Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 69155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
I’ll go in there, he’ll kiss the pain away, he’ll light my body on fire with his touch, he’ll make me moan his name as he fills me with his cock, and then he’ll promise never to hurt me again.
Only he will.
And I’ll let him.
Because I’m so incredibly broken.
4
ZARIAH
I throw my towel over my shoulder and walk into the gym, water bottle in hand. The only thing in my world that helps me out when I’m thinking too much is a good gym session. I’m one of those gym junkies that could just spend hours here, purely for the atmosphere. The gym I attend is only three blocks from my apartment, so I can get up in the morning and walk down here, do a workout, and walk home. The days I have Jayden, I go just before I pick him up from daycare.
It’s a win-win, really.
I step inside “Bodeez” and immediately the music and lights wake me all the way up. It’s only six am, so there aren’t a great deal of people here, which makes it even better. The music is always playing, the atmosphere is always great, and I can’t get enough of the place. They know me well now and, when I walk past the front counter, the owner, Tom, smiles at me and gives me a big wave.
He’s bigger than the building itself—okay, slight overreaction—but the man is a body builder and holy shit he is intimidating when you’re up close to him. Still, he’s dedicated and seriously the nicest guy ever. He’s always friendly and always up to give someone a helping hand when they’re not sure what they’re doing. I like that about him; he isn’t walking around flaunting himself, he’s walking around bettering everyone else.
“Morning, Tom!” I say, “You can tell winter is starting to roll in, huh?”
He laughs. “You’re telling me. I can’t wait for the heating bill when I have to warm this place up.”
I grin at him and keep walking to the locker room where I find my locker and put my phone and keys inside, then I take my water bottle and my towel and go to the large room that holds all the treadmills, cycling, rowing, step machines, and a range of a few other great things to get your workout on. They have two other rooms, also. One heavy lifting room, and one with a general range of weight benches for a full body work out.
I find a treadmill, plug my earphones in, and get cracking on a true crime podcast as I start my work for the day. True crime continually reminds me why I do the job I do, why I choose to work so tirelessly without appreciation. I want to be there one day, to investigate, to bring the horrible people of the world down and do my best to make everything right again. That’s my goal, my dream, and the reason I keep fighting.
I’m midway through my run when I catch a side glance of a man coming into the room. The moment I recognize him, I jerk my earphones out, and in a panting voice, say, “You come to this gym?”
Kendric, who looks incredibly gorgeous in a black tank, a pair of light shorts and running shoes, gives me a look that tells me he’s not at all impressed with the fact that he’s seeing me in here. Being that I’ve never seen him around before, I’m guessing he’s new.
“I live two blocks down, closest gym I could find.”
He lives nearby? I didn’t know that.
“It’s a good gym,” I try to say, my voice a little puffed out. “You’ll like it here. I didn’t know you were the gym type.”
“Did you think I got muscles like this from layin’ around fuckin’ all day?” he mutters, stepping onto a treadmill and pressing the buttons.
I notice he picked a treadmill three away from mine.
He really doesn’t like me.
I choose not to answer his sarcastic little remark and decide to go for a different tactic. “Thank you for the other night. I really appreciate it.”
“Yeah.”
Wow.
“Has Alarick heard anything more about the case?”
“Why don’t you fuckin’ ask him, Zariah? I’m not here to chat with you, I’m here to switch my god damned fuckin’ mind off so I don’t drown in my thoughts. Wanna let me do that?”
He gives me a look so harsh I stop running and just stare at him, anger bubbling in my chest. “You know, you don’t need to be such a fucking dick to me, Kendric. I know you hate me, I know what I did was wrong, but I’m trying to help you.”
“Are you? Or are you just trying to clear your conscience so you don’t have to live with the guilt if I go down?”
Jesus, he really isn’t happy today.