Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 101662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Kierra stood tall, even though she was short. “I’m me! And I get to tell you when you’re acting like a stupid boy.”
“Whatever, Kierra. Leave,” I huffed, feeling my eyes start to water up. I wished that would stop happening so much. But whenever I felt anger lately, I’d feel like crying, too. And I always felt angry, which meant I always cried, too.
Kierra must’ve noticed because she got quiet. I didn’t even know she had the kind of mouth that could shut up. Most of the time, she was just yap-yap-yapping about nothing.
Now, she was quiet.
Freakishly quiet.
Next, she did something I didn’t expect her to do.
She hugged me.
Then, I did something I didn’t expect to do.
I hugged her back.
I didn’t understand why, but something about Kierra’s hugs made me feel safe. I hadn’t known I felt unsafe until her arms wrapped around me, just like when we were in the hospital the day Dad died. Most of the time, I didn’t want anyone to talk to me, let alone hold me. But when Kierra hugged me, I felt like I could breathe again. It was like her hugs reminded my heart to continue to beat.
She held on for a long time, and I didn’t try to pull away. I wanted to stay there with my arms wrapped around her for five more minutes. For ten more minutes. For sixty more minutes.
As long as she’d hold me, I wanted to hold her back.
“Gabriel?” she whispered as we kept embracing.
“What?”
“Want to play catch?”
I stepped back and wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. “Are you any good at catch?”
She shook her head. “Nope.”
“Fine.” I grumbled and rolled my eyes as I picked up Dad’s baseball. “I’ll show you, but if you suck, I’ll tell you.”
“If you tell me I suck, I’ll tell you that you have a big nose, Toad.”
I smiled. Maybe for the first time in weeks because for a moment everything felt normal again. “Deal. Come on, dick.”
4
Kierra
Present Day
“What took you so long?” Henry whispered as I emerged back at the dinner party. He eyed me up and down once before grimacing. It was clear he wasn’t a fan of my outfit change, but he couldn’t say that in a crowded room with his associates and friends.
“Sorry. I had to find something different to wear.” I smoothed my slightly shaky hands over my gown as my eyes glanced around the room, searching for Gabriel. When my stare returned to Henry’s, I allowed a small fake smile to slip out. “How do I look?”
“Like you aren’t even trying,” he whispered before linking my arm with his. “Let’s try this one more time. And I’d prefer if you didn’t make such a scene this go-around.”
“Yes, dear,” I sarcastically remarked. “I’ll be your perfect little robot.”
Henry pinched my arm slightly in response to my remark, and I yipped quietly, but I didn’t say another word. He led us over to where Gabriel and his redhead were situated. My stomach instantly began to twist once more as we stood in front of the two.
“Let’s try this introduction again,” Henry smiled, nodding toward Gabriel. It was unsettling how quickly my husband could seemingly shift his whole mood when others were around. It was as if his perfect mask was always in place except when he and I were alone together.
“Sweetheart, this is Gabriel Sinclair of GS Architecture, and Ramona, his associate,” Henry said.
Associate?
Not his girlfriend?
The way my stomach slightly unknotted from that news should’ve been a big warning sign.
“And this is my beautiful, brilliant, successful wife, Kierra,” Henry continued.
“I could get used to that kind of introduction,” I half-joked. If Henry always treated me the way he did in front of others, I would’ve been head over heels for the man. It was the private conversations that made me despise him. The hardest thing about my husband was how he looked at me in front of others compared to how he acted toward me in the privacy of our lives. I’d never met another man who acted like heaven in public but in the shadows felt so painfully like hell. He was the definition of a handsome devil.
I held my hand out toward Ramona first. “It’s nice to meet you both.”
“The pleasure is all ours,” Gabriel said as he reached his hand for me. As his palm linked with mine, a pool of heat gathered in my stomach and I worked like heck to keep tears from falling from my eyes. I probably held on to his grip too long. I probably left his hand moist from how much my own had been sweating. I’d probably appeared like a deer in headlights as our eyes locked together. Still, I couldn’t look away.
He dropped my hand.
I instantly missed his warmth.
I rubbed my sweaty palm against the side of my dress and forced another smile. “And how do you three know one another?”