Total pages in book: 213
Estimated words: 201920 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1010(@200wpm)___ 808(@250wpm)___ 673(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 201920 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1010(@200wpm)___ 808(@250wpm)___ 673(@300wpm)
“She only loves you because she has no one else who loves her.” My gaze pins him where he is as I say the words. “Remember that.”
Loneliness is a bitter pill to swallow. I know I’ve brought it on myself, but still. A sarcastic, humorless huff leaves me as I grab the bottle of whiskey and take a swig.
It must be karma.
I left Addison to her loneliness so I could survive.
Now she’s leaving me to mine to ruin me.
Touché, little love.
The whiskey burns as I take another heavy drink. And with it every possibility of where I lost her flashes in my mind. The times from back when we were younger and I held back so much, to only moments ago when I didn’t hold back a damn thing.
I lick my lower lip and then pick the bottle back up, but a timid knock stops me from chugging back more of the amber liquid.
“Daniel,” I hear Addison’s voice from beyond the door. Hope flickers deep inside of me, flirting with a darkness that’s nearly consumed me.
My heart pauses. So do my lungs. It’s only when I hear her again that they both decide to function again. She’s here. She came to me.
My blood buzzes as I stand up and make my way to the front door. All while I stride to the door the alcohol sets in, and I hear her call out again. “Please open the door, Daniel.”
She’s mid-motion of knocking again with her mouth parted and more to say when I pull the door open. She looks shocked and even flinches slightly.
“Daniel,” she says my name with a hint of surprise, but quickly her expression and tone change. “I wanted to explain.”
And that right there is why I didn’t let that hope grow. The coldness in my chest puts out the small flame. It’s hard to school my expression. It’s hard to hide it from her. But a part of me is screaming not to. To let her see what she’s doing to me. To make sure she knows she’s destroying me bit by bit.
“Explain?” The question comes out with a bit of anger and I have to readjust my grip on the door and look away from her for a moment.
“You don’t owe me anything, Addison,” I tell her and turn to walk down the hall, but I leave the door open. I let her come to me willingly.
When I hear the door shut and her following me inside, a smile slowly forms on my face. It’s only a trace of genuine happiness. But at least I know she can’t let me go as easily as she thinks she can.
“Daniel, please,” she says as she catches up to me in the living room, gripping my shirt and making me turn to face her.
“What is it you want to explain?” I ask her and almost call her little love. Almost.
“I didn’t think that you wanted anything but a good fuck.” God, she does something to me when she talks like that. When foul and dirty words come out of that pretty little mouth of hers.
My own indecent thoughts keep me from responding quickly enough. So she storms over to the leather chair in the corner of the room and sits down angrily, crossing her legs and then her arms.
Of course that’s what she thought. It’s what this started out as. But she’s fooling herself if she thinks what we have could ever be anything so shallow. Even I can admit it. “I’m not leaving until you talk to me,” she demands and it’s cute. She’s so fucking adorable thinking she can make demands like that. My bare feet sink into the rug as I make my way to the chair opposite hers.
With the blinds closed, the only light in the room is that of the tall lamp in the corner.
“Say something, please. I feel awful. I didn’t expect you to react the way you did.” She leans forward and grips the armrests of the chair. “The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you,” she confesses and I know she’s telling the truth. Addison isn’t a liar.
And that gives me hope.
“I don’t know what I want, other than you.” My voice comes out rough as I lean forward and put my elbows on my knees so I can sink down to her eye level.
“What does that mean?” she asks breathlessly. Her chest rises and falls as if my answer is everything she’s ever needed. The only thing she’s ever desired.
Licking my lower lip, I stare into her eyes but the words don’t come. I don’t know how else to say it. I want her.
I want her to be mine. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.
Not just in my bed. I want her touches, her kisses, her intentions. Moving forward, I want each piece of her. Every little piece. I want them all.