Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 125866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Instead, I heard voices downstairs, and thought it was just her being polite to my parents before she came up.
Then, I saw her leave.
She was only a couple steps across our lawn when I barreled downstairs, wild-eyed and panicking. I’d sprinted for the door, but my parents had stopped me — Dad with a hard hand on my chest, Mom with her eyes flooded with tears as she shook her head.
I’d looked between them and knew before they said a word that Madelyn had turned her back on us.
On me.
“I’m sorry, son,” Dad had said, and the way his eyes stuck on my split lip, I wondered if he was apologizing for more than one thing. “She doesn’t want to see you.”
Mom had folded in on herself, crying even more, until Dad gently nudged her and she nodded, her eyes finding mine.
“She’s asked us to tell you…” She shook her head, more tears spilling. “She’s asked that you stay away from her.”
My entire world had crashed down with those words.
I pushed past my parents, one of them spitting apologies while the other one tried to stop me. I didn’t know which was which. I pushed until I reached the door and yanked it open, but Madelyn was already gone.
My father took my phone then — as punishment for my behavior the night before, but also as a mercy.
He knew as well as I did that I wouldn’t have been able to leave Madelyn alone, not even when she asked me to.
It was the longest weekend of my life.
And on Monday, my dad took me to school long enough to get my shit.
And we moved.
A distant laugh from check in snapped me back to the moment, and I glanced over to find Braden working his charm on the attendant handing him his room key. I swallowed, trying to erase the memory of the past as well as Madelyn’s question from the plane.
Why did you leave?
She knew. She knew why. She’d told me to stay away, and then my parents had put states between us, robbing me of any choice after.
But if that was the case… then why did she ask?
I couldn’t explain it, but it put all my senses on edge. It made me want to get her alone to talk, made me want to drag up that dark memory that clearly still hung over both of us.
It also made me suspicious.
Because all this time, I’d thought she’d turned her back on me.
But she asked why I’d left, as if it hadn’t been her to do so first.
And suddenly, all I could think was that I didn’t trust my parents. I never had.
And I was analyzing every detail of that day under a magnifying glass, looking for new clues.
When I turned back to face Madelyn, I held her gaze, as if I could look through those eyes and find the truth. “Once we get checked in, you can go nap, if you’d like,” I offered.
She chuckled. “Oh, God. I haven’t napped in years.”
“Really?” I smiled a little. “You used to love naps. And you’d wake up from them and immediately start writing, like your dreams would fade if you didn’t capture them right away.”
“No time to nap when you have a kid,” she said, looking down at her feet.
I tilted her chin up with my knuckles. “Hey, Sebastian is with your mom. He’s good. And you have permission to relax this weekend.”
Madelyn’s eyes searched mine, a soft line appearing between them. Then, that gaze slid behind me, and she smiled a bit.
“I have a feeling there won’t be any relaxing happening,” she said.
And before I could reply, I was tackled from behind, barely catching the heavy sonofabitch who mounted my back and clung onto my shoulders.
“Aw, shit! The party has arrived!”
I recognized Leo’s voice before I even shrugged him off me to confirm it. His feet had barely hit the ground before he hit me with a fierce hug, both of us clapping each other hard on the back.
“Damn, what are they feeding you up there in Washington?” he asked when we pulled back, punching my pec. “You’re almost as buff as me.”
“Please,” I scoffed. “I’ve always been bigger than you and you damn well know it.”
“Eh, depends on what we’re talking about,” he said with a salacious wink, and I rolled my eyes before pulling him under my arm and ruffling his hair like he was my kid brother. The motherfucker loved to brag about the size of his dick — one he let sling between his legs like a proud bull when we were in the locker rooms at NBU.
To be clear, I was just as cocksure and had no shame when it came to being naked. I was packing and proud.
But Leo Hernandez was a fucking freak of nature.