Total pages in book: 16
Estimated words: 14798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 74(@200wpm)___ 59(@250wpm)___ 49(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 14798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 74(@200wpm)___ 59(@250wpm)___ 49(@300wpm)
“I-I rent the room here,” he continues, abstractly matter of fact. My expression shifts, and I assure him it’s not his room. Not unless mom’s been renting out my space to dangerous, well-hung men.
Ah, shit. Now that is something my mom would do.
Ever since she split with my dad, she’s been the queen of crazy town.
“Don’t be scared,” he says firmly, those obsidian black eyes of his leaving mine just long enough to glance down the hall. His large, chiseled head is cocked to one side, straining for any other sounds apart from my rapid breaths mixing with his.
“Where… Where’s my mom?” I ask, watching his features shift yet again as if I’ve said the wrong thing.
“It’s not like she says!” Killian snarls, gripping my arm hard and letting it go instantly when I wince.
“I-I just rented the room, okay? Carol’s nice, but it’s nothing like that…”
It shouldn’t matter to me, and I have no real idea what he’s talking about, but a huge part of me is instantly relieved for some reason.
“I-I never knew she had a daughter,” he confesses, looking down and away from me. “I just knew whoever was in this room before…”
He stops mid-sentence. I’m already leaning closer to him, hungry for more of his approval instead of hearing my mom’s name from his mouth.
My hand claws at the air for him, not fending him off or escaping but to feel his grip on me again. The truth is, I kinda liked it when he grabbed me just now.
“Jesus Christ! Killian? What the hell happened to the… Allison?!”
Mom’s home. Yay.
The loaded and cocked handgun she swore she’d gotten rid of sags with her arm. Her look shifts to suspicion at the sight of me on my bed with Killian standing ever protectively over me.
By the looks of it, all three of us have a little explaining to do.
CHAPTER 3
Killian
I’ve blown it.
Well, I nearly did before the reason I’ve come back literally walks right in on me doing what I can’t stop once I’ve breathed enough of her in.
What I mean is I’ve blown any chance of coming across as anything less than fucking crazy. But she’s bound to notice at some point.
The cab pulling up, me getting inside… somehow. Ripping the door off its frame. It’s all a blur until she’s finally here, with me watching over her.
Just like it should be.
Like I knew she would be.
How it will be from now on.
It’s as if I rubbed the magic lamp just hard enough to make the genie appear.
Allison…
At least now there’s a word, a name. And a sweeter-than-I-could-ever-have-imagined face to match the feeling her room’s given me since I’ve been out.
The one thing that not only pulled me back here, but I know at a glance, seeing and feeling her in person for the first time, that she’s the only thing that’s ever felt right.
The only thing in this world to dial down whatever the fuck is wrong with me most of the time, which is usually every second I’m awake.
Carol’s bad timing doesn’t help my mood. Not only has she lied about who was in this room before me, but she’s interrupted what’s clearly the defining moment between Allison and me.
I’m swift to ease the hand cannon from her first, though.
“Why don’t I hang onto this?” I murmur, able to speak my mind once I know I’m not about to get my face blown off.
“You never told me this was your daughter’s room,” I accuse her between gritted teeth. Furious I’ve been denied knowing more about Allison for so long.
But Carol’s own jaded look shifts to puzzlement, and her eyes narrow on mine. Her head tilts to one side.
One thing that makes me mad is people who lie.
“And you never said you were leaving,” she finally huffs in reply. “I noticed your bag parked by what used to be my front fucking door. And just what the hell are you doing in here with Allison on the bed like that? Huh?”
She’s recovered herself after seeing the front door and then her estranged daughter, summoning enough angry mom energy to show me she’s not afraid of me.
But I’m not so easily swayed. I’ve played dumb with Carol, really, spent the same 23 hours each day in this room, just like I’m back in my cell.
I stand up to my full height, moving towards her.
“Why. Didn’t. You. Tell. Me?” I ask her. Feeling myself about to lose what control I have left. The edge of my vision floods crimson, and a tremor threatens to take me over as I try harder than ever to keep my shit together.
For Allison.
For us.
No point strangling my future in-law. Especially when she’s just got in, I mean. I guess it’ll take her some time to get used to the idea of Allison and me.