Total pages in book: 215
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
It takes all of two seconds to figure out where she’s gone, especially considering that her car is still here. There’s only one place she ever goes to be alone.
Just as I turn away, Henry calls out to me. “Noah,” he says, stopping me in my tracks. I glance back, my hands balling into fists at my side. “Don’t break her heart this time.”
“That’s the last thing I’ll ever do,” I tell him. “She’s just anxious about me going to college, but I’m not going anywhere. This isn’t like last time.”
“I hope not,” he says. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had to sit up at night listening to my daughter cry herself to sleep.”
Jesus Christ. It’s like a rusty blade right through the heart.
“Like I told you last fall, Zoey and I are two halves of the same whole. She won’t be able to get rid of me, even if she tries. I’m in this for the long haul,” I tell him. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m in love with your daughter, sir. I plan on having a whole life with her. Marriage, children, a whole fucking zoo if she wants it, and I’ll be right by her side until fate comes to take me out of this world. We only have a year of distance to get through and then we’ll be done. She’s strong, she’s going to be okay, and in those times she’s not, I’ll be straight in the car, flying down the highway to get to her. This year is going to be hard and sometimes she’s going to hate me for being so far away, but we’re going to get through it.”
He just watches me through a curious gaze as though he still hasn’t worked out if he wants to forgive me for the three long years of hell I put Zoey through, and honestly, he shouldn’t. Those years caused his daughter irreparable hurt and left scars all over her heart—ones I’ve been desperately trying to heal, but scars never fully go away. Once you’ve been hurt, the memory will always linger, terrified it could happen again.
“Okay, Noah,” he finally says with a slight nod. “Go get our girl.”
I nod, breathing a sigh of relief as I storm back to my Camaro and kick it over before the door even slams behind me. I hit the gas, performing a U-turn right in front of Zoey’s house and doubling back the way I came, kicking myself for not having checked the park first.
Pulling up a few minutes later, I spy Zoey on a swing like always. When she hears the roar of my engine, she glances back over her shoulder and meets my stare through my windshield, offering me a small smile that doesn’t meet her eyes.
She’s broken, and it has everything to do with me.
My gut twists into knots as I step out of my car, and as Zoey turns her attention back to the ground in front of her, I walk across the park, the Arizona sun already bearing down on us.
I walk around the swing and plant myself in front of her, my knees dropping into the sand as my hands reach out, gently gripping her calves. There’s a deep sadness rooted in her eyes as she looks up, and it’s clear by the puffy redness that she’s spent the night in tears. “I was wondering how long it would take before you showed up here.”
“I would have been here earlier, but I convinced myself to wait for the sun to rise first,” I tell her. “I’ve been up since five.”
“Packing?” she questions, a hesitant tone in her voice.
“Yes,” I say, “But that’s not why I was up. I couldn’t sleep, not after leaving things like that.”
Her gaze falls away, the sadness radiating out of her and crushing me. “Zo,” I whisper, reaching up and stroking my thumb across her cheek, wiping away the fresh tears. “I hate that you’re hurting like this and there’s nothing I can do to take it away.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I ruined our last night together. That wasn’t how I pictured last night, but when I heard Liam talking about the kind of life you’re going to have in college, it just became all too real.”
I shake my head, taking her hand in mine. “Liam was wrong,” I tell her. “What he said . . . That’s not my life or one that I want to have. That’s his idea of the perfect college lifestyle, but for me, all I want to do is focus on training, games, classes, and you. I don’t give a shit about the girls or the parties or the booze. All I’m focusing on is training and games until I get to have you there with me.”
“Are you sure?” she whispers, her bottom lip wobbling. “Because if you need to take this year to go be wild, sleep with every girl who looks at you, or go crazy at every single frat party that pops up, then do it. Rip it off like a Band-Aid, but don’t string me along. I’ll understand, really. I’ll hate it, and I’ll be devastated, but it’s better than being lied to. That’s what college is for, right? We’re so young to be in a committed relationship. It’s a lot. I get that, but I just don’t want to get five or ten years down the track and come home to you saying that you resent me for not having those years to go crazy.”