Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 154882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 774(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 774(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
A fair number of homeless men and women kept to their own devices. They moved through life with the same principles: have no debts, make no enemies. And for some, make no friends.
Others formed ties, friendships, crews, and sometimes gangs, falling into the natural human instinct of protection through numbers and sharing resources. The Northfleet tunnel wasn’t claimed territory, per se. They didn’t have a leader, nor did they turn away outsiders. But they were known as the spot for homeless and runaway LGBT youth.
I tread past kids in their teens. One girl looked no more than twelve.
Biting my lip, I forced myself to break eye contact, feeling the rush of pain all the same. This life was unbearable for an adult. The thought of a child sleeping in a bag on the ground ripped my heart in two.
But at least she found this place with people moving closer to protect her, in case the stranger wearing Camden Caddell came to make trouble. She had her crew.
I lit on the broad figure in green, moving from person to person.
And you used to be mine.
“River.”
He turned, smile playing on his lips like he knew I was coming, all he had to do was wait.
A long, slow breath hissed through my teeth, willing calm into my tightening muscles. I couldn’t help it. Something about those wide shoulders, ripped muscles defying years living rough, bright golden eyes, and unblemished dark skin reduced me to a trembling deer who found herself downwind of a stalking panther. My first thought was run. My second was give in and accept my fate.
I was his.
“Mackenzie Blaine.”
The seam split, opening into a wide smile that punched me in the gut. It wasn’t right for someone so dangerous to be this beautiful. Hang a warning sign on predators, Mother Nature. Give a deer a chance.
He curled around my waist, dropping a kiss on my cheek. “Nice clothes. Not really your size though.”
“Got them off a dying man.”
River laughed. Why wouldn’t he? Even I was having trouble believing everything that happened that morning was real.
“Glad to see you got away from Digger’s guys,” he continued. “Marty told me he gave you an assist yesterday.”
“More than an assist. He cracked the skull of the guy holding a knife to my sister’s throat.” I wrapped my arm around his waist, resting my head on his shoulder as he led us away for privacy. “Digger’s not giving up. Sounds like he put a bounty on my head.”
“Five thousand for you and your sister,” he rattled off without hesitation. “The price went up since yesterday. Not enough to get the Bowery Boys or Rolling Ninety-Nines after you, but everyone else...” River trailed off, glancing over his shoulder. “You shouldn’t be out, borrowed clothes or not.”
“I wouldn’t be out but... I need a favor.”
A sound like a moan rumbled from his chest and slipped into mine, turning up the heat. “That’s my favorite sentence, Blaine. Name it.”
I buried my face in his shoulder, picturing those gray eyes as I said, “A man was thrown off our bridge this morning. My tent broke his fall. He’s in bad shape, River. Will your doctor—?”
“Say no more. Where is he?”
“The old Detour factory. Send him over now. I have to get back to Sienna.”
River snagged the jacket and towed me back.
“I can tell you right now we’ll have to bring your boy to him. A fall from that height, he’ll need equipment the doc can’t haul in a medical bag.”
“It’s not safe to keep moving him.”
“I’ll take care of it. Go back to the factory. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
I didn’t argue further. River was right, our mystery man needed a full workup to ensure that the world got another glimpse of those star-flecked eyes. It was the hope of that glimpse that made me brave leaving safety, and bind myself to River.
Grasping his chin, I made River look at me. His brows crooked in amusement.
“What do I owe you?”
He curled around my fingers and kissed the tips. “A favor,” he said, breath ghosting over my skin. “To be named by me and collected at the time of my choosing. If you don’t repay this favor, I’ll find out why you came to me instead of bringing this guy to a hospital.”
“Understood,” I said lightly.
River continued kissing down my palm, rippling bumps over my flesh. “Why won’t you come back to me, Kenzie? You know I’d take care of you. Both of you.”
My lower belly tightened. The concentrated effort I put into convincing my body I wasn’t interested, rattled my brain.
There was a time, shortly after we were kicked out of my apartment, and we were scared, hungry, and bouncing from shelter to shelter, that the offer to be taken care of by this handsome stranger was too irresistible to pass up. Three months ago, we were a part of his crew, and during that time, the one who taught me the rules of surviving the streets was River.