Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 51525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 258(@200wpm)___ 206(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 258(@200wpm)___ 206(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
“The… the night you invited me to that party, I saw you with Pamela.”
“Who?”
“Pamela,” she reiterates, and I frown. “She was in your class. A model. She moved to New York after graduation.” I stare into her eyes, knowing by the look she’s giving me that I should know who she’s talking about, but I don’t. “You were kissing her. I saw you kissing her through the window at Lincoln’s house when I was on the back deck with Gabe.”
“The night you got with Gabe?” I ask quietly, as memories from years and years ago start to fill my mind. The night I planned on asking her out. My friends drunk-yelling for me to join them for shots. Pam, the annoying chick in my class, wrapping her arms around my neck, trying to kiss me. Me shoving her away, going to look for Bre, and finding out she left holding hands with Gabe, who the next day was all too fucking happy to spread the news that she was his. “Fuck me.”
“You remember her?”
“I never fucking kissed her,” I growl.
“I saw you,” she whispers, scanning my face.
“No, you saw her trying to kiss me. You obviously missed me shoving her away.”
“What?”
“Fuck me. What the fuck?”
“I… I saw you.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“But—”
“Gabe asked you out that night.”
“I—”
“You saw that shit, thought whatever the fuck you were thinking, and then Gabe asked you out.” I squeeze my eyes closed and jerk my fingers through my hair. “What the actual fuck?”
“Denver.”
“Fuck… I was planning on making you mine that night. I planned—”
“Please stop,” she whimpers, cutting me off, wrapping her arms around me, and resting her head against my chest. “Please.”
“You were supposed to be mine.” I bury my face in her neck, overwhelmed with the emotions coursing through me. “You were supposed to be mine.”
“I’m so sorry. I—”
“Don’t,” I growl, interrupting her and pulling back to look into her eyes. “Without him and your past, there wouldn’t be a Lyra, and I don’t want to think about that.” Tears fill her eyes and start to fall. “No more tears.” I hold her face and kiss her cheeks then each of her eyelids. Only when her tears die down do I pull back. “I’m gonna get us ready to head out. You wanna sit up here, or you wanna head downstairs?”
“Where are we going?”
“No idea.” I smile. “We’ll figure it out when we get there.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.” I kiss her again, because I can, and then order, “Hop off, baby. I’ll take your bag down then get us out of here.”
She nods then slides off my lap. I watch her take a seat in my chair, and then I go get us ready to leave port. I go back to the wheelhouse once I have us ready to go and keep her in my lap as I drive the boat into the secluded inlet I have been to a few times fishing.
I drop anchor once I find a good spot and then go downstairs to pull out two of the sleeping bags I keep in the closet. Once I take them with me back up to the deck, I drop them before going to grab Bre. When I open the door to the wheelhouse, her eyes come to me, and as I hold out my hand to her, she takes it.
“What are you doing?” she asks, watching me unzip both bags before zipping them together.
“Just trust me.” I lay the sleeping bag out then pull her hoodie up over her head. “Get in,” I order, and she looks at the bag then me before lying down without a word. I climb in next to her and zip us in, pulling her against me.
She slides her arm over my waist, tucking her head against my shoulder and chest. “Do you know much about the constellations?” she asks.
I dip my head to look down at her and find her eyes on me. “Some.”
“Did I ever tell you how I came up with Lyra’s name?” she questions, dropping her chin to my chest.
“No,” I answer softly, holding her gaze.
“Lyra is basically a harp. Orpheus in Greek mythology played one. Orpheus married Eurydice, and he loved her, really loved her. One day, she was bitten by a poisonous snake and died.” She leans back to look up at the stars. “Orpheus was so distraught by her death that he went into the underworld in an attempt to get her back. When he was there, he charmed the gods with the music he played and they granted him his wish of reuniting with his wife—with one condition. He wasn’t allowed to look at her until they left the underworld.”
“Did he resist looking at her?”
I feel her shake her head, and her voice is softer as she continues. “He wasn’t able to. He turned to check on her, to make sure she was following before they got back to earth. When he did, she descended back to the underworld, and he was forced to leave without her.”