Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 140604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
He loved Olivia. And he loved Garrett, but this was why he’d held off. At first because they were young and he was honestly confused at his feelings, and then because it felt dirty. It wasn’t. What had happened to him didn’t make him dirty.
He held Olivia. His sub. His savior.
She held him through the storm, inching him over to that stupid bench where he sat and she moved onto his lap. She didn’t say anything more, simply let him go.
He couldn’t remember a time since childhood when he’d cried. What he remembered were fists telling him if he wanted to cry, they would give him something to cry about. So he stopped.
But his Olivia wouldn’t let him keep it in another second. She pulled the poison from his veins with her sweetness and her strength.
He held her close and kissed her cheek. “I have to tell you.”
She nodded and he began.
* * * *
Olivia’s heart hurt as he held her closer. Like he was still afraid she would run.
He would find out once she decided she loved someone, she didn’t let go. Like she hadn’t with Bobby. When she realized he couldn’t love her romantically, she didn’t run. She allowed her own love to turn into an infinitely warm friendship that they both needed. It wasn’t going to be that way with this man. He was going to love her in every way possible.
She smoothed his hair back and rubbed her cheek against his, waiting. She would give him all the time in the world. He’d held these stories for a long time. He likely thought she would leave him over this story, but she’d always known there would be an explanation because he was a good man.
“I was seventeen,” he said quietly. “Garrett and I were in a group home at the time. We moved in when we were sixteen. They do that a lot when you’re about to leave the system. I had one semester of high school left. Half really, since it happened over spring break. I’m surprised your dad didn’t tell you.”
“I’m surprised my dad ran into my life like a bull in a china shop.” She frowned. “Though I suppose I shouldn’t be.”
“He loves you.”
“And he’ll love you, too. Eventually. You know he did this to Nicole, too. She was on the run from an abusive ex-husband, and my dad didn’t want her getting her claws into Josh and Grim. You will note he was happy at their wedding and paid for everything with a smile.”
He went quiet as though trying to decide what to do.
She kissed his cheek. She was content to sit here with him while Garrett worked to get him out of this cell. She didn’t have to ask if Garrett was trying. She knew. And she knew Keane. “You don’t have to tell me. I don’t have to know all the facts to believe that you are a good man, a man I want to build a future with. I didn’t let anyone tell me because this is your story and it’s not gossip to share.”
He seemed to brace himself. “Then you should hold off on all the pretty words because I did what they said I did. I don’t think I went in wanting to kill him, but I would have if Garrett hadn’t been there to stop me. I lost my head that night. I still don’t remember all of it.”
“Who were you trying to protect?” She knew that had to be it. Deep down. He would only turn violent to protect someone else.
“Her name was Heather. She was fourteen. She acted tough, and I suppose in some ways she was. Her parents left her with her grandma when she was five and never came back for her. She told me once she couldn’t remember them at all. They were old pictures her grandma cried over. After her grandma died, they couldn’t be found and she went in. She caused a lot of trouble, did some drugs, fought with other kids. So they put her in the group home where everyone was older,” he explained.
Olivia couldn’t imagine it. She’d always been loved and surrounded by family, even if they weren’t blood. If anything happened to her parents, Uncle Julian would have stepped in. Or her sister, Lexi. She would never have been allowed to go into foster care.
“The man who ran the home seemed kind.” There was a caution to his words. Like he was used to not being believed about this. “His name was Bob, and I liked him. I was wary, but he got through to me. He seemed to be one of the good ones. Garrett didn’t. He always said there was something about Bob that didn’t seem right to him. But Bob taught me how to fish. He would take me out on the lake early in the morning, and he told me we didn’t have to talk. We just needed to sit and be. I found such peace in those mornings. He seemed to genuinely care about all of us. He would play games and make popcorn for movie nights. For about a year, I thought it was the best place we’d ever been in. Then Heather showed up. She wasn’t the only girl in the home, but she was the one he… I don’t know how to put it. He picked on her. If she did the dishes, he would point out all the flaws and make her do it again. He compared her to everyone else. She would act out, try to run away, and the cops would bring her back. Bob put a lock on the outside of her door and nailed her windows shut. For her safety.”