Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 74379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
“What do you want to do in the Army?”
She shrugged. “Well, I’ve always wanted to be a dental hygienist.”
“Who the hell always wants to be a dental hygienist?” I broke in. “That’s weird.”
“Well, what do you want to be?”
I shrugged. “I’ve always wanted to be a doctor.”
“An OB/GYN?” she teased.
I burst out laughing at that.
“Why would you say that?”
“You look like a guy who would like to play with vaginas for a living,” she countered.
I snickered.
“I guess that wouldn’t be half bad,” I admitted. “I could think of worse careers.”
Our banter only continued after that.
And, six months later, our relationship was still going strong.
Her father hated me.
Her mother hated me more.
And her brother, my brother’s best friend, looked at me like I was no better than dog meat.
But I loved the girl, and I had a feeling that nothing would ever change that.
Oh, how wrong I would be.
Chapter 2
Some people manage stress by yoga, meditation, and long walks. I manage stress by binge eating carbs, swearing, and drinking wine.
-Krisney’s words of wisdom
Krisney
12 years ago
It was the scream that woke me.
The scream of a mother losing her child.
I immediately got up, ran down the hallway, and instantly knew that something was wrong.
There were three police officers standing in our front foyer, and every one of them was looking at my mother with pity on their face.
“Are you sure?” my father asked, his voice rough with suppressed emotion.
“Yes, sir,” the closest cop confirmed. “The other boy caught him raping his sister. From what we can tell, it was not intentional. The other kid was just trying to protect himself. Once your kid realized he’d been caught, he fought like hell to get away, which the other boy didn’t let him accomplish. So he started fighting for his life, and the other boy defended himself.”
“I want him in jail!” my mother screeched. “Now!”
“He’s currently in police custody,” the officer continued, not missing a beat at the poisonous words my mother spewed. “We will be investigating more thoroughly, but as of now, everyone is corroborating the evidence we’ve found. The girl has also confirmed that apparently this has been going on for years.”
I made a squeak in my throat, and my hand covered my mouth.
He’d been doing it for years.
Funny, but my brother hadn’t visited me like he used to for years.
I didn’t think that was a coincidence.
Not at all.
And I felt sick to my stomach.
“She’s lying!” my mother assured the cop. “The girl is a tramp. How could you think otherwise?”
I turned around and walked upstairs, straight to my bedroom, and called Reed.
He didn’t answer.
I called him fifty-one times before I realized something was very wrong. I had no clue how bad it was going to get, and I certainly wasn’t prepared for what happened next.
***
Six hours later, I snuck out of my parents’ house and walked over to Reed’s house. I was pretty sure that my mom would not appreciate me going over to the Hails’ house to offer comfort.
It was five miles, and around mile marker two, it started to drizzle.
It wasn’t too hard, but it was enough to soak me through by the time I’d arrived at their place.
I knocked on the door and smiled somewhat timidly at Travis when he opened the door.
He didn’t smile in return, he just held the door open for me to enter.
I stepped inside and immediately saw Reed standing in the kitchen, his arms crossed over his chest.
He was so beautiful.
So strong. So captivating.
He only had to look at me to make me weak in the knees.
And today wasn’t any different.
The anger on his face—seemingly directed at me—was something I’d never seen from him before, though.
It was almost as if he blamed me for my brother’s misdeeds…which I guess shouldn’t have been too surprising.
I thought I’d be able to convince him that I was just as disgusted by what my brother did as he was, though. That he’d give me a chance to explain…to offer my sincere apologies for the type of person that I knew my brother was.
“Reed…”
“Get out.”
My mouth dropped open, and I took a step forward, completely ignoring everything that was going on around me. Which included Reed’s parents, his sister, Amy, and all of his brothers, excluding Tobias.
Amy was at the kitchen counter, her arms wrapped around her tightly, looking at the sink as if there was something incredibly fascinating there that held her attention.
“I said get out.”
Reed’s words were furious.
He needed time.
I saw the error in my ways now.
I nodded, knowing that I’d need to try to do this some other time.
But I stopped before turning completely around and found Travis.
“Thank you.”
With that, I walked out the door, unaware that I’d never be back.
Chapter 3
Most days I don’t give a fuck. Today I don’t give a motherfucking fuck.
-Text from Krisney to Hennessy