Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
His words knock me back—figuratively and literally. On the inside, I’m struggling to catch my breath, but on the outside, I’m stone cold, my features devoid of all emotion. I refuse to let a man in. I know what they’re capable of. How easy it is for them to reach in and grab your heart and yank it straight from your chest.
I was there the day my dad destroyed my mom’s heart, leaving it battered and bruised and barely able to beat. Only functioning just enough to keep her alive while she wished it would just fucking stop.
And a year later, I thought maybe my mom was starting to heal…Until she found out she was pregnant, and the man she had fallen for didn’t feel the same way in return. He took off, and as he drove away, he ran over what was left of her heart.
A few years after Ellie was born, she met Phil. Mom was so desperate for love and affection, for someone to take care of her, that it didn’t take much for Phil to convince her to become his puppet. He fed her drugs and promised her the world, and in exchange, she gave herself over to him—and the thousands of men she’s fucked because he’s told her to. He’s her pimp and her enabler. He feeds her addiction, and she makes him money.
When my dad took off to create a new family with another woman, my mom stopped parenting. But that doesn’t mean she stopped teaching. And the biggest lesson I’ve learned from her is to be careful who you give your heart to. She gave hers to three different men and all three had a hand in destroying her. Little by little, they broke her down, until there was nothing left but a decimated heart that had once beat healthy and strong. I’ve had a front row seat to the utter carnage, and one day that crushed and battered heart will cease to beat altogether. Maybe then, she will finally be at peace.
When Micah squeezes my hip, I’m brought back to the present—him asking me on a date and me freaking the hell out.
“One, that’s not how the song goes, and two, you’re insane,” I say, because who the fuck goes through all this trouble to get in a woman’s pants?
“Eh.” He quirks his head to the side. “That’s neither here nor there. I want to take you out. Go out with me. One date.”
“No.” I dip under his arm and walk quickly across the stage, hoping he’ll let me go like he did the last time. Only before I can make it out of the room, he wraps his strong hand around my bicep and twirls me around, pushing us back against another wall.
“Why not?” he asks, his mouth so close to mine I can smell the liquor on his breath. It’s spicy with a hint of sweet. And as his tongue darts out, wetting his lips, I wonder if he tastes the same way.
No! No. No. No.
“I don’t date,” I say matter-of-factly. “So, let it go because you’re just wasting your damn time. I’m not going to agree to go on a date with you, I’m sure as hell not going to marry you, and you’re never getting in my pants.”
This time, when I slip away from the wall and take off toward the door, Micah doesn’t stop me. I’m so rattled from our encounter, I ask Marina if I can leave early, feigning illness. She agrees, and I tell her I’ll see her Saturday night.
It’s not until I’m out of the club and into the fresh night air that I feel like I can finally breathe again. Ellie asks if everything’s okay, but I distract her by saying that I have a surprise for her. Her birthday begins at midnight, so I run by the store and grab a cake, and then we head to the docks down by the marina. At exactly midnight, I light the candles and sing happy birthday.
“Thank you, Sienna,” Ellie says once we’ve devoured the mini cake. “I know you’re not my mom, but you’ve been more of a mom to me than ours has ever been.” She lays her head on my shoulder, and my heart fills with both pride and pain. “I love you,” she murmurs, “and I don’t know what I would do without you.”
I kiss the side of her temple. “You’ll never find out.”
And just like that, I’m reminded of my goals—graduate, get a job, get Ellie away from here. Dating is not on that list, nor will it be any time soon. Ellie is my one and only priority.
CHAPTER SEVEN
SIENNA
“I could seriously watch those movies over and over again,” Ellie says, as we walk out of the theater.
“And I’m sure it has nothing to do with you practically drooling over that wolf’s abs,” I joke.