Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 110549 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110549 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
She opened her eyes, locking them on mine. I reached out and cupped her cheek, rubbing my thumb over her soft skin. She frowned, nervousness ringing in her eyes. “You can still talk to me, baby girl,” I reminded her. “You don’t have to keep everything bottled in. Lincoln and I are worried about you, baby.”
She ran her eyes over my face, drinking my features in, and a moment later, her shoulders relaxed a little. “I’m sorry I’m such a bitch all of the time.”
I let an easy smirk tilt my lips. “Wouldn’t be you if you weren’t, babe.”
She smacked my shoulder, but a laugh fell from her lips that warmed my heart. It was husky, just like it had always been. She’d never had much to laugh about in life, but I intended on changing that.
I just had to learn how to be patient with her. Patience certainly wasn’t one of my virtues, but I aimed to change that.
“Lincoln is making dinner. Will you lay here with me?” she asked.
“Never have to ask me, baby,” I told her honestly. I’d hold her forever if she’d let me. I maneuvered my body behind hers on the couch and pulled her tight against me. She sighed softly as she let her eyes fall back shut.
“I love you, Jessie.”
Fuck, those words would forever do me in. No doubt about it.
“And I love you, baby girl. Not a goddamn thing in this world will ever change that,” I promised her.
20
West
Jessie held my hand in his as he led me up to the looming building in front of me. He had searched all over to find me a really good therapist, and today, he was bringing me to see the one he’d found.
“This isn’t making me feel very comfortable,” I confessed, tightening my hand around Jessie’s. “You know how much I hate doctors. And this building makes me feel dreary.”
Lincoln slipped his hand into mine. “Breathe,” he soothed. “Dr. Gresham has an excellent reputation, and he comes highly recommended. Jessie and I both spoke to him,” Lincoln assured me.
We stepped inside the building. A young blonde woman—most likely an intern—looked up from the computer on her desk and gave us a warm, welcoming smile, no hint of judgment in her eyes when she took in the fact that both Lincoln and Jessie were holding my hands.
“Hi!” she greeted, standing up and moving toward us. “What doctor are you coming to see today?”
“Dr. Gresham,” Jessie gruffly informed her.
She smiled. “I’ll lead you to his office,” she told me. I liked that she spoke directly to me instead of the men at my side. Made me feel like they actually focused on the patients here instead of the money they could earn from people like me.
We followed her down a couple of hallways until we stepped into a large commons area where people were reading, watching movies, and playing board games together. A woman, probably in her early thirties, came out of a side room. She had paint splattered on her clothes, and she was looking at her watch. “Macie!” she exclaimed, rushing over to us. “Has Dr. Gresham’s two-thirty appointment shown up yet?”
“I believe this is them,” the blonde girl, who was apparently Macie, said as she turned to face us.
The black-haired woman beamed at us and changed her course from Macie to me. “You must be West.” She held her hand out to me. “My name is Meghan. I’m Dr. Gresham’s assistant, though I spend most of my time in the art room.”
I slowly pulled my hand from Jessie’s and shook hers. Meghan smiled at the two men at my sides. “Boyfriends?” Meghan asked me when she turned her attention back to me.
“Um, yeah,” I said, awkwardly clearing my throat. Jesus, she was chipper.
“You’ll do your first session with Dr. Gresham alone, but I can be in the room with you if that will make you any more comfortable,” Meghan informed me, and like with Macie, I appreciated the fact that she actually spoke to me, rather than the men at my side. The associates at my old therapist’s office tended to only speak to Jessie and kind of ignored me. “Dr. Gresham likes to get to know his patient without the added intrusion of others.”
Jessie gently gripped my chin and lightly brushed his lips over mine. “You’ve got this, baby girl,” he soothed. “We’ll be right here when you get out, alright?”
“Okay,” I breathed, suddenly nervous now that I didn’t have my rocks by my side.
“She’s in good hands,” Meghan assured them before she began to lead me away with her hand on my arm. “I was a patient of Dr. Gresham’s a few years ago,” she informed me. I snapped my eyes over to her face. “I was pretty bad off—depression, anxiety, drug abuse, self-harm; I was a fucked up mess,” she informed me. “But he helped me, West, and he’s helped numerous other patients since then.”