Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 140(@200wpm)___ 112(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 140(@200wpm)___ 112(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
Kaye and I were products of the harsh realities of life. I didn’t fit into the contrived ideal of my parents. They wanted me to be the perfect daughter, get married, and have children—a fate written in the stars for the girls born in my small town. Things that the other girls wanted due to lack of worldly knowledge or the notion that heteronormative domestic bliss was the pinnacle of life. But unlike those girls, I wanted something else.
The rough kisses of boyfriends with their teenage stubble or barely there mustaches did nothing for me. The hard lines of a man’s chest didn’t turn me on. I never wanted the quarterback to glance my way, and when the bad boys caressed me with calloused hands, my body withered, and bile rose in my throat. There was no second-guessing that I was a lesbian, something I knew from a young age. Kaye, however, wasn’t privy to her sexuality until she met me.
From the moment I saw Kaye Cavendish, I was smitten. She was so real, raw, and beautiful—from her long hair and pretty dresses to her ruby-red lips and warm eyes. I knew I’d never look at anyone the way I looked at Kaye.
But she was dating my twin brother. My only option was to be her friend, and that consolation prize was better than the alternative of not having her near me.
I learned all I could about her, shared parts of myself with her that no other human was privy to. Kaye became my refuge in the pandemonium of my life. Before her, I was a spinning compass. With her, I had a true north.
My longing for her intensified slowly until one night when my desires became so intense that like a moth I flew right into the flame willing to burn due to my unbearable need for her.
“Why are you with him?” I asked as Kaye and I stood at the sink of the Jack and Jill bathroom separating my room from my brother’s.
Kaye rinsed her mouth and gazed upward. She always did that when she didn’t want to discuss an issue. There was nothing interesting about the white stucco on the ceiling, but Kaye focused on it like it was a divine revelation that could save her.
“He was there at my lowest point,” she whispered.
I wanted to shake her. To wake her the fuck up. My brother didn’t care about her. Not like I did. He would leave her in the dust without a second glance. I would place her on a pedestal and worship her. “He treats you like shit.”
Kaye shook her head. “No, Larken doesn’t treat me like shit. Being treated like shit means curling up on the floor and protecting your head as your father kicks you until you’re black and blue. Being treated like shit is going hungry for days because your father went on a bender. When you’re ten years old, and you have no food or money to purchase groceries. No, Piper, Larken doesn’t treat me like shit. Larken treats me like a convenience. At least with Larken, I’m safe. He may not care about me, but he’s never once hurt me. For a girl like me, that’s the world.”
The pain in Kaye’s voice was a mallet to my heart. The sorrow in her large chocolate-brown eyes was so visceral that I bit my bottom lip to hold back my tears. It wasn’t fair that Kaye had to live a life of misery. I couldn’t even picture how horrible it must have been to be so young and completely alone. Especially in our small town filled with gossips and judgmental bitches.
I stepped forward until I caged Kaye between my arms. “One day, Kaye, you’ll be on top of the world. One day, you’ll have everything you deserve. I’m asking you to let me go on the journey. I’m begging you to forget your loyalty to a guy who isn’t worthy of you and place your trust and hope in me.”
I circled my hand around her neck and pressed my thumb to her pulse point. Her skin was so supple. Her legs parted, and I stepped between them. My mouth hovered over her breathy, parted lips. “All I want is to make you happy, Kaye.” My tongue darted out, and I licked her bottom lip, getting high on her distinct flavor. “All I want is to make you feel good. You gonna let me do that, Kaye? Are you going to let me make you feel good?”
My hands roamed her body, touching her beautiful curves. God, her body was a temple to be worshipped: full hips, large breasts that were far more than a fist full, her soft stomach that begged to be licked and kissed.
I traced the elastic of her sleep shorts, tugging at them. “Is your pretty pussy wet for me, Kaye? Is that hot cunt desperate to be touched by me?”