Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
And then…fights, name-calling, being harassed daily, before I came back to my mountain for ten years of nothing.
Until Cyrus.
“What is this?” I forced out.
“I don’t know,” he replied, and I believed him. While he knew friendship, love, and emotions in ways I never would, I believed that this, us, was foreign to him too.
Cyrus stroked my hair. “You should get some rest. The sun will be rising in a couple of hours.” I immediately tensed. “You can’t spend the whole winter doing nothing but catnapping. I won’t hurt you, Crow.” When I didn’t respond, Cyrus continued to talk. “One time when I was young, my mom was really high. We stayed awake all night, but I was too young to understand why. I just thought about how much fun it was. We watched TV and drew pictures and made a cake and a batch of cookies. I know that sounds terrible—a mom being high with her son, but she doted on me. She made me happy. We always had so much fun together. Oh, and then this one time…”
I listened, my head on his shoulder, until I fell asleep.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Cyrus
Crow was restless, and I could tell he wasn’t getting the best sleep, but I was thankful he got some. The whole time, I was afraid to move, afraid to even breathe so I didn’t disturb him. I wasn’t foolish enough not to realize this was big. Crow was letting me stay. He’d gone to get my things. He’d promised not to lock me in, and now this…trusting me, lowering some of the barriers he’d built around himself.
For me.
It was mind-blowing, and honestly, made me feel seen and important in ways I wasn’t sure anything in my life ever had. Crow had been through hell—and most of it, I would never know or understand—yet he had such a huge heart. Sometimes I wondered how it wasn’t too big to fit inside him.
This time, I would stay awake and watch over him while he slept. I wouldn’t have been able to pass out if I tried, not after everything that happened.
I would call and quit my job. I’d lose my apartment and all the things there—I didn’t have enough money to pay the rent and utilities while I spent the next few months on a mountain.
With a man I hardly knew.
It was a terrible decision.
It sounded glorious.
I focused on the soft sounds of Crow’s breathing until the sun began to rise. The second it did, he stirred, and I knew he was already waking up.
Crow didn’t linger beside me—I knew he wouldn’t—and he didn’t cuddle close or just let himself be. He pushed straight to his feet, his cock half-hard and close to my face. It would be so easy to push up onto my knees and take him into my mouth. I’d love to blow him, to curl up on the couch with his cock in my mouth and just suck on him for hours. The thought put me at peace, made me feel relaxed and content.
Crow held his hand out for me, and I took it. Nerves prickled my nape—I’d been unsure how today would go—but he only led me to the bathroom and…oh…he was running me a bath. “Thank you. Will you get in with me?”
He nodded, and this time, his lack of words didn’t hurt. I’d realized that when Crow was feeling a lot of things—stress, anger, confusion—he spoke even less than he usually did. Maybe that would change. Maybe it never would. Maybe I wouldn’t be here long enough to find out.
When the tub was almost full, Crow got in first. I climbed between his legs and settled in. He used a washcloth and ran it over my shoulders, down my back and chest. He’d never done this with anyone before—that had been obvious the first time we’d bathed together—but he was good at it. He was good at taking care of people. Those things must just come naturally to some. Even if they weren’t shown love, they still knew how to love others the way animals knew instinctually to protect their young.
I knew he wouldn’t let me wash him, and as much as I wanted to ask, I didn’t.
Time felt like it both stilled and went too fast, so I couldn’t say how much of it passed. When Crow tapped my shoulder, I knew it was time to get out.
He gave me clothes and we dressed together, then went to the kitchen. I took my meds as he started cooking breakfast. He was going all out this morning with coffee, bacon, hash browns, eggs, and toast. I sat at the bar and watched him. “Do you like cooking?”
Crow nodded.
“Well, that’s nice because I suck at it but enjoy eating.”
He gave me a small grin, and I nearly fell off the stool, my heart beating a million beats a minute. This was the first time I’d seen Crow grin. As if he’d noticed, it immediately slid from his face. Goddamn it. I wanted it to last. I wanted to see him do it again and again.