Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 121083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Kitt returned to his cabin, pleading exhaustion. He needed time alone. He picked up his phone charging on the night stand. He had thirty-three missed calls, all from Austin. He silenced it and laid it back on the night stand, ignoring it and his heart’s need to hear Austin’s voice. It took him a minute to rationalize the rudeness of his action, but then he remembered the voice mail. If his heart needed to hear Austin he could play the message Austin left earlier. The one where Austin told him he was leaving, giving him everything. The exact one where Austin somehow managed to make this so much worse in those few short sentences. Yeah, when Kitt missed Austin and needed to hear his voice, that’s what he would play, reminding himself of what an idiot he’d become.
For now, Kitt decided on food and then sleep and then a plan, all in that order. At some point in the near future he’d have to turn on a TV, get a good grip on what was happening, and where he stood, but not now. Kitt was too hurt to do much more than exist.
Kitt stood in front of the microwave warming the plate of food Lily sent over when his front door burst open. It wasn’t the quiet, stick your head in the door, are you home, kind of greeting. It was a solid shove open, slam against the wall. Kitt turned quickly reaching for his rifle, chastising himself for not locking the door in a situation like this. But, as he turned his eyes to see who had come in, he found Austin standing in the doorframe.
The sun shone in around him. For a minute, they just stared at one another. Kitt was completely taken off guard by the angel standing in his doorway. Okay, he needed to amend that, the angry angel standing in the doorway. Kitt turned his back on him to pull the hot plate from the microwave, carrying it carefully to his kitchen table.
He did it all just to hide his runaway heart, and the emotion at seeing Austin in his house. Kitt was in survival mode. Instinctively, he calmed and began working with his hands. He never said a word to Austin as his heart hammered in his chest. Where was that damn anger when he needed it to help him get through situations like these?
“You can’t pick up your phone to let me know you’re okay?” Austin glared at Kitt who purposefully ignored him. Relief flooded Kitt as he felt the first stirrings of anger building back up. It would help stamp out some of this intense hurt. Maybe even help him not cry in front of Austin.
Kitt stalked back the few steps to the kitchen counter and grabbed a water bottle, silverware and a napkin and took a seat at the table. All of a sudden, he was no longer hungry. Austin always fucked him up.
“I had to call Mike to find out you made it back. Cara said she talked to you. You couldn’t answer any of my calls?” Austin said again when Kitt ignored him. The palm of Austin’s hand slapped down hard on the table, jostling the plate. That caught Kitt’s attention. The anger licked at his soul, and his eyes cut up to Austin’s.
“I’m ruined, but you should know that. What else do you want me to say? Thanks for my land back.”
“You aren’t ruined. I can take care of us if you’d get that through your thick skull. What was I suppose to do, let them run those pictures of you and hide? Let you take the brunt of it all? Fuck no, I wasn’t gonna let that happen. I love you. I love you so Goddamn much. I meant every fuckin’ thing I said on Late Show. You’re everything to me.” There was so much anger in the way Austin said it, he looked like he might burst into flames at any given moment.
“You told me there were photos of Sean, never of me nude, or of us kissin’. You said they were deleted. How many more are there of me like that? Is the price of the photo my fuckin’ land back?” Kitt demanded an honest answer. He’d shoved his plate of food back and gripped the sides of the small table. Kitt fought the need to tackle Austin who stood there indignant over something as simple as Kitt not answering the phone.
“That was my fault. I told you that,” Austin said, but Kitt’s words had him taking a step back. Finally, it was about something other than him not answering a fucking phone. “I only took the picture that one time. I had them deleted, all but the ones on my computer. You were so hot, so beautiful. You turned me on so much...I wanted you so badly. I didn’t delete them. I’m sorry, I should have, but I love that picture so much.” All the riled anger left Austin’s face, and now, he was moving around the table toward Kitt who quickly moved around the table the other direction.
“So they found the pictures by what, hackin’ your computer?” Kitt asked with the table between them. He grabbed a hold of his anger and held it in place. It was the only thing that would get him through the next few minutes.
“Please don’t move away from me. I haven’t slept in days. Kitt, I’m sorry. I can take care of us until the horses are ready to compete. I ruined everything, but I can take care of us. I can take care of Lily and the girls. Please let me do it.” They circled the table as Austin talked to Kitt.
“I thought you were leavin’? You said I could have it all,” Kitt fired back.
“If you don’t want me anymore, if I ruined us, I’ll leave you everything. I’ll still take care of you and the girls. I promise, but damn it, please stop moving away from me, Kitt. And stop toying with my fucking heart. How badly have I fucked this up?” Austin stood at the head of the table as Kitt moved out of the small kitchen to the far side of the living room, placing the coffee table between them.