Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
“I know it was. I also know that you would’ve told me all about it had you wanted to. I was being nice and not calling you out on it.” He hooked his arm around my waist and pulled me into his solid chest. “I bought this place from an old man.”
“Vito sold it to move in with Grace and Cody when I was ten or so,” I explained.
“Vito?”
I winced. “Slip of the tongue.”
He smoothed my hair back from my face. “You’re allowed to be angry at your father. You’re also allowed to not want to address him as a father when it’s apparent he doesn’t intend on acting like one.”
I felt my face begin to crumple.
He noticed and pulled me in to him, lifting me up off my feet again and planting his ass into the couch before sinking backward, taking me with him.
When I had my head resting on his collarbone, the tears started to fall.
It was because of his gentleness.
The way that he held me so tenderly, as if he was afraid to make any sudden moves because he thought I might break.
I don’t know how long I lay there, silently crying, but it must’ve been long enough for me to fall asleep in his arms.
He’d slipped my jacket off of me at some point and tossed it onto the couch beside us.
He was probably sweltering in his, because it was still pillowed underneath my face when I woke up to his chest rumbling who knew how long later.
Twenty-Four
Apologies, my good bitch. But what seems to be the fuck?
—Text from Hux to Creed
Creed
Her phone wouldn’t stop ringing.
I sat there with her in my arms for a solid four hours, sweating my ass off but unwilling to move.
Thank goodness that I turned the heat down before I left, or I would’ve had to move to shuck the jacket and possibly woken her up.
I’d watched, totally content to have her in my arms, as the day had slowly slipped away.
Before it’d gotten dark about an hour ago, the snow had really started to pick up, and everything was covered in a solid layer of white as the sun slipped below the mountains behind the house.
I silenced all the calls she’d been getting, and had used her password—I’d learned that in the last few days of taking care of her—to send out texts to everyone that she was sleeping and would call back when she woke up.
That worked for the first hour with Shade.
It didn’t work for the second hour.
Eventually, he got impatient enough that I chose to answer the phone call instead of risking him calling out a search party.
“Shade,” I said quietly.
“Why are you answering her phone?” Shade snarled.
I sighed. “She’s sleeping. Which I’ve already told you.”
“You said that two hours ago. She doesn’t ever take naps,” he pointed out.
“I know that, but these are extenuating circumstances. She’s literally asleep, or I would’ve told her to call you back.”
He sighed. “Send me proof.”
I snapped a picture of her face, which was buried in my neck, and sent it to him.
He sounded far away for a second as he said, “Okay. I’ll call back later. Don’t let her forget to call me back, though, or I’ll follow her location to where you’re at and find out myself. Then she’ll get mad at you because you let me drive in this storm.”
“I’ll tell her to call…”
“I’m awake.” Birdee sat up and reached for the phone.
I handed it to her, and she brought it up to her face before saying, “I’m fine.”
She had an imprint mark of two buttons on her face, and the seam of my jacket connecting the two.
“Okay,” Shade said. “Just checking.” He paused. “Um, also, I didn’t know if you wanted to be told this or not, but your sister’s missing.”
“What?”
“Cody went off hunting earlier. I heard it from your dad when I walked into the diner,” he said. “She left, and didn’t come back before it got dark.”
“That’s not unusual for her, though,” I pointed out.
“I know,” Shade grumbled. “So freakin’ selfish, if you ask me. Now they’re talking about getting the SAR team out. I suggested they leave her ass out in it.”
“Shade,” Birdee quietly reprimanded.
That might be the cause of the calls that I was getting, but had refused to answer.
I was on the search and rescue team for the county, and often got call-outs for this type of thing. However, I had other, more important people to take care of tonight.
Cody could find her own way home…
“Keep me updated if you hear anything,” Birdee said quietly. “It’s not like they’re going to call me and let me know that she’s okay.”
“One other thing,” Shade said before Birdee could say goodbye, which only irritated me slightly.
I’d come to know Shade trial by fire style in the last forty-eight hours, and I found that I really liked his protectiveness when it came to Birdee. I also liked that he had her back no matter what.