Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 72897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
But as it turns out, I was wrong.
Wrong as I’d ever fucking been about anything.
Because being free of my secret—my biggest one—felt like winning the lottery.
For the first time in my life, I knew what freedom felt like. Even if it also meant that my life as I knew it was irreparably gone.
“You are insane,” Henry said.
“And?”
“And… and I love you,” he continued, a disbelieving smile on his face as he paced around his living room. “And you’re insane.”
Electricity coursed through my veins. I felt like I was drunk, even though I was nowhere near it. I just still wasn’t used to hearing those words on Henry’s lips. Having the man of my dreams tell me he loved me, and knowing it didn’t have to be a secret anymore.
I was kicked back on the sofa, clad in an old, soft pair of Henry’s sweatpants and a faded shirt. I hadn’t bothered to take much of anything with me when I’d fled the castle this morning, so Henry had lent me what he had on hand. The clothes were slightly bigger than my size, but I liked it. I was cozy. I was wearing clothes that smelled like him, and I had a glass of whiskey in my hand that he’d recently poured for me.
And who fucking cared, anyway?
I was free.
I had everything I needed, right in this room.
“How did you decide?” Henry said, staring at me like I was a mysterious puzzle he was trying to solve.
“Decide what? To tell the whole world?”
“Yes,” he said. “It’s not like you were admitting you secretly eat Oreos, Sebastian, it’s…”
“It’s a whole lot more than that,” I said.
“Right.”
“Honestly? I don’t think I did decide,” I said. “It just happened. Really quickly.”
“Was this a completely spur of the moment decision? Because I have never known you to be spontaneous.”
“Not completely spur of the moment,” I said. “I knew I had to do something. This morning, I had Genoveve transfer some of my funds to a different bank account. Not enough to cause any suspicion, but…”
“But you knew you were going to flee the castle?”
“I knew I wanted to get the hell out, yes,” I said. “But coming out to the entire world? That happened fast. Christ, did I really do that?”
Henry smiled wide. “You really did,” he said.
“Oh God,” I said. I felt like I was falling fast, like I was constantly on the verge of having the wind knocked out of me. “I really shouldn’t have done that, should I have?”
He bit his bottom lip, watching me.
“You’re totally going into panic mode, aren’t you?”
“I think the adrenaline might be wearing off,” I said. “Could that be why I feel like I’m free-falling through the air without a parachute right now?”
“Might be,” Henry said. “Whenever I saw a bear on the mountain, I’d feel like a million bucks until it finally walked off. Then the panic would set in, weirdly. After the fact. Then the exhaustion.”
“I definitely don’t feel like a million bucks anymore,” I said. I rubbed my palms across my pants. “I feel like maybe I just left behind many, many millions of bucks, actually.”
A moment later Henry was on his knees next to the couch, leaning over to press his lips to mine. I kissed him, slowly and sensually, reaching out to clutch his shirt in my fists. I was holding onto him for dear life.
“I’m going to be okay, right?” I asked.
“You’re going to be great,” he said. “Although at some point, you’re going to have to drive me back up to Terrace View Road to grab my car.”
I snorted. “Oh God,” I said. “It’s still up there.”
“The queen is probably peeing all over it as we speak.”
I started giggling, which turned into real laughter a moment later. I leaned back on the couch, taking a huge breath in, massaging my temples.
“I did it though,” I whispered.
“Cat’s out of the bag.”
I turned to him again, the world still spinning. I dragged my palm down the front of his shirt, feeling his warmth.
“Kiss me again?” I said, my voice meek.
He licked his lips, slowly dipping to press his lips to mine.
And God, fuck, even if I had just ruined my life, at least I’d ruined it for this. We didn’t need to be rushed. I kissed him like I was making up for lost time. Eleven fucking years of lost time.
He made a small sound as we kissed, and as my tongue slid against his lower lip, I tasted salt.
“Hey,” I whispered, pulling back and putting a hand on the side of his face.
“Don’t say a word about it,” he said, reaching up to wipe away a few stray tears that had streaked down his cheeks.
“Henry,” I said.
I had never seen him cry. I had never seen him come close to crying, even though I was sure that he did a few times when we were younger. The day his dad passed away, I had sensed it in his eyes before he’d run off back to his own house for the night.