Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 131916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
His exhalation was weighted. “No. Not a fuckin’ trace.”
I bit down on my bottom lip, not sure if I should find comfort in that or be worried. But being here? Within the safety of his walls? The fear of this afternoon felt distant.
My worries unwarranted.
So, I whispered, “I probably was making it up.”
A harsh sound rolled in his chest. “Don’t fuckin’ minimize it, Charleigh. If there is someone after you, I swear to God I’m going to—”
His words cut off when Raven suddenly burst into the room, wearing a pair of baggy sweats and a tight tank, her black hair twisted into a wild knot on the top of her head. The makeup she’d been wearing had been cleaned from her face. “Are we gonna do this or what?”
She was all grins.
A clatter of little feet came banging in behind her.
“Got it!” Nolan was waving the stuffed puppy I’d gotten him over his head, excitement blazing from his sweet soul. “We can do it now!”
“What are we watching, Little Dude?” River asked as he pushed a couple buttons on a console on the wall closest to the door.
“Super Pets!” Nolan sent a fist sailing for the air, then he was grinning his sweet grin in my direction. “Because I’m gonna get me one of those real puppies one day, Miss Charleigh. Or maybe five of ’em.”
That time he held up five fingers.
River groaned, and Raven laughed.
“What did you think was going to happen, taking him to that fundraiser?” she goaded.
River sent her a glare. “And who forced me into going?”
She shrugged innocently. “It was for a good cause.”
“Yeah, Dad, it’s for a good cause. The puppies gotta have a house.”
“Thought we talked about this, yeah?” River tried to defend. “We need to wait a bit before we get a dog. It’s a big responsibility.”
“I already waited two whole weeks, and I got really mature.”
River gave him a look and Nolan dropped his head, scuffing his little feet on the floor. “Okay, fine. Least I got my favorite blue puppy.”
I pressed my fingers to my mouth like I could hide the laugh gathered in my chest, but it got loose, anyway.
Raven sent me a winning, knowing smile as she crossed the room and plopped onto the far side of the couch. She grabbed a fluffy blanket, brought her knees to her chest, and curled up under it. “Now bring me some of that popcorn, bestie!”
“Yeah, bring us some of that popcorn, bestie!” Nolan mimicked as he climbed up beside her.
River just shook his head, and God, I couldn’t help the smile. The smile that bloomed somewhere deep inside and erupted on my face.
I was sure this was the most genuine emotion I’d felt in a long, long time.
The speck of joy that pulled at my spirit.
And that was terrifying.
River reached out and flicked off the lights, and the only illumination in the darkened space was the screen that flickered to life.
I shifted on my feet, unsure of what to do as River started across the room, his enormous body a silhouette in the lapping shadows. He barely brushed his fingers over my hip as he passed by, eliciting a shock of electricity.
When he got to the couch, he scooped Nolan up and planted him on his lap, the man a giant sitting there with the tiny child tucked against him.
“You comin’ or what?” he issued in that deep, low voice, eyes on me.
I gulped and crossed the space, then I handed the bowl of popcorn to Nolan before I decided to play it safe and went to sit on one of the beanbags.
“No, Miss Charleigh, you gotta sit by us!” Nolan cried.
I should have resisted.
Refrained.
Claimed one of the beanbags.
Retreated upstairs.
Or maybe—maybe I should have run in the first place.
Maybe I should have never run to River.
Because I was certain there was no chance to stop the fall when I sat down on the other side of River and Nolan.
I tried to press myself as close to the armrest as I could, desperate to put some distance between me and the man who was emitting a thousand degrees of heat. To put some distance between the memory of our kiss from earlier.
To just make sense of what it was that I thought I was doing.
Did I really think I could withstand another breaking?
Apprehension billowed through me as the consequences of the choices I’d made since I’d come here caught up to me. The hardest part was figuring out what to do with the hope that had bloomed within it.
A chill rolled through me, and River reached back and grabbed a throw blanket from the back of the couch and handed it to me, and he leaned in close to my ear and whispered, “Get cozy, Little Runner. You aren’t going anywhere.”
THIRTY-TWO
RIVER
TWENTY-TWO YEARS OLD