Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 133975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 670(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 670(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
She gave him her genuine smile. “You do have a way with words.”
Some of the tension eased in his gut. If she could smile like that, it couldn’t be too bad, right? He tugged on her hair very gently, conscious of her head wound. “Finish it.”
“Miles was kind all the way through school. We didn’t date and I was thankful he didn’t ask me on a date. I wouldn’t have known what to do. I learned by watching others, and I didn’t leave my room after dark. It felt safer.”
“Were the others still leaving you alone?”
“They watched me all the time. And they made fun of me behind Miles’ back, but never to his face. I managed to actually graduate, and the day of our graduation, Miles asked me to meet him in the park the next day. He wanted to go on a picnic. He said he’d take care of everything. I’d never been on a picnic. I spent the entire evening researching picnics and watching YouTube videos of people on picnics so I’d have some idea what to expect. The thought of trying to appear like everyone else was overwhelming.”
Keys hated that for her. The anxiety she must have gone through with no one to talk to. She didn’t make friends. She’d glossed over that part, but he knew, in the intervening years, she must have tried and been betrayed on more than one occasion. She’d stopped trying to be who she really was and gave everyone the illusion.
“And what happened at the picnic?”
She touched the tip of her tongue to her lips. “He went crazy. Insane. One minute we were talking like we sometimes could. I was being very careful, and then I turned around and he was holding out a ring and asking me to marry him. I remember staring at the ring, wondering what to do. How I was supposed to respond. I had never gone on a date. We hadn’t kissed. I thought he might be joking, but I never understood humor, so I wasn’t certain. I tried to be careful, but I waited too long. I saw it on his face, and I think I tried to run. I just remember seeing the knife in his hand and him catching me by my hair.”
Those marks he’d thought were knife scars but dismissed because how could Lyric Johansen possibly have knife scars? He should have taken more care to ask.
“I don’t know how many times he stabbed me, but then he started stabbing himself. There was blood everywhere. I heard screaming all around us and people shouting to call 911, but then I just blacked out.”
“He tried to kill you because you took too long to answer his proposal.” He kept his tone quiet and thoughtful. Hiding the monster.
“That seemed to be his motivation.”
“Babe, if I ever lose my mind and propose to you, feel free to say no.” He lived his life free of all encumbrances. She wasn’t a woman who shared. He didn’t plan on ever being a one-woman man, yet the moment he stated the words, intending to find the little well of amusement she reserved solely for him, he wished he’d chosen another way to lighten the situation.
“No worries, Keys. I would know you’d had a temporary breakdown, and I’d look after you until you came to your senses.”
“Did he die? This Miles, did he die from his wounds?”
“He’s serving a prison term.”
She hadn’t cried. Not a single tear. She knew she was safe with him, but she still hadn’t cried. Her body had reacted, but she shut down all emotion, closing the door tight. He knew about closed doors. He’d never believed it would do any good to talk to someone and let that shit leak out. If it happened, he might burn down the world. He had his monster to cover for him and keep vulnerable parts safe. But Lyric, she was all compassion and sweetness. She was entirely vulnerable. She needed to get that shit out into the open and cauterize the wounds.
“If he’s in prison, why aren’t you safe? Why do you live on the run?”
“His friends. They came to the hospital and told me I had to say the knife was mine and that I’d attacked him, or they would make me pay.”
That arctic-cold rage moved through him. “Did you?”
“I was so traumatized at the time, with no one to help me make sense of what happened, I didn’t speak. I never opened my mouth to the cops or the judge or anyone. There were too many witnesses, and he was convicted. One day I came home and knew someone had been in my home. I hid. I’m small, and I fit into very unlikely spaces. It was Leo and Owen. They had trashed my place and left me a note. It said they would find me and make me pay. They’ve caught up with me a couple of times, but I’m good in the wilderness, and I always make sure wherever I set up a new life, I’ve got a retreat.”