Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 78867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Unknown Number: Thank you for helping with my porch.
My heart rate kicks up. It’s been three solid weeks since I walked out of Sylvie’s house, and a week since I turned down the offer of dinner after we rebuilt her front porch.
Me: You’re welcome.
My hands tremble as I send the text, anticipation making my palms sweat as those three dots pop up. She’s reaching out, and that has to mean something, right?
A message doesn’t immediately come through, and I take the opportunity to add her into my sparse contacts list, not feeling an ounce of embarrassment when I follow her name with a heart emoji.
Sylvie: Legend said you paid for the supplies. He told me to ask you what I owe you.
I’ll fucking kill him. Did he throw me under the bus? Did he tell her that I expect repayment?
I start to type out that all I want in return is for her to ride my cock, but that’s the horny side of me, the one that knows exactly what her body feels like sliding down mine. I want to fuck that woman again more than just about anything, but I’m also aware of what she found out about her mom. Legend may not have mentioned the part of the conversation where he told her I paid for the lumber for her deck, but he did tell me what Faith told him about her mom’s suicide.
Knowing it has made it damn near impossible to keep from invading her space and offering the comfort of my arms, but she didn’t call me. I can only guess she isn’t interested in anything I have to offer.
Me: You don’t owe me anything.
Those three little dots pop up and disappear, pop up and disappear, and then…
Sylvie: Okay.
I wait, hoping and praying she texts something else, anything that will give me an open door into any sort of conversation.
She doesn’t and I want to scream.
The woman was mad that I didn’t remember her. She held on to that anger until I fucked it out of her in Telluride. She tried to pretend to be angry after that, but I didn’t miss the way she watched, the way her eyes would glaze over.
I know I helped her when she was sad after she found out about Will Varon. She clung to me as tight as I did her. I know I’m not crazy, imagining that there was something more than sex between us.
Kissing her was my offer, a way to let her know that there were no longer any rules between the two of us.
I feel like a fucking chump as I walk out of the garage without a word to any of the guys.
Waiting around and not knowing is fucking killing me, and I decide that I just can’t do it any longer.
I fire off a final text before heading inside.
Me: Why don’t we meet for dinner?
She’ll either accept or reject the offer, but at least I’ll know exactly where I stand with her.
I didn’t know how hard it would hit me when she doesn’t text back.
Chapter 37
Sylvie
“None of that.”
I wipe tears from my face as Sunshine enters the room.
“It’s a cold, nothing more. He’s going to be fine.”
I nod, hearing her words but still not understanding why this man just can’t seem to catch a damn break.
“The oxygen is just to make him a little more comfortable.”
I squeeze his hand a little harder, but it doesn’t rouse him from his nap. I don’t necessarily want to wake him, but the slow rise and fall of his chest just doesn’t seem like enough for me to fully accept her words.
Big Daddy has been like this for three days. What started as a sniffle has turned into him being in bed, the complete opposite of his normal active self.
“Can I get you anything?”
I shake my head. The things I need aren’t things she can provide.
I should be in a better place emotionally. The sale of the house and land in Telluride went through, and the money has been put in a trust account for Naomi and the baby. When my cousin gets out of treatment, she’s going to have the financial stability to take care of her child. My cheeks turn up in a small smile at remembering the phone conversation I had with her. She cried as she thanked me for following through on my end of the bargain. I know the woman hasn’t had many people in her life who have kept their word.
Medicare has kicked in to help pay for Big Daddy’s residence here at the care facility, and that takes a ton of stress off of me, but I still can’t find light at the end of the tunnel.
My life isn’t filled with darkness any longer, but so many shadows remain. I can’t seem to get them to lift away, and not feeling the proverbial sun on my face has been difficult to manage.