Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 94653 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94653 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
“Are you going to keep running from me?”
She remains still for a second or two before shaking her head. “No.”
My muscles loosen with relief. “Just know that there’s nowhere you can run that I won’t give chase.”
A fine tremble slides through her as she whispers, “Wolf.”
“Yeah, angel?”
“I just wanted a little bit of time to sort everything out in my head. Is that really so much to ask?”
Maybe not. But my answer isn’t going to change.
“I’ve given you as much as I can. I won’t allow any more distance between us.” I press another kiss against her lips before drawing away. “I need to get to practice. I’ll be back later to take you home.”
She nods, giving me exactly what I want.
What I need.
“All right. I’ll see you then.”
That settled, I press one last kiss against her mouth before swinging around and walking out of the bar.
Chapter 29
Fallyn
It’s almost comical the way my cousin’s jaw comes unhinged and hangs open as she stares at me with wide, disbelieving eyes. Kind of like I just blew her mind.
Then she whacks my arm.
Hard.
“Ow!” I rub the spot. “What was that for?”
“Not telling me about all this!” Her dark blonde brows pinch together in consternation. “How could you keep this from me?” Hurt seeps into her tone.
That’s all it takes for guilt to swallow me whole. I glance toward my bedroom window that overlooks the courtyard beyond the glass. Even from here, I’m able to see the bare tree branches and crisp layer of snow that coats them.
My shoulders collapse under the heavy weight of her accusation before I jerk them in a tight movement.
Her question circles around in my brain before I admit softly, “I just couldn’t.”
“Wolf bought your virginity!” she whisper-yells as if I’m not aware of the development.
Heat and humiliation crawl up my neck before flooding my cheeks. “I need to give the money back.”
Except…half of it has already been spent and there’s no longer a hold on my school account. I paid for the spring semester in full since registration for summer and next fall are right around the corner.
It was only when I was walking into the building after we made that silent—and fairly awkward—ride home from the hotel that my phone chimed with an alert that the final payment had been deposited into my account.
When I’d whipped around to stare, he’d met my eyes briefly before squealing out of the parking lot and onto the dark street, disappearing around the corner.
“Would he even accept it?” she asks cautiously.
“Nope.”
Within seconds, I’d shot him a text demanding that he reverse the funds. At the very least, what he’d just deposited, and he’d flat-out refused.
“I honestly don’t think I could be more shocked.”
I snort. “Join the club.”
For the first time since I sprang the news on Viola, a slight smile quirks the corners of my lips.
“And now you’re going to—”
She breaks off when my phone chimes with an incoming message. I don’t have to glance at the screen to know who it is. We have another driving lesson this afternoon. As much as I want to cancel, how can I do that when Miles’ car hangs in the balance?
“Hang out with him like nothing happened?” she finishes in disbelief.
“Yeah, that’s the plan,” I mutter before gradually rising to my feet and heading to the dresser to snag my purse.
Just as I cross over the threshold, she says, “Growing up, Wolf was such a big part of your life. Does it help to spend time with him?”
My footsteps falter as that question spirals through my brain. It’s one I’ve been secretly asking myself. I throw a glance over my shoulder until our gazes can fasten. What I find is genuine curiosity mixed with concern.
There were times when it felt like Wolf eclipsed everything else in my world. The sun rose and set on him. And then the worst happened. The two most important people disappeared, leaving me alone. Even though I always had Viola, my world shrank over the years, becoming a pitiful shadow of what it once was. Now that Wolf has forced his way back into my life, it feels like I’m attempting to fight my way free of the suffocating darkness that descended after Miles’ death.
There’s nothing good about my parents losing everything they’ve worked so hard for over the years, but it’s forced me to wake up and become more of an active participant in my own life. I didn’t realize that I was operating on autopilot and allowing things to just happen until I was forced to figure out my shit.
It’s taken me a long time to do that.
Wolf will forever be intertwined with my best and worst memories.
In my descent into darkness and subsequent rise.
His explosion back into my life has only proven that our relationship, what there is of it, is complicated and not easily untangled.