Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 124451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 498(@250wpm)___ 415(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 498(@250wpm)___ 415(@300wpm)
The past few days … they’ve sucked. There’s no other way to put it. I haven’t spoken to Tanner, needing the time to wrap my head around the horrendous things he was involved in as a kid. Fuck, does being a kid even count? He was fourteen. That was only four years ago. Sure, he was an adolescent teen, and I could see the regret and shame he’s been living with, but the fact he still hasn’t reported it … He still hasn’t done what he can to make this right.
I have questions. A lot of fucking questions.
A child was murdered, an innocent life ended, and as his mother sobbed in grief, she was raped by one of the Hardin brothers, men who are widely known in Hope Falls for the way they terrorize the community. The second Tanner finished explaining what happened, I ran up to my room and threw up. The fact that I’d walked back into Orlando’s home didn’t mean anything in comparison.
Tanner walked into that house willingly, but the second he did, he became a victim of their crimes, and while I know deep down he was innocent in this, I’m still struggling to wrap my head around it.
After Damien left for boot camp, Mom and I had to be even more cautious while we were home alone, and the Hardin brothers were the very reason. They made a mockery of Hope Falls, the streets being their own personal playground, the residents their toys to fuck with. Just knowing Tanner had anything to do with them haunts me. Surely he couldn’t have been stupid enough to trust them.
Tanner was forced to be a pawn in their games. He was just doing what he was told out of fear, and the moment he truly understood what was happening and got the chance, he ran as far as he could. And yet he was still beaten by the brothers, just for knowing what went down. I’m struggling to figure out if he’s an innocent party in all of this or if I need to hold him accountable, but every time I think about it, my stomach twists with nausea and my world starts to crumble.
I don’t want to lose him. I gave him my word I wouldn’t walk away, and I don’t want to, but how the hell are we supposed to work past this? He warned me it was bad, and yet I still trusted that everything was going to be okay. I know his heart, know the man he is today, and the regret he holds for what happened that night has been slowly killing him.
Tanner Morgan is a good man, and I believe that with every fiber of my being.
It’s been three days since we sat in his Mustang, and he broke himself just to let me in, but I haven’t spoken a word to him since. It’s been weird between us. He’s given me the space I needed while at school, but every day, I see his resolve beginning to fail. He needs to know where we stand, but I don’t have the answers he’s looking for. At least … not yet.
Shrill laughter comes from the house just moments before the back doors swing open. Arizona, Chanel, and Ilaria come waltzing outside, more than happy to have let themselves in. The moment they see the spread of books before me, they each shake their head. “Oh, hell no, Marjorie,” Arizona says, stepping up beside me and pushing the laptop closed. “You’ve been buried in books for days. It’s time you remember you’re only young once and enjoy yourself. Besides, I didn’t come all the way here to be your study buddy.”
“Damn straight,” Chanel says, dropping down on the sun lounger beside me and reaching for one of my books. “Eww, advanced math. What the hell is wrong with you? We only have a few hours of sunshine left to soak up. You can study after dinner.”
“But—”
“But what?” Ilaria says, a cocky smirk across her face. “Don’t act like we haven’t noticed you’ve been avoiding Tanner like the plague. You’re living in the sugar daddy’s house despite not having made up with your mom yet, which can only mean Tanner accidentally called you another girl’s name while banging.”
I roll my eyes. “He did not.”
“Well, whatever it is, you guys will figure it out,” Ilaria adds. “But the point I’m getting at is, in those wee hours after dinner, I don’t think you’ll be busy practicing baby-making with your boyfriend, so you’ll have plenty of time to study then. Right now, you’re chilling with us because we miss your bitch ass.”
“I literally just saw you at school,” I remind them, watching as Arizona strips off her tank and shorts before bombing into the pool, splashing Chanel and making her squeal.