Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 57341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
He’d take care of her, and I was secure enough in my relationship with her to know that she wouldn’t be leaving me nor cheating on me.
Those two just had something together that would rip them both apart if they were separated.
She may live for me, but Joey taught her how to breathe when she felt like her only option was dying.
Chapter Thirteen
Adelaide
Joey ran his eyes over my face, a small smile on his lips. I sobbed as I reached up to trace his jawline with my fingers. It’d been so long since I got to touch him. Since I got to just look at him.
He grabbed my wrist and pressed a tender kiss to my palm.
“I held you with me,” I choked out, my bottom lip trembling.
“I told you I’d find you again,” he soothed. “I’ve never broken a promise to you, pretty girl.”
A sob ripped from my throat, and I trembled on his lap. “It was so hard not to come crawling back to you,” I confessed. “But I wanted to show you that I was strong enough to let him take care of me. Like you wanted.”
Joey kissed a tear off of my cheek as it rolled down. “I’m proud of you, pretty girl. You’re glowing, and it’s all because of him.” He shook his head, blowing out a soft breath. “He sees you, Adelaide. He sees every part of you, even the parts of you that you’ve given to me and Tristan. He sees them all, and he loves every single piece.”
“It doesn’t hurt so much to let you go anymore,” I whispered, my voice breaking. But knowing it didn’t hurt so much to let him go hurt. It didn’t make a lick of sense, but it did hurt.
He brushed his nose with mine, and I sniffled. “Just hold me with you. It’ll make the pain a bit more bearable. We were toxic as fuck together, pretty girl, and I had my own hand in breaking you down, but I’m trying to be better for you, even if you’re not mine anymore.”
I gave him a broken smile, shaking my head. “I don’t care if you move on, Joey. A piece of you will always be mine.”
He brushed his thumb over my cheek, running his eyes over my face for a moment. “Where did it all go wrong, pretty girl?” he quietly asked.
I shrugged. “From the very beginning,” I admitted on a weak laugh. “We fought from day one, but you made me come alive. Some days, it was all I could do to just breathe. But you saw a broken, eighteen-year-old girl who just needed a purpose, and you gave me that purpose. So, no matter how much we destroyed each other, I’ll always love you.”
Joey looked at me with something akin to awe in his eyes. “God, he’s so fucking good for you, Adelaide,” Joey breathed. “Before him, you did your damnest to ignore every emotion you could.”
“He’s showing me it’s okay,” I told him. My bottom lip trembled. I drew in a deep breath, hoping to calm myself. “He told me that it was okay to still love you both just as long as I lived for him.”
Joey smiled, and there was no pain in his eyes as he looked at me. Just happiness. Like he was happy for me even though me being with River meant he lost me. “Then live for him, pretty girl.”
I swiped at my cheeks with a half-hearted laugh. “I don’t know when I got so fucking emotional,” I choked out.
Joey hugged me to him, brushing his cheek with mine. I sighed in contentment, sinking into his embrace. “You’re living, Adelaide. This… this is what it feels like to live.”
Chapter Fourteen
River
Adelaide made her way back over to me with Joey following close on her heels. When she looked up at me, aiming that bright smile in my direction, the breath stalled in my lungs. I could tell she’d been crying, but the fact that she came back to me with a beautiful smile on her lips meant that she was okay.
And as long as she continued to keep him with her, she would be.
“Thank you,” she breathed.
I reached out and ran my thumb over her cheek. “Anything for you, darlin’.” I’d give this woman the entire fucking world if she asked for it.
She wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug, and my chest tightened. I didn’t waste a second in securely winding my arms around her smaller frame, burying my face in her hair and breathing her in. We stayed like that for a good minute as Joey spoke quietly to Sam, giving us this moment together.
Axel began crying, breaking the moment, and Adelaide quickly moved away from me. After striding around the bar, she lifted Axel from the pack ‘n play, cradling him against her chest.