Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 137(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 137(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
It hits me then, everything she’s telling me. Not all the bad things, because my brain created enough stories for me to imagine all the things they do, but the risk she’s taking.
I could tell people.
I could pretend to want to be with her and go to the police.
I could ruin them all. “You shouldn’t be telling me this,” I say, and her eyes widen.
“I’m sorry. I thought you wanted to know. Isn’t that what this is all about?”
“That’s not what I mean,” I clarify. “I could betray you. Your whole family is at risk with you telling me this.” It’s wild how I surely had to have realized this before, but the reality of it hadn’t hit me until now.
“Yes,” Aislin agrees. “But I trust you. I want to make this work. I want a future with you, and we can’t have that unless I show you all the parts of me…and you choose me anyway.”
It’s there in her words, how much she needs this, too. To be chosen. To bear her truth and to be loved, regardless.
“Okay,” I say. “You can trust me.”
She gives me a nod and then starts talking again.
CHAPTER FIVE
Aislin
We talk for hours. Well, mostly I talk, and Zuri listens. She asks questions, and I answer every one of them, even when it’s hard, even when I’m afraid.
I talk until my throat is raw and my voice rough, until I feel wrung dry and there’s nothing left for me to say. I tell her everything, and Zuri listens, holds my hand, and doesn’t wince, walk away, or even falter. She’s just strong in supporting me.
I give myself a moment to take her in. Zuri is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I love how full of emotion her eyes are—how, when she looks at you, you feel like the most important person in the world—like maybe you’re the only person in the world, and I’d do anything to always bask in that feeling. “That’s it. That’s all I can think of right now,” I finish.
“Thank you for trusting me with that,” she answers, tender in a way that only Zuri can be.
But all of that was only some of what I came here to say, wasn’t it? What’s coming next aren’t words I ever thought I would say, and I never would have imagined could be true about me. But I’ve never been in love before I met Zuri, and being in love changes things. “It would be hard…walking away from my family while we’re still in Ashford, but I would do it if that’s what you want. Or once we graduate, we could start our own lives somewhere else. Tiernan would make that happen for me—”
“What? No! I could never ask you to do that,” Zuri interrupts.
“Even after everything I told you?”
“None of that is you,” she asserts. “And even if it were…I don’t have a family of my own, Ash. My parents were taken away from me. After that, I spent my whole life alone—until now. I’m not taking your family away from you, and I’m not running. That’s not who I am, and that’s not who you are either. Not my girl.”
I beam at her response. There is nothing like being Zuri’s girl. “God, it’s disgusting how much I like being called that. Who even am I?”
“My girl,” she reiterates.
“Then you’re mine, too,” I tell her.
“Damn straight.”
We meet in the middle, the two of us pulled together as though our lips are made of magnets. Kissing Zuri is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Each time feels like my first kiss. My body gets tingly, and everything about her goes straight to my head. I swear it’s like I get buzzed off her, like she’s a drug, but a healthy one that does nothing but make me feel good.
My tongue flicks at her lips, and Zuri lets me taste her. She tastes like her toothpaste—not mint, but it’s a familiar flavor.
When I ease her back, Zuri goes, lying down on the bed, with me coming down on top of her. Our lips still don’t part as I move my body against hers, feel her breasts beneath the thin T-shirt she’s wearing.
I lean back, resting on my knees. “Can I?” I play with the hem at the bottom of her shirt.
She grins up at me, and it nearly steals my breath. “Only if you get rid of yours, too.” There’s not a chance I’m saying no. Being naked with her is one of my favorite things.
I pull my hoodie over my head, tossing it to the floor, then remove my undershirt, leaving myself in only my bra.
“Hot.” Zuri reaches up, running her finger beneath the swell of my left breast.
“Your turn.” I can tell she’s not wearing a bra, so when she sits up slightly and I tug her shirt off, I’m not surprised to see her tits fall free. She’s bigger than me, with pretty, heavy breasts, her nipples already pebbled and hard and begging for my tongue.