Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 80074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
“For fuck’s sake, Harley! You really want to know why I never told you about the bet we made when I was fifteen years old?! ’Cuz it didn’t matter to him! Or me! It never did. If she would have let him explain for one goddamn second over the years, she’d know it too.”
“Then how did the football team know that was the very night she’d be sleepin’ with him for the first time if he didn’t tell them ahead of time? Huh? Explain that one.”
“’Cuz he never lied about it! They fucked with him all the time in the locker room. How he couldn’t get it in. Close the deal with Shiloh. They ridiculed him, harassed him, embarrassed him, but he never gave two shits about it. He was in love with her. Jesus Christ, he still fuckin’ is. You know how guys are, Gremlin, you grew up with two brothers who are the worst of them all. They were waiting for him to seal the deal. Who the fuck knows how they knew. He was on constant watch, and they probably heard them. He had nothing to do with what those savages did, and neither did I.”
By the expression on her face, she believed me.
“Jackson, they killed her spirit. I can’t help but feel responsible for that. You would have never bet him, if it wasn’t for me.”
“So what, Harley? She’s miserable, so you have to be miserable too? That’s not fair.”
“I can’t help how I feel. Every time I look at her, talk to her, I’m around her ... my best friend isn’t there anymore. She understood why we were gettin’ married, I got pregnant, but I think a huge part of her can’t forgive me for it. Marryin’ the man who was responsible for destroyin’ her.”
“Shiloh and I have talked, we’ve worked it out.”
“She did it for me. Not for herself. Why do you think she doesn’t come here? It hurts her to be around you.”
I tugged back my hair, wanting to rip it the fuck out. “How much longer am I going to have to pay for this? I fucked up. I lost you. Isn’t that punishment enough?”
“It’s so much more than that. We both suck at communication, and the only time we do have it out is when we’re either bein’ spiteful or we’ve reached our boilin’ points. You know I have trust issues. I have since day one with you! Yet you still keep lyin’ to me, and we still keep lyin’ to everybody! I’m fuckin’ exhausted from all the lies! I can’t take it! I keep telling you over and over again—I can’t do this anymore! It’s killin’ me! All these lies! We need to tell our families the truth!”
“The fuck we do.”
“It’s too much! I’m dyin’ inside! The panic attacks, the stress. Can’t you see? I’ve distanced myself from my family, my friends, all for these lies! I can’t keep livin’ like this! This isn’t life, it’s mental torture! Jackson, it’s not fair! To me, to you, to Bailey!”
I fervently shook my head. “Leave her out of this.”
“How? When it’s her I feel the most guilt about.”
“Harley, don’t. Don’t you fuckin’ say it.”
“Say what, Jackson?! The truth! The one that stares us in the face every single day. The one we try to ignore, but we can’t ’cuz every time we look at her, every time she says a word, every milestone, every moment, every birthday, it leads us back to the truth!”
“Gremlin, don’t you fuckin’ dare!”
“She deserves to know the truth! I can’t do this to her!”
“Harley, she’s mine. She always has been. I’ve been here since day fuckin’ one! I’m her fuckin’ father!”
She didn’t hesitate in breaking my goddamn heart, shouting the truth that had become my nightmare...
“YOU’RE NOT HER BIOLOGICAL FATHER!”
Chapter 25
<>Harley<>
“Hmmm,” I groaned, the sun beatin’ on my face.
I immediately grabbed my poundin’ head before I even opened my eyes. Reachin’ for the covers, I threw them over my head. Needin’ the darkness to engulf what could solely be described as the worst hangover of my life. It was only then I noticed...
The sheets didn’t feel like my silk ones.
The pillow was hard, not soft like mine.
The scent all around me wasn’t my usual strawberries and vanilla.
It smelled like ... Cash.
“Aw fuck!” I heard him rumble, throwin’ up in the bathroom near me.
I guess I wasn’t the only one who drank too much.
Damn whiskey.
I groaned again, feelin’ my stomach gettin’ queasy. “Ugh!” My hand flew up to my belly, tryin’ like hell not to throw up in his bed.
Oh, God. Please no...
Inch by inch, I rubbed my bare tummy up toward my breasts.
I woke up in my best friend’s bed.
Naked.
Sore.
And hungover as fuck.
NO!!!!
My eyes shot open, and I sat straight up. Holdin’ the covers over me, instantly experiencin’ dizziness and nausea from the abrupt movement.