Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 80664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
I pulled the ring out of my shirt and looked down at the one eyed skull. The light of the moon reflected off the diamond, making it look as if it were winking up at me.
The longer Bear was in jail, the more likely it was that he was never coming back out, yet no one would tell me exactly what it was I was supposed to be waiting for.
My heart twisted and bile rose in my throat, the whiskey burned its way back up just as it had burned on the way down.
I couldn’t linger on that thought. I couldn’t let my mind go there.
But I couldn’t just wait either.
Promise me that no matter what, you won’t give up on me. Promise me, Ti.
Fuck waiting.
I launched the bottle into the air with a guttural roar. It spun around and around until landing in the bay with a splash, causing a ripple in the glass-like surface of the water. By the time the ripple reached the boat, I decided that although I trusted Bear, there was no way in hell I was just going to sit back and let his fate rest in the hands of others. I was going to do something at the very first opportunity.
I just had to figure out what exactly that something was.
CHAPTER SIX
Thia
I’m in Bear’s apartment. It’s late. Too late for the burner phone on the nightstand to be ringing. I roll over and answer it. “Hello,” I say, my voice scratchy and rough from sleep. I clear my throat and the voice on the other end chuckles.
Chills break out down my spine and I sit straight up in bed.
“Baby, it’s me. Don’t say a fucking thing. Just let me talk. There is so much I need to say to you but I don’t know where to fucking start. I’ll just start with this. I think about you. Even though it’s only been hours I miss you more than I’ve ever missed anything. I never knew what missing anything even meant until now. I don’t know when we are going to be able to talk again, so I wanted to tell you all of this now, while I still can. Are you still there, Ti?”
“Yes,” I say breathlessly. “Yes, I’m here.”
“I love the way you moan when I make you come. I love the way you get wet just from hearing my voice. But I’m also going to miss the way you chew the ends of your hair when you don’t know what to say. I’ll miss the way you look at me like you’re trying to figure me out, when really I’m a simple guy, I’m usually just thinking about how fucking gorgeous you are and how to get you naked. I’ll miss the way you always say you’re never hungry when I ask, but then eat half of whatever it is I’m eating. I’ll just miss you. I do miss you. I miss the way you make me feel like a person of the world, instead of a problem in it.
“Until you, I felt like nothing. I was nothing. You gave me everything and I plan to do the same for you. You’re too good for me, but I plan to make that up to you with how good I’m going to be for you. With you. Because of you.
I remain silent as I was told, but I can’t silence the tears forming in my eyes.
“The world was dark and you turned on the fucking light switch and now it’s so bright, I’m walking around blind. I’m in fucking jail…and I’ve never been happier. How fucking ridiculous is that? I sound like such a pussy, but in case something happens to me, I just thought you should know all this. You NEED to know all of this.”
“I—” Bear cuts me off.
“No, no talking. I’m crouched in a corner of the most disgusting bathroom I’ve ever been in, in the middle of the night, talking on a burner phone I fished out of an air conditioning vent, so please, Ti, just listen.”
I nod as if he can hear it.
“I have a confession. Every time we’ve fucked, I’ve come inside of you. I’ve been in here for months, longer than you and I’ve been…well, whatever we’ve been. I’ll be really fucking disappointed if you’re not pregnant. If and when I get out of here, I plan on fixing that. I plan on filling you with so much of me that you have no fucking choice but to carry my kid.
“I may not ever be a good man, baby, but unlike my piece of shit old man, I think I’d be a good dad. I want a girl. Pink hair, just like you.
I cover my mouth so Bear won’t hear my sob and hold the phone away for a second so I can sniffle.
“Don’t worry about me,” he continues, his voice cracking ever so slightly. “And for fuck’s sake do what you’re fucking told. There is a plan in place. Bethany is working on getting me out. But it’s gonna take time. Trust me. Trust us. Can you do that for me, baby? Can you trust me?”
Yes. I can.
“Now we can talk, tell me something about you. Something I don’t know. Something that’s not jump-off-a-bridge depressing ’cause there ain’t a lot of shit in here worth smiling at.”
I smile into the phone and say the first thing that comes to mind. “I’ve always wanted a dog. A big one. We had one when I was younger, a Great Dane. My parents never let me get another one after he died, but I’ve always wanted one.”
“I’ll get you one, baby. The biggest one they’ve got. The second I get out.”
“Do you really think you’re coming home?” The question is twofold. Is he really going to get out? And will he really be able to survive this?
“I don’t really know that. But I know this, a lot of people in my life have tried to take me out when I had nothing to live for and they’ve never succeeded, and I see that as a good thing.”