Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
She was right. I was a monster. I did not deserve forgiveness.
I bowed my head. Silent.
“Of course. You’re a real fucking dreamboat, Oliver.” She shook her head, tossing her hands in the air. “Nothing’s changed. Least of all you. The next woman to tell you she loves you is a fool.”
Briar spun around and trudged toward the lip of the water hazard. Under the cloak of darkness, the fabric fence that bordered it all but disappeared. Her legs tangled in the mesh.
“Cuddlebug, watch out. There’s a—”
She tipped forward, falling over to the other side, her arms flailing. I heard a grunt, followed by the thud of Briar’s head bumping against what I hoped to fuck wasn’t the bobcat truck parked on the edge of the pond, and finally – a massive splash.
A moment of suspension passed. Of the guillotine blade hanging in the air. A memory that crashed into me with terrifying force. I remained frozen, unable to move an inch.
Then I remembered Briar was in trouble, and everything and everyone disappeared.
“Shit.”
I shouldered off my jacket and turned on the flashlight on my phone, jumping into the pond. The icy water needled my skin. I swam around in the pitch black, trying to find her. In. Out. In. Out. Each dive came up fruitless. Panic devoured my insides like fire. Every second she spent inside the frigid water was a second she couldn’t afford.
I decided to divide the pond into sections and dove into a different side each time I inhaled. It worked. On the fifth dive, I managed to grab the hem of her trench coat.
It was an uphill battle to swim my way back to shore, but when I splayed Briar across the carefully mowed lawn and pressed my trembling fingers to her neck, the unmistakable warm beat of a pulse thrummed against my skin. Faint, but there.
I choked out a sigh of relief, before I realized her scalp – and entire face, in fact – were much darker than the rest of her wet self. Blood. Her face was covered in blood. She must’ve gotten injured when her head took a hit.
The blood.
The water.
The injury.
A current of memories ruptured past a mental floodgate. I grabbed my phone and called for help.
There would be time to fall apart.
But that time wasn’t now.
Chapter Eleven
Briar Rose
Age sixteen.
Another summer, another rose.
“A purple-blue rose. The rarest color of all for a rose. Coincidentally, the color of your eyes.” Ollie dipped his head to kiss the back of my free hand, his gaze never wavering from mine. “And my balls all year-round.”
I laughed. “Pervert much?”
“Much. So freaking much, you have no idea. And you’re the pervert’s girlfriend.” Oliver plopped down beside me in a heap of bronze, muscular limbs. “What does that say about you?”
I arched an eyebrow. “That I have questionable taste in boys?”
Ollie’s chest rumbled with laughter as he bent for another quick kiss. I stared down at my plain top and jeans, wishing I had a chance to throw on the cute dress I’d sewn for this very occasion. His first day back in Switzerland. Seb had warned me that his brother would try to surprise me.
Still, Oliver had managed to catch me off guard on the edge of the lake, laying on the grass under the drowsy sun, tracing the shapes of fat, fluffy clouds with my finger. He’d tucked the rose into my hair, as he always did, propping himself on one elbow, staring at me with a dreamy grin.
I plucked it out of my hair and pressed it to my nose. “Where’d you get it?”
“Austria.”
I picked a velvety petal from the rose, rubbing it between my fingers. “Is it naturally blue?”
“Nope. They personally grow the roses with a special dyed water. They haven’t managed to breed this hue of roses yet. Trust me, I’m super invested in this start up.”
“Breed?” I snorted. “You just wanted to use that word.”
He rolled his eyes. “Guilty as charged, smartass.”
“Why are you invested in blue roses?”
“Because once they become a commodity, I’ll be able to send you some every weekend.”
It felt like he pulled the ground beneath my feet, teaching me that I could fly. Like I was floating in the air, under some kind of spell.
Oliver tugged the petal from my fingers and dragged it across the side of my neck, making my entire body bud into goosebumps. “Apparently, blue roses symbolize unrequited love and a deep desire that cannot be attained.”
I swallowed hard, my heart swimming in my chest. “Your love is not unrequited.”
He slid his nose against mine. “No?”
I shook my head, so our noses brushed together in a kiss.
“Good.” He gave me a quick peck on the lips. “Did you fall for anyone else during the school year? Is there anyone I need to kill?”
I almost choked on my laugh. Thus far, my time at Surval Montreux could only be described as challenging, to say the least. I stood out like a burger in a fruit bowl.