Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 102929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Continuing my pursuit to know everything about her, I questioned, “How did you know I was out there?”
She confessed, “I followed you.”
“Why?”
She shrugged.
“No,” I called her out. “We’ve moved past that, Kitty.”
Finally, she admitted, “I don’t know why I followed you, okay? I just did.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one I have.”
“Alright.” I let it go. “Why didn’t you tell Julius you found me?”
“More like rescued you,” she pointed out. “You’re welcome, by the way.”
“Again, you’re not answering my question.”
“Well…” She threw it back at me. “Why didn’t you tell him?”
“I have Julius on my ass enough. I didn’t need another thing for him to ride me about.”
She didn’t say anything, just narrowed her eyes at me.
Feeling snarky, I bit, “You always bite your lip when you’re deep in thought?”
Her eyebrows lowered. “Is there anything you don’t notice?”
I leaned back into the armchair, smirking. Fighting the urge to tell her I noticed her…
Shaking off the thought, I waited for her next question, knowing it’d come soon.
“So,” she slowly stated, “what was last night about?”
“We’re back to that?” I sighed.
“We never left.”
“We did in my book. Besides, if I told you…” I joked, “I’d have to kill you.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Considering you weren’t far from that last night with Justin, it wouldn’t surprise me.”
“Oh, come on,” I mocked. “He was far from death.”
“What did he do to even deserve that? Why does he hate you?”
“Why does it matter?”
She stood her ground. “You want me to answer your questions, then you’ll have to abide by the same rules.”
“So now we’re playing twenty questions?”
“I’d settle for five.”
I smiled, sneering, “You better make them good.”
She thought about it for a second, like she’d been wanting to ask me the entire time.
“Do you know where Julius is?”
I wasn’t surprised that was technically her first question, though it shocked me that she didn’t know either.
“No, I don’t.”
She let out a deep sigh.
“You’re worried?”
“You’re not?”
“He’s just working.”
“If that were the case, why wouldn’t he tell us what he was doing?”
“You asked him?”
“You didn’t?”
I heaved a shoulder. “We don’t talk about that stuff.”
“And why is that?”
Feeling defensive, I snarked, “You’re a persistent little thing, aren’t you?”
With a smug expression, she responded, “Takes one to know one.”
I scoffed out a chuckle. “You’re going to have to work on your insults.”
“I—”
“No.” I stopped her. “It’s my turn to ask you.” Unable to resist, I interrogated, “Are you in trouble?”
“I don’t think so.”
I reworded my question. “The night we met. Were you in trouble?”
Not faltering, she stated, “I don’t know.”
“You’re talking in circles.”
“I’m just being honest because I don’t know.”
Her sharp tone informed me she wasn’t lying.
“Alright then, what were you running from?”
“No,” she interjected. “It’s my turn now.” Arching an eyebrow, she followed up with, “What happened between you and Justin that he baited you?”
“Is that what he was doing?”
“He was definitely trying to hurt you. Why?”
Feeling generous, I gave her what she sought. “Word around the street is that my dad fucked his mom.” With that, I stood, not wanting to see the pity in her eyes.
“Oh,” she breathed out. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know your parents were divorced.”
“They’re not.” I made my way into the kitchen.
“Oh…”
After grabbing a water out of the fridge, I turned to face her while leaning against it. Her head was bowed, looking remorseful.
“My turn.” I went straight to it. “Are the cops looking for you, Isla?”
Meeting my stare, she once again repeated, “I don’t know.”
My gaze went wide. I fucking knew it. She was right, it does take one to know one.
“What did you do?”
She opened her mouth but quickly shut it.
Needing her to trust me and feeling like I was on the verge of cracking her shell, I told her the truth of what she wanted to ask but was too afraid to.
“If she hauled ass on us because my old man couldn’t keep his dick in his pants, maybe… or maybe we just weren’t good enough for her… or maybe she was just a selfish piece of shit and didn’t want a family or kids anymore. Who the hell knows? And quite frankly, I don’t give a fuck. She’s gone, and she’s never coming back, and I’m okay with that.”
She sucked in air, taking in everything I was saying, reliving something in her gaze that was still completely focused on me. She licked her lips, needing the moisture to soothe the burn of my words. My eyes followed the simple gesture of her tongue.
“It’s not your fault,” she sympathized. “I may not know the whole story, but that much I do know. You can’t blame yourself for something you had no control over. You’re the kid. She’s the adult.”
“I was never a kid.”
“I know.” She nodded. “The roles weren’t supposed to be reversed, but we don’t get to pick our parents, now do we. If that were true, I’d have some.”