Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 76812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Oracle moves toward her the second she's on her feet, and Beck is only a step behind him.
"On second thought," Beth says before Oracle can reach her. "I'll give you Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off, but you get back to your schoolwork first thing Monday morning."
"You sound desperate for a friend," I tease.
She nods, her eyes locked on mine. "I am."
I wrap my arms around her for a hug, the action feeling a little foreign until she returns it, her warm arms giving me a little squeeze before she lets me go.
"Monday," she repeats. "You've had two months off. It's time to get back to work."
I nod, agreeing without argument.
Chapter 39
Newton
I know what it costs her to be so brave.
Anytime she’s attempted it in the past, Nathan cut her off at the knees and then hurt her for even thinking of taking charge of any situation.
I see a little more light in her eyes when I approach her. Witnessing the hug between her and Beth made me want to jump for joy. I know that has been an issue clouding her mind since she came to the clubhouse the first time.
"Is everything better?" I ask as I pull her to my chest.
"It will be," she says, more positivity in her tone than I've ever heard from her before.
I turn her around and urge her toward our room. There's just something about this woman standing on her own two feet that really fucking turns me on, and I witnessed it once at the doctor's office and again just now with Beth.
"You seem eager," she mutters, but when I look over her shoulder, I see the file she's trying to hide.
"Always for you, baby," I assure her as I open our bedroom door and usher her inside, closing and locking the door behind me. "What's happening on Monday?"
I heard the tail end of their conversation as I approached, and I had already formulated my words to explain she doesn't have to work if she doesn't want to.
"Schoolwork," she says, scrunching up her nose as if she's disgusted by the idea of it, but I know better.
"It'll give you something to do while I'm on patrol or at work," I say. "I know you don't like to be bored."
"Do you know how many shows there are that I haven't seen? That Supernatural series has like twelve seasons."
"It has fifteen seasons, and I thought we agreed to watch it together," I argue as I step into her, making her take backward steps toward the bed.
She shrugs as if she couldn't be bothered to wait for me, but her tone changes as she squeals when I push her gently onto the bed.
We're facing a lot of uncertainty, but we have to find the joy and normalcy where we can.
It was decided before Cerberus left Ohio, that Hemlock was going to spearhead the new chapter closer to the East Coast. He couldn't risk being seen traveling back with us.
We had a meeting, and it was discussed that despite the possibility that he might've been seen with us, Jericho found a list of businesses they can't make heads or tails of. Ace and his crew don't know if the places listed are trafficking women or if they've just been marked as easy places to pull women from.
Either way, Hemlock was headed to Tennessee to see what he could figure out, having to hit the ground running with very little time to prepare.
"I think I can be convinced to wait and watch it with you," Brielle whispers as she reaches for the hem of my t-shirt, pulling it over my head in the next breath. "I don't know that I'll ever get used to all the muscles. You work out and all these sexy veins show up."
A river of cold chills follows her fingers down my arms.
"I work out with you, and I just want to eat my weight in carbohydrates."
"You'll find a happy medium," I explain. "Plus, maybe you're eating for two."
I roll my hips, but she doesn't smile. Instead, she presses both of her palms to my chest and wiggles out from under me.
"No," I tell her when she gives me her back. "We're not doing this. You told me that I can be honest with you at all times."
"And I promised to try and not freak out."
"So you're freaking out?"
She shakes her head, looking down at me when I climb off the bed and settle at her feet.
"Talk to me," I urge.
Tears stain her cheeks before she's able to speak. I wipe them away with my thumbs, hating that she just can't let herself be loved. It makes me hate Nathan with the fire of a million suns.
"I can't have children."
I freeze at her words, not expecting them at all.
"Okay," I say quickly, maybe a little too quickly.