Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 193(@200wpm)___ 154(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 193(@200wpm)___ 154(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
“Or I’ll make the last few months here hell for you.” I turn at Ren’s voice and see him standing in the entry to the girls’ bathroom. “You know I can, Kristen.”
I think she’s going to say something else, but his words must hold some weight. I know Ren doesn’t do all the social stuff at school, but I can tell he’s popular, even if he doesn’t like that he is. Kristen grabs her bag and stomps out of the bathroom, her friend following her.
“What did she say?” he asks as I make my way to him.
“Said you left the bruise on me.” I absently reach up and touch my cheek.
“I don’t mean about me, babe. You said, ‘You can talk all you want about me, but don’t you dare talk about Ren.’ I want to know what she said about you and how come it’s okay for her to spread her shit about you but not okay for her to do it about me.”
“Doesn't matter what she said about me.”
“Yeah it does, and it pisses me off you don’t think it matters. It fucking matters. You matter.” My eyes water at his words, because I know how much I do matter to Ren. He makes me feel like I’m his whole world, and if something hurts me I know it will hurt him. I need to heal from my past so we can move on together.
“That fucker made you feel like you don’t. Made you carry guilt about your own mother dying. So much so you don’t think you matter or that you’re worth fighting for. He did that to you so that when he’d lash out at you, you wouldn’t fight back.”
A tear slides down my face. “She was coming to pick me up from school. I stayed late to work on a project in the library and she didn’t want me walking. If I’d left sooner before it got dark, my mom would have never been driving. She…” I can’t even finish the sentence.
“No, Lily.” Ren grabs me, pulling me into his embrace and wrapping his arms around me as I start to sob. “Your mom was being a mom by not letting her little girl walk alone in the dark. You can’t predict those things. One small mistake and something bad happened. That’s life, and that’s not your fault. I bet your mom would have told you the same thing. Your father should have told you the same thing.” He growls out the last part. He always growls when my dad comes up. Luckily he doesn’t come up much. I haven’t heard a thing about any of it since that day.
“I know, I know. I can’t help, but what if? I can’t help but think that day I lost both my parents.” The what ifs used to weigh down on me, but lately they’ve been letting up. I’ve been slowly healing. Ren and his family have been helping that process and making me feel whole.
I feel his lips on the top of my head. “I’m going to spend the rest of my life showing you how much you matter,” Ren vows, and I know with every part of me he will.
26
Ren
A few months later…
I pick Lily up and hold her in my arms as my parents laugh and snap the pictures. We’re both dressed in caps and gowns, having completed our high school graduation.
“Okay, everybody say ‘gopher,’” my mom says, and Lily and I repeat it.
We’re both headed to the University of Minnesota, home of the Golden Gopher. I’ve had my full ride ready and waiting and we finally heard back about Lily a few weeks ago. She’s been accepted into their art program, and she couldn’t be more excited. Her scholarships were enough to cover her tuition, and she accepted a work program in the department that will cover the cost of everything else.
Lily and I plan on getting married next month so we can live in the university’s family housing. The football scholarship I have makes exceptions for married players, and I intend to be one before I step foot on campus. I’m also ready to have Lily take my last name. She’s been a part of this family for some time now, and I want that in writing.
I proposed to her a few weeks ago, unable to stand it anymore. It wasn’t the big production she deserved, but Lily didn’t seem to mind. I kept wanting to make it perfect, but I couldn’t think of a special way to do it. So one night, while she slept in my arms, I put the ring on her finger. When she woke up she noticed it, and I shrugged. I told her I loved her and we were getting married in July. She shook her head and laughed at me. Then we made love. It was perfect in my book.