Total pages in book: 178
Estimated words: 170884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 854(@200wpm)___ 684(@250wpm)___ 570(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 170884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 854(@200wpm)___ 684(@250wpm)___ 570(@300wpm)
Dave put his hands up in surrender, but he did it smirking.
“How many?” I spoke low.
Twitch leaned in. “Do we need to do this now?”
I pulled away from him, speaking slowly, “How many?”
His jaw steeled as he looked me in the eye and spoke through gritted teeth. “One.” Then he thought about it. “Half of one.”
What?
“Come again?” My brows arched. “Half of one? How does that work?”
Twitch looked pissed. “Look, it was a long time ago, all right?”
My arms folded across my chest. “Yeah, no. Let’s hear it.”
Throwing himself back in his chair, he groaned out loud before sitting up, and uttering, “It was A.J.’s second birthday. I went out for a drink. Things were taking way longer than I hoped, and for a fuckin’ second, I gave up and decided I wasn’t coming back, okay?” He peered into me, his eyes dark and stormy. “It was three years in and I had only done about one eighth of what I needed to do. Tracking the things I needed to be tracking was harder than anticipated, and Happy—” He looked over to his friend. “—was about all the help I had. Thank you, my brother.” He pounded at his chest with a closed fist.
Happy raised his beer to him, inclining his head.
“So.” Twitch leaned back and lifted his ankle to rest on a prone knee. “I found a woman who—” He made a face. “—I don’t even know what she looked like. She had a pussy and that was enough. And I take her round back of this dank bar, into the alley, and push her to her knees, tellin’ her to get to work.”
My heart ached at hearing this, but it was good he was being open. I wanted to know.
What he said next surprised me.
“But my cock isn’t coming to town.” My head snapped up, eyes wide, and Twitch shrugged. “I don’t know. That’s never happened before, so I tell her to back off so I can jack it.” When Julius sniggered, Twitch’s jaw tightened and he flipped him the bird. “And I’m tryin’—believe me, I’m fuckin’ tryin’. But nothing’s happening. It took me a second to realize it was not happening, so I got out of there, blue balls and all.” He looked over at me and sighed. “And that was the goddamn horrifying moment I realized I was a one-woman man.”
Oh.
Throwing a dark look to Dave, he narrowed his eyes on him. “I don’t owe you shit, but I’mma say this once, my man, so listen up.” Those soft brown eyes landed on me, and he uttered, “Fell in love with an angel at eight years old.” My heart stuttered. He went on, “Tiny little thing with big blue eyes, carrying a first aid kit half her size, dragging that shit into her neighbor’s backyard, because she saw a little boy was hurt and hiding.” His brows knitted in feeling. “An angel who tried to fix a gaping wound with a fuckin’ band-aid.”
I wasn’t sure anyone knew this story. It was probably why I saw confused expressions all along the table, except for Julius. This wasn’t a story I shared.
It was ours and ours alone. Our beginnings ran deep, like the roots of a hundred-year-old oak. The same oak I had carved his name into.
The story took a turn, when he added, “Became obsessed at sixteen. By my mid-twenties, I loathed that girl. Spent a lot of time and money looking for her. Planned to do bad things to that woman, and I found her, eventually. In my thirties, did some stupid, fucked up shit trying to find an in with that girl, and when I finally did and I was all in, she smiled at me, and all I could think was ‘oh, shit. I’m in trouble here.’” He glared at Dave. “We got a history you can’t even comprehend with your suburban happiness, you jackoff. So don’t assume you know me. Don’t even assume you know her. We’re riding out the storm I created, and we’re doin’ that privately.” His eyes remained hooded as he let out a cruel smirk. “So go ahead and underestimate me, David Allen. I fuckin’ dare you. I promise you this.” His eyes softened when they landed on me, and he spoke directly to me. “I’m not goin’ anywhere.”
I wanted to cry then.
This man. He was the only man who could break me, shatter my heart, and I would pick up every single broken shard and place them back into his hands.
There was only one love like this. It was a desperate, overwhelming kind of love that made a person do stupid things and act out in ways they never deemed possible. But it was ours, confusing as it was.
Not long after Tony’s bold statement, everyone was moving to take their leave, and when I followed the line of people out, a strong arm snaked around my waist, pulling me close. As I looked up into his eyes, he stared down at me with such an intense look of adoration that I almost came right there, in front of our guests.