Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89758 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89758 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
I saw something in Bryn’s eyes before she looked back down at the towel in her hands. “Thanks for forgiving me,” she said finally but didn’t look back up at me, but at Cullen. “Let’s get those berries dried. We have waffles to make.”
Cullen handed her the fruit he had washed, and she went to work, putting them on the towel she had spread out on the counter. She wasn’t going to say any more in front of Cullen. As much as I wanted to talk about this, I didn’t press because she was right. He had heard too much already.
Without saying any more, I opened the door and left the apartment.
I didn’t walk away from the door yet. Instead, I stood there and took a deep breath to calm myself, but it didn’t work. My chest felt as if someone had a fist inside, twisting everything. Why was I reacting like this? Because I had believed a lie? Did this matter? Should it? Every-fucking-thing about Bryn Wallace was screwed up. Her entire world was full of baggage I didn’t want to deal with. Shit I had left behind a long time ago in my own life.
I studied the place, my surroundings, and made sure nothing was sketchy before making my way down to the street. I heard the bolt click into place in the door as I walked away and wondered if she had seen me still standing out here.
I wasn’t her hero, and I didn’t want her to think I was going to be. I’d do what needed to be done to make sure the kid was safe from whatever shit his mama had left behind, and then that was it.
Getting in my Jeep, I turned and headed up the main street toward my house. I needed a shower and some food, but first, I was going to get Saul and Drake. It wasn’t that I was nervous around dealers or addicts. I had lived with one most of my life. My mother had been an addict, and dealers had come and gone in our home, wherever it was at the time.
Saul knew the area better than me because he had dealt with his mother’s addictions. He could find the people I needed to see. Drake was just another body. Numbers were always safer. The more of us, the better. I wanted this handled, and I wanted to get on with my life.
Chapter Twenty
Bryn
An hour after lunch, Cullen fell asleep on the sofa, watching television. He had wanted to go to the park today, but I had been waiting to hear from Rio that it was safe. I didn’t like having to keep Cullen inside all day, but I had no other choice.
Rio had said he was going to handle things this morning. Maybe he hadn’t planned on updating me. I was just supposed to trust he had done it. However, I had Cullen’s safety to worry about, and I needed to know for sure. I thought about calling Henley and checking to see if she had heard anything. In the end, I decided to just wait. If I didn’t hear from him by tomorrow, I would call Henley. Right now, we would stay inside, locked up safely.
I wasn’t sure what I expected now that he knew the truth about the Jeep. I hated that Cullen had heard any of that, but there was a sense of relief. No matter how I felt about Rio March, him knowing I wasn’t the kind of person who would bash in someone’s vehicle was important. He knew my background, and as stupid as it was, I wanted him to see what I had overcome. He had made it out, thanks to his grandparents. I had made it out, thanks to me. I had done it. I had survived it.
Rio had kept his distance when I arrived in town. Other than a nod and smile when he saw me at work, there was nothing else. He looked at me as someone lower than himself. It had been painful at first, but I was over that now. Or close to over it.
I knew the job I worked to give Cullen a decent life was something Rio saw as a failure. I needed to stop caring what he thought of me. It did not matter. I was never someone he had interest in since my return. I was the one with the silly attraction to a boy I’d once known, dreaming of something stupid when I’d decided to come here and find him.
A knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts, and I glanced back at the sofa to make sure it hadn’t woken Cullen. Moving quietly, I made my way to the window to peek outside to see who it was. It wouldn’t be Rio. I had expected a call or possibly a text from Rio but gotten neither. There was no chance he was going to come by here to update me in person.