dead end every single time. The idea of broaching the subject with my mother frightened me, but I wanted desperately to find my biological dad. I’d played that night a million times in my head. My only regret was that I’d been too much of a coward to step forward and beg Cooper to take me with him.
Mom didn’t know me at all. I’d take instant noodles, dirty tap water, and a loving dad over whatever this was. Any day of the week. A full heart is worth more than a full wallet.
“I’ll see about it.” I flicked the lollipop in my mouth into the garbage bag with my bottled water and candy, watching the same ladybug land on my chest. It stopped when it felt it dip, then rise with a breath. Then continued about its exploration.
“It’s just a suggestion.” Ollie rose on his elbows, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear. “No pressure or anything, but every moment I spend away from you is torture.”
I scooped up the ladybug, resting it on the grass above my head before rolling to face Ollie. “What if you don’t feel that way anymore in two, three, five years? When you go to college and meet all those beautiful girls?”
“I meet beautiful girls every day.” He shrugged, and even though the words were meant to comfort me, to prove a point, they made my chest squeeze so painfully I couldn’t breathe. “No one is going to be as pretty as the girl I’m in love with. That’s just science.”
It wasn’t the first time he’d told me he loved me. He’d said it last year, over the summer, when we skinny dipped in the lake.
I knew that he meant it.
I also knew that feelings, like seasons, had the tendency to change.
“Hey, you, look at me.” He pawed my face, bracketing it with his big palms, staring deep into my eyes. His eyes were thunder crackling in my chest, splitting it in two. “I know what you’re thinking right now, and you need to unthink it, pronto. Forget about how young we are. How the odds are stacked against us. Forget about statistics, and life experience, and all the bullshit. Remember the things that count, okay?”
“What are those things?” I asked, proud that my voice didn’t waver. That it didn’t crack halfway through.
“That I’m yours. Completely. Unconditionally. Tragically. I will take your hate over anyone else’s love. Your anger over anyone else’s compassion. Your tears over anyone else’s smiles. A moment with you over anyone else’s forever. You’re the one.”
He leaned forward, his mouth crashing against mine, in a kiss that was slow, and pure, and reassuring. I tasted like cherry lollipop, and he tasted like sweet summer and forever. The grass blades tickled our ears. He opened his mouth, his tongue sliding against mine, his fingers gliding up the nape of my neck. His short nails grazed my scalp, making goosebumps bud across my skin.
My nipples puckered under the fabric of my flowery summer dress. I wasn’t wearing a bra. I knew Ollie could feel it. I felt him, too. A moan escaped my throat as our tongues danced, tasting, teasing, searching. We molded together, the sun licking at our bare skin, and in that moment, I felt invincible. There was no obstacle too big. No problem too fatal. Not when I had Oliver by my side.
If the sky fell, he’d hold it up.
“You’re my one, Briar Rose,” he whispered into our kiss. “And my goddamn only.”
Chapter Twelve
Briar
I opened my eyes with a horrifically horny moan.
A flood of bright fluorescent lights blinded me, chasing away the memory of Ollie’s magic touch on the lake. Within seconds, reality dispersed the delicious dream. I slammed my eyes shut again, too scared to face reality. Everything ached. I felt numb, and wrong, and Jesus, where the hell was I?
It felt like I’d tumbled into a loaded laundry cycle. Soaked, battered, tossed around, and finally squeezed dry. I tried to stretch in place, but my shoulder blades cracked like twigs. The air itself anchored down my arms with its weight.
I sucked in a breath and regretted it the second pain rocketed from my lungs up to my throat.
It’s okay. You’re alive. You know this on account of the fact that EVERYTHING HURTS.
I let my eyelids flutter open again. A sea of pastel blue blurred before me. I blinked until the walls stopped moving and inventoried the rest of my body. Tubes snaked around my arms and chest, binding me to a large bed. Monitors bracketed my head. Needles poked my veins on both sides, taped tight with transparent film.