Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 66753 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66753 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
“The baby talk.”
I blanch. “We don’t have to talk about that at all, Tyler.”
“We do. If we’re together, we do. And you told me about Travis.”
“Which does not mean I need to know who you are talking to on the phone.”
“I know. I showed you because he was dodging my calls.” His hands come down on my shoulders. “I need to say this or I won’t.”
I nod, not sure what to expect now.
“When I was in college,” he says, “I did have a steady girlfriend. I thought I loved her. Then she got pregnant and my father thought she was just after our money, like she lied about being on the pill to set me up.”
My heart thunders in my chest. Does he have a kid? “Did she?”
“He wanted her to have an abortion. I said no. I told her no. It was my baby. I was not going to let go of my baby.”
“And?”
“And he went to her, offered her a shit ton of money to have the abortion and disappear. He provided me with proof of the abortion and then told me I told you so. I never heard from her again.”
“Oh my God. No wonder you don’t think about kids.”
“I never got serious with anyone after that. He wasn’t wrong. She clearly was after a payday, and I was stupid enough to not see the truth.”
“You were young.”
“Not after that.” He pauses and adds, “I’ve known my share of women with their own money, but I was shut down, unbreakable, and untouchable. I was not gentle about it, either. I was the bastard you call me. I’m telling you this because the list, the Debbie thing, it’s something Gavin thought I’d be okay with. And until LA, I might have been. Gavin doesn’t understand the shift in me, which will be dealt with.”
He doesn’t seem to want to go into feelings and his father at all, which has me questioning why he did this now. “I’m so glad you told me that you trusted me, but what about the call with Gavin made you need to say all of this?”
“The Debbie stunt was devious, and he seems to truly believe he was looking out for me. I’m making sure you know everything there is to know about me, from me.”
“Why is he still with you?”
“One reason. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. He acts as if he’s bulletproof. He never acted that way before. I’m not sure which he is at this point, but I’m going to find out.” He stands up and takes me with him. “Come shower with me.”
He seems to have told me this story fairly easily, but I notice the tic in his jaw and the curl of his fingers into his palm. This was not an easy confession to make, and beneath the surface, there’s a battle raging, one that reads like a man used to living in the past trying to live in the present and future because of me, and that affects me on every level.
A few minutes later we’re standing under the water together, and he’s still on edge, still living inside the story he told me, so far from all right that I know why Dash worries about him now. He drags me to him and kisses me, and I can taste that dark, turbulent emotion. It’s bottled up and controlled because he is always about control. He never lets go. I tear my mouth from his and push him against the wall.
“Let me help.” I start to lower myself to my knees.
He catches my arms. “If you start, I won’t be able to stop.”
“I don’t want you to stop.” I look him in the eyes. “I’ve never been one to start what I can’t finish, Tyler. You know that.”
He studies me for a few beats, his eyes dark, his body all but quaking. His grip eases and I go down on my knees. I wrap my hand around his cock and lick the tip. When he groans, I’m empowered. I tease him, lick him, and then take him into my mouth. He holds my head, pumps into my mouth, and murmurs, “More.”
His arousal arouses me and I give him more, or rather I take more. I suckle him deep, and when he shudders into release, I don’t pull back. When his body stills, he drags me to my feet and folds me into him. And we just stand there like that, the water flowing over us, and we say nothing.
And yet, he has said so much.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Tyler
My meeting with Gavin is set for noon, and Bella has to be at the office by ten to prep for her meeting. After a lot of pushback from me, I finally agree to let her meet Becker alone. I have to go home and change and grab a bag if I’m going to stay with Bella tonight, which is just an assumed thing. I’m staying. A decision cemented when I walk into my place and it feels like a hollow shell. Bella has changed my perspective on life, it seems.