Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 106346 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106346 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“Stop,” I say, my heart sinking, my stomach burning. “I don’t know if I can take much more.”
“This is me.” She stands there with her arms out to her sides. “You wanted this. You asked for it. I told you that we shouldn’t go there. We are so different.” She looks down, and I see a single tear roll down her cheek. “There were drug dealers breaking down my door to get him. There were times I came home, and the money that I had set aside to buy food with was in a syringe and his eyes closed on the couch. We ate bread for a month with peanut butter. I went to the church and asked for help with food, and we got food stamps. It took me over a year to finally save enough to escape him.” She looks up now, her shoulders square.
“But before I left, he gave me one last gift.” I wait for it, holding my breath. If he hurt her or put his hands on her, I’ll kill him. “He gave me the credit cards he had opened in my name. I was in debt to the tune of fifty-seven thousand dollars. I had a three-year-old, and I was making seven fifty an hour.” She puts her hands together. “So when I said you and I are night and day, I was not lying. I have worked hard to get myself where I am today, and every single hurdle that is thrown at me, I have somehow climbed over it.” She smirks.
“Yes, I have bumps and bruises and scrapes, and I have nothing in my retirement fund, and the only thing I can afford is the bare minimum, but”—she takes a deep breath—“I will never let Dylan live one day thinking that any of this is his fault. He asked about his grandparents once, and I said they lived too far. When he’s old enough, I’ll tell him the truth, but hopefully, his life is going to be filled with so much love in his heart that he won’t even care.”
I get up now and walk to her and take her beautiful face in my hands. “He won’t ever need them because he has you. He has all the love in the world he’ll ever need,” I say softly and then put my forehead to hers. “I really want to kiss you right now,” I say, almost as if I’m asking her for permission. “In my whole life, I’ve never wanted anything so badly.”
She puts her hands around my wrists, her fingers not touching, and she takes the one step closer to me. “After everything I’ve been through, I think this is what my reward should be. If only for one kiss,” she whispers. She gets on her tippy toes just a bit, and it’s like a magnetic pull. My hands move from her face to the bottom of her neck, and her hair slips between my fingers. My heart is beating so fast and so loud that I wonder if she’ll hear it. My fingers are trembling right before I tilt my head and kiss her gently. Her soft lips are on mine, and she whimpers just a bit. I’m about to let her go when she opens her mouth, and her tongue slides with mine. My other arm pulls her closer to me, and I get lost in her taste, lost in her touch, lost in her.
“Mom!” Dylan yells, and she jumps back as if my touch burned her. “I’m so hot,” he says, and she looks at me and then walks to the bedroom. I look up at the ceiling, and for the first time in my life, I pray that in the end we both get what we need and what we want.
Chapter Eighteen
Caroline
When I heard Dylan’s voice, it was as if ice water was dumped on me. I jumped so fast away from Justin that I’m surprised I didn’t fall. Spilling everything I had inside me and reliving everything that I went through was exhausting. I don’t know why I did it or how but something about Justin Stone just made me want to share with him.
“I’m so hot,” Dylan says when I get to the bedroom. I didn’t want to say anything before but walking into the room was like entering a sauna. I need to get a box fan or two or maybe three. He pulls his shirt over his head, and I see that his hair is matted to his head.
“Do you want to take a cool shower?” I ask, and he just shakes his head and lies back down and falls asleep. I know that by the time I wake up in the morning, he’ll be in just his boxers.
I turn and walk back out of the room and see Justin standing there looking at me. His eyes never leaving mine. “Is he okay?”