Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 131209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 437(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 437(@300wpm)
Most of the time, I was able to block everything out, except when I was sleeping. As much as I tried, it was always there… waiting for me.
Taunting and haunting me.
“Devon, what would I do without you, honey?” my mom asked, pulling me into a tight hug.
I wrapped my arms around her. “Good thing you will never have to know.”
I spent the rest of the day hanging out with Alexis and Lauren. Lauren told me about how her junior year of college was going and this guy she was talking to. I reminded her that I needed to meet him, before anything was set in stone, in order to scare the living shit out of him if he touched her or hurt her in any way, although I didn’t tell her that part. Alexis spent most of the time on her phone and I finally had to grab it out of her hands for her to pay attention.
I loved being active in my sisters’ lives. I often wondered how much they remembered from when they were kids; they weren’t that young to have forgotten about the things that happened in our house. The community remembered my father as a hero and their most treasured officer. When he passed, we all suffered a loss… on the outside. I couldn’t speak for everyone else, but for me, it was a victory.
I would be lying if I told you that I didn’t worry about the types of men my sisters would fall for; I knew that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree and little girls admired their fathers. I prayed that, in their case, it wouldn’t be true. My mom never dated since he passed and that worried me more than anything, she had to be jaded, and I couldn’t blame her if she were. My dad put her and this family through the ringer, multiple times.
He never hit my sisters, only my mom and me. I could still see the sadness and regret that she held in her eyes every time she looked at me. I was her baby boy, getting beaten by the man she married, the man she loved at one point or another, the man she said her vows to, the man she raised a family with. I knew she felt responsible for every one of his actions and blows, even though she never had any control over it. She was a victim as much as I was, as we all were.
Except, you couldn’t help how you felt. No one could change your mind when it’s set on something. It didn’t matter how you appeared to the world, all that mattered was how you felt when you lay your head on your pillow at night and let your eyes close and your subconscious takeover.
No one knew what happened when you were alone with your thoughts. Everyone had fears and things that terrified them, and I couldn’t escape mine, especially when I was asleep.
CHAPTER THREE
<>B<>
The doorbell rang at exactly eight o’clock and at first, I thought that Christine had lost her damn mind because she usually would just walk in and come up to my room. But when I told Maria, our housekeeper, that I would get the door and opened it to Landon standing there, I smiled, understanding why.
“Hey,” I greeted.
He took a deep breath. “Wow, Brooke, you look beautiful.”
“Thanks.” I dressed in a red mini-skirt with a black crop-top, and black wedge sandals. I curled the ends of my hair and went light on the makeup and jewelry. I grabbed my overnight bag and closed the door behind me.
“Here, let me take that for you.”
“Oh, okay.”
Christine was sitting in the backseat, smiling like a Cheshire cat, as I opened the passenger side door to get in.
“Wait,” he said, placing his hand over mine to open the door.
“Awe… my brother is such a gentlemen; you should totally suck his dick.”
“Christine, shut the hell up.”
I laughed and she winked at me. We drove in silence, and at one point, he reached over and grabbed my hand. I remained calm and collected on the outside, but on the inside, I was flipping out.
Christine wished me a very happy birthday with a huge hug and kiss and then bailed out of the car as soon as we got there, saying something about letting us be alone and that she would catch up with us later.
Landon grabbed my hand again and we walked side-by-side into the house. There were people everywhere and alcohol was flowing loosely; I was never much of a drinker. I didn’t like how it made people act stupid and foolish and I didn’t want to be out of control from my judgments. I guess it’s my type A personality. Landon led us to the keg and filled two cups. I took one, not wanting to seem immature.