Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 130673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 523(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 523(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
Ours was never meant to be a love story, only a cautionary tale. And unlike Tucker, getting my heart broken by Rhyland wouldn’t put me back at square one.
It would put me on suicide watch.
He was everything I’d ever wanted, which was precisely why I couldn’t have him.
“Rhyland.” I closed my eyes, pressing my hand to his broad pecs, which flexed instinctively under my fingertips. “I saw your picture with Claire Larsen.”
He cursed softly. “Nothing happened between us. I swear. Bruce wanted me to play nice, so we took a few pictures. I didn’t even kiss her on the cheek. You have to believe me.”
“I do believe you.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“The problem is I cannot get past my distrust of men, and this weekend was a reminder of it. You were late. That picture of you with her surfaced all over the internet. Tucker kidnapped my daughter—”
“I had nothing to do with the latter,” he interjected fiercely, his eyes narrowing into slits. “And the two former issues were a misunderstanding. You can’t tell me this isn’t real.” He motioned between us. “Because it is, and even though you’re not ready to tell me you love me, I know you do. I’m here. I’ve been here all along. I see the way you look at me, the way you laugh with me, the way you fuck me. You don’t have to say you love me. You speak it with your entire existence, Dylan.”
Gulping a greedy, shaky breath, I put my thumb on his cheek, cataloging him to memory. He wasn’t wrong. I had fallen. Nosedived. Sunk into the endless abyss that was him. There was no coming back for me; I was always going to be his. But only from afar. Loving him up close would be my ruin. If he betrayed me the way Tucker did, I wouldn’t be able to survive.
“Listen to me. I’m not Tucker.” He grabbed my arms, searching my eyes in a way that made me avert my gaze to the floor. “I’d never do that to you. I’m crazy about you. About Grav. When he kidnapped her, I thought…I thought…”
“You thought?” The air stood still; the world stopped spinning.
“I was happily willing to give up my life to save hers,” he finished. “No questions asked. No hesitation. I’m not asking you to do the same for me. I’m not even asking for a fraction of that. All I want is a chance to prove I’m not like them.”
“Them?”
“Tucker. Your dad. The people who let you down. I’ll never do that.”
You already did, I thought miserably.
My expectations were unreasonable. And sure, Rhyland might try to meet them, but he was bound to fail. If not fail then to live miserably, unable to mingle with women, be delayed on a trip, or move freely. Truth was I was doing this for him as much as I was doing it for myself.
“I’m sorry, Rhy.” I unscrewed the engagement ring from my finger and placed it on the coffee table. The exposed skin felt cold without it. “I’m going back to Maine. If there’s one thing yesterday taught me, it’s that I need my mom by my side.”
“Wrong fucking lesson.” He stood up swiftly, pacing the living room with his hands clutching the back of his skull. “Your take should’ve been that you need to be with me.” He stubbed his thumb into his chest. “I solved the problem. I found Gravity. I confronted Tuc—”
“I don’t want to be saved!” I stormed to my feet, tossing my hands in the air. “I want to be left alone, free of complications and drama. I want to not worry about gorgeous Hollywood starlets and canceled dates and broken hearts and kidnappings. I was fine before we got together—”
“Bluntly speaking, you were dead inside.”
“Comfortably numb,” I retorted.
He released a whoosh of air, staring me down as if his eyes were cocked guns, ready to fire. Heat rolled off his large, looming body as though he were dissipating into a cloud of rage. “What do you want, Dylan?” His nostrils flared. “Do you want me on my knees?”
The silence buzzed between us like a persistent bug.
“Well?” he barked. “Do you?”
Would you?
It was as though he unheard my spoken question, because he answered, “In a heartbeat. My ego stood no fucking chance. Neither did my heart. So what’s it gonna be?”
“No,” I admitted quietly. “It wouldn’t help. I’ve made up my mind. I’m taking Gravity in the morning and driving up north to stay with Mama and Marty.”
Max at the Alchemist was going to be a couple bartenders short, with Tucker down for the count and me running away, but he’d been filling up spots ever since Faye’s health scare.
Rhy grabbed my cheeks, pulling me into him. My body gravitated toward his instantly, like a magnet. Foreheads meeting. Lips touching. My chest flush against his.