Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 56410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
“Reese, have you thought about what will happen when we graduate and I go to college?”
A hard look crossed his face.
She looked in his face, saw the sincerity, heard it in his voice. She believed him about the pictures, how they weren’t what she thought. That was easy. What wasn’t so easy was the reality that this would have never worked. There would have been someone or something that got in their way, shoved them apart. They were so different, and it wasn’t even about money or social status. It was about her plans for the future, what Reese wanted to do with his life.
It was so much more than what they were doing now.
But she decided to put him out of his misery about one problem before moving fully onto the next. “I believe you, Reese. I don’t think you would do anything to hurt me.” The relief she saw wash across his face had her heart aching.
“Good, because I’d rather cut off my own arm than ever hurt you.” He took another step closer.
Her chest clenched tighter, harder. Her heart hurt even more. He stopped right in front of her but didn’t make a move to touch her. She didn’t think she could have handled it if he touched her, not with her tremulous emotions. She would have said forget the reality of their situation. She would have fallen into his arms and begged him to be with her.
“God, the thought that I almost lost you, that you wouldn’t be in my life….” He shook his head, that anguish in his expression back full force, as if the very thought of not being with her was too much to even think about. “I can’t explain why people do the things they do, why they want to start shit and rumors, destroy something good in people's lives, but fuck them. They don’t know what we have. They don’t know how I feel about you.”
She couldn’t help it. She started crying.
“Keira, baby, I swear that everything will be okay. We are stronger than this, than everyone who wants to ruin us because they don’t think we should be together, because they want to fuck up and ruin what we have.”
She shook her head slowly. “Reese, this is bigger than the pictures or rumors or speculation.” She stared into his eyes. “This is about us and what we are… what we would be to each at the end of it all.”
“I don’t understand.” His voice was strained.
After exhaling roughly, she felt that weariness settle in. She didn't want to end things. She loved him. But it had taken this moment to understand they really couldn’t be together. They had two separate lives. She was going in one direction, and although they’d never talked about those kinds of plans, she knew he was going in another. She had college after graduation. She had that to focus on. If this one thing could break her so much, how was that healthy? For either of them?
“I just need some time to think, to figure out what I’m doing.”
His stare was void of any kind of emotion, like he was staring right through her.
“Maybe all this was a sign or something.” She sighed.
He still had yet to say anything else, and she felt the weight of his silence surround her.
The truth was, she didn’t want time, didn’t want any space between them, but all this drama made her realize they didn’t really know each other.
You just need to go to him, embrace him, and have him tell you everything will be okay. Yes, that was exactly what she needed to do, because her thoughts were wild from her emotions, and she couldn’t possibly be thinking clearly. Things will be good, right?
Before she could make a move, he was speaking.
“You need time to think…” He let those words hang between them before he looked away, and for several long, agonizing seconds, he didn’t move. When he faced her again, he said, “You believe me, but need time, and you think this may be a sign?”
She exhaled roughly and nodded, but it was weak at best.
“So that basically means you’re just giving up on us?”
Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. Everything was unraveling right before her eyes, and it was like someone had stolen her voice.
“You’re giving up on us?” he asked again, his voice stronger, his expression hard as anger started morphing his features.
“No, that’s not what I’m doing. I’m just trying to be realistic.”
His chest rose and fell harshly. “I care about you, I...” He stopped before he finished, closed his eyes, and she watched him take a deep breath in. He opened his eyes and she saw… nothing. No emotion. “I don’t want to hurt you or stop you from thinking things through. I’m a patient guy. I have all the fucking time in the world when it comes to you.” He cleared his throat. “The truth is, I don’t deserve you. I never did. But I was a lucky bastard that you became mine. This is just the way I figured—feared—things would go. I knew you’d realize I was trash. I was just waiting for that other shoe to drop.”