Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
“Great. I’ll push the call button if I need anything.” Ugh, she was acting like a bitch, something she typically tried very hard to avoid, but after what she’d gone through in the past few days, her tolerance for irritants was at its lowest.
“See that you do.” Miranda smirked, then strutted toward the door. As she passed Tyler, she leaned down and whispered ridiculously loud while staring straight at Kelsie, “Don’t leave before I have a chance to give you my number.”
Ty grunted in response, but it sounded way too much like an agreement for Kelsie’s liking.
“Slut,” she muttered as the door shut behind Miranda.
“You say something?” His smug grin added salt to the wound.
“No.” Pouting was for children but keeping a small one from forming was impossible. As she fought to act like the adult she was, she ran her fingers through the soft, fuzzy blanket covering her lower half. “Where did this come from? There’s no way the hospital provided this blanket. Did Brenna bring it?” How sweet of her.
Chuckling, Ty shook his head. “No. The one they’d given you was shit. The blanket equivalent of one-ply toilet paper. Thought you’d like something more comfortable.” He shrugged as though the gift meant nothing like he’d have done it for anyone, and maybe he would have. The intense connection she felt with the man didn’t mean she knew anything about him. Nor did it mean he felt the same.
He came to see you.
He got kicked out by security and wormed his way back in.
“Thank you,” she said, throat thick. “Um...” She cleared her throat. “What was that nurse talking about? Security dragging you out?”
He cocked his head. “You tell me your secrets, and I’ll tell you mine.”
Her heart sank. A mixture of conflicting feelings fought for dominance—anxiety, sadness, hope, and desperation to have someone on her side all vied for the winning emotion. How amazing would it be to have someone to confide in, someone in her corner who had her back and could carry some of her burdens? If that person were a strong, capable man like Tyler, she might be able to breathe with ease for once.
It’d been so long since she took a breath that wasn’t tinged with the nauseating taste of fear and dread. She longed to purge her soul and vomit out her secrets. No one knew. She had not told one single person in the entire world. For years, she’d been alone, living a silent nightmare.
Lonely as it was, she’d made her choices and stood by them.
Until that night a couple months ago when the craving for human connection won.
One slip, one mistake, changed everything. She caved, giving in to loneliness and accepting a date that would forever alter the course of her life.
“Why?”
Tyler frowned. “Why what?”
“Why do you care? Why do you want me to tell you? What does it matter to you if you never see me again? I’m nothing to you, Ty. Just some girl your club helped. You don’t know me at all. Why are you here, wasting your time?” She felt the fingers of hysteria curling around her, trying to tear her apart. “Why does it matter to you if I…” She stared down at her bandages. “Live?” she finished with a whisper.
A loud screech rang out as Ty scooted the chair closer to her bed. He grasped her chin and forced her to connect with his dark gaze. The urge to shut her eyes rode her hard, but she fought it.
“I don’t know,” he said, his face in a stern pinch. The severe expression didn’t detract from his attractiveness at all. Instead, it made him hotter.
For the past two months, she’d been terrified of being near men—any men, all men. But there was Tyler, touching her, and she didn’t feel an ounce of fear. They were alone, and he was bigger, stronger, and capable of hurting her without much effort, and instead of panicking, she wanted more. She wanted to ask him to climb in beside her and wrap those tattooed arms around her. She remembered how strong they were and how comforting they felt when he’d held her the last time.
The only time.
Progress? Or was Ty special?
She knew the answer but refused to admit it.
Electricity crackled between them like a live wire, popping and sparking. It gave her life.
It gave her hope for something beyond constant misery.
Ty felt it, too, but he didn’t lean into it as she did.
He released her chin as though she’d burned him. “Does it matter? Don’t look too deep into it. You’re important to Brenna and Lock, which means you’re important to my club. I’m the club’s VP.”
Kelsie, you’re a fool.
“Right. Of course. That makes sense.” And it did. She was an obligation to him. She lowered her gaze as a flush of shame heated her cheeks. Did she owe him an explanation? No, but he was there, and she trusted him more than most, even knowing he viewed visiting her as a task on his to-do list. “Um, things have been… hard lately. I had a lot going on before the kidnapping, and those problems didn’t magically go away when I was rescued.”