Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69910 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69910 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Not going there.
Please go there, my dick urges.
I don’t want to wish a cramp on the fucker, but that would at least get him to obey.
I want her mouth where her hand is. I want her hand to always be there. I want the taste of her, the scent of her, and the heat of her wrapped around me forever. Even like this. Even when I’m mortified at my own lack of strength, being a champion swimmer and almost drowning my ass in my own pool, and not knowing my limitations, especially when it comes to her. Her hand slowly moves away.
“There’s something I never told you. But I don’t talk about it. I half understand why my dad did what he did and kept doing it, not with you but with my mom. Because I almost died once.”
“What?” I jerk upright, and this time, my arms go around her. This time, it’s all adrenaline taking the place of my missing strength. I would never have let that happen. If I had been there, I wouldn’t have. No matter what age I was, I would have protected her. The fire rages through my veins, and then the ice. Hot with rage at whatever happened and then freezing cold. Because she said almost, but almost is far too close, and to think she might not be here with me now is the worst thought I’ve ever had. It makes my mouth sour all over the back of my tongue. The taste of acid. The taste of fear. “What are you talking about?”
I’m not imagining it. Her eyes are dark and liquid, like grass in the morning dew as the sun just starts to rise. It’s not emerald. That’s a watered-down word. She’s so, so much more beautiful.
“I’ll tell you, but not now. Tomorrow. When our dads leave. Once mine heads out, I’m sure yours will too. But if not, it’s okay. I’m not forcing anyone out.”
“I know where we can go. I still want to give you the surprise,” I tell her.
I need to know what happened, but I’m going to have to wait, even if it’s going to kill me.
She allows the smallest smile. She’s here right now, and she saved me tonight. She’s okay. I can take a breath, but it still feels like acid all around the back of my throat. “Or, if they’re gone, we can talk at the house. I’m sorry again that I didn’t tell you before how great it is out here. Only you would build this.”
“It came from your imagination, so technically, you built it.”
“No. I dreamed it, but you brought it to life.”
I can’t read her expression before she shifts off me, stands up, and squelches her way back into the house in her unlaced wet boots.
I can’t move. The cramps are gone, but they’re not the only thing that’s wrung me out. I can’t believe any of this happened tonight. As soon as I can move, I know what I’ll do. I’ll shower if I can, and then I’m going to make some calls. I’ll do everything I can to find Patience’s mom. I’ve messed up pretty much everything else, but that’s not even close to the motivation that’s going to drive me to do everything I can, spend every dollar it takes, and use up every single resource until I exhaust every avenue. It’s not guilt or atonement.
I have all the money in the world, but seeing Patience happy would make me a rich man.
CHAPTER 15
Patience
A treehouse.
He freaking built an enlarged model of the treehouse we had as kids, and he got all the details right as much as he could, even down to the crappy construction, so it’s still safe.
It’s hidden out in the woods. This is his surprise.
I said I didn’t want it, but I very much do want it.
My dad left this morning. He went home without me. I still cried when he pulled out of the driveway, and even though I was mad at him, we didn’t part with angry words. I never want to leave with anger between someone I love, and I do still love him.
John is still here. I’m not sure when he’s going back to Dedind, so we came out to the woods, and then Apollo revealed this place to me.
If I thought this whole deal was a fantasy before, then this treehouse makes it seem even less like reality.
All the details are accurate, down to the skylight on the roof that opens with a rope and a hook and latch. The wood is even kind of crudely cut along the edges, which I find hilarious. Some tradesmen had to build this to make it look like the kind of thing that would be constructed by a couple of kids and two dads who didn’t know what they were doing when it came to building anything because technology was their forte, not construction.