Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 73153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
That kid he knew would never get close to anyone in a billion fucking years.
But she was different.
Her beautiful green eyes fluttered open, and she looked over at me, surprise lighting up her features, not having expected me to be in front of her. "Trevor, what . . ." Her voice trailed off when she took in her surroundings. "Where am I?"
"You're at my place," Gabriel spoke up. Her eyes snapped over to him, and I grabbed her hand gently in mine, automatically noticing the panic setting in her eyes. She hated being surprised. "Remember me?"
She nodded slowly, turning her attention back to me. "Are you okay?" I ran my fingertips over her cheek, so relieved that she was awake and okay.
She nodded in answer. "I just feel like I've been run over by a truck, and my head hurts,” she admitted, “but I'm okay."
She sat up completely, and I pulled her face to mine, kissing her tenderly. She responded instantly, her hands reaching up to wrap around my wrists loosely.
"You had me fucking terrified, Tracey," I admitted gruffly when I finally pulled back from her. "Where the hell is your phone? Why didn't you call me?"
She felt her pockets, her eyes widening in alarm. “I—I don't know." She looked at Gabriel, but he just held his hands up at her.
"Don't look at me. I tried finding your phone, but you didn't have it on you. I took a wild guess you had something to do with Trevor because you're wearing his old hoodie, so I called him."
Her head fell into her hands, and she sighed tiredly. "I lost all of my stuff when I fell in that alley he snatched me into."
I stood up, my jaw clenched. "I want to know how the fuck he got out of prison." I looked at Gabriel. He arched an eyebrow at me, already knowing what I was going to request, but waiting on me to say it out loud. "Can you do that for me?"
He shrugged, nodding. "Yeah, but first you have to tell me how long you've been pussy-whipped." He chuckled.
I rolled my eyes at him, my eyes moving to watch Tracey as she stood from the couch, coming to stand beside me. I wrapped an arm around her, almost as if on instinct, pulling her against the front of my body.
"It's not pussy whipped, bruh.” I leaned down to kiss her temple. Her cheeks tinted pink at my affection. "It's a long story, but I'm head over heels for this girl right here.”
And I meant it. Tracey was everything to me, and her safety was my utmost priority. I hated that her father had almost gotten his hands on her; I hated that I may have never seen her beautiful green eyes or her timid smile ever again.
I should have forced her to let me give her a ride back home. I should have made sure she made it home safely, but I had wanted to give her the space she was craving.
Gabriel pulled his phone out of his pocket. "I'm going to make some phone calls to see what I can find out, and I'll get back with you. In the meantime, you should probably get her home. I'm sure everyone is worried sick about her."
I nodded in agreement, looking down at Tracey. She looked worn out, weary, and exhausted. I knew what she had just gone through was rough, and I knew she would begin suffering from those flashbacks and nightmares all over again.
Fuck Miss Brinson. Fuck Kaleb. Fuck Krista. This girl wasn't leaving my side—not until I knew that she was okay again. Not until I knew she could sleep without those fucking nightmares again.
We had come so far, only for her to have to take a million steps back.
Seeing her dad had to have torn her up inside, and I knew it was going to take her a damn good minute to recover from the experience. He had wanted to hurt her, and she knew that as well as anyone else—probably better than any of us even realized.
"Baby, are you ready to go?"
She shook her head, shocking me. "I don't want to go home." I could see the fear in her eyes of the dreams she would have to endure, and it pulled at my heartstrings.
I had promised this girl that I would protect her, and that meant doing my best to protect her from the demons of her unconscious mind, too.
I grabbed her hand in mine, pulling her against me, circling my arms around her. "I'll stay with you until you can push past this, okay? I promise that I won't leave your side."
She nodded. I leaned down and kissed her softly.
TRACEY
I walked through the front door of Miss Brinson's house with caution. I thought I was going to be in trouble for not coming home like I was supposed to, but instead, as soon as I walked in the door, Miss Brinson was swinging her slender arms around me.