Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 160042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 800(@200wpm)___ 640(@250wpm)___ 533(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 800(@200wpm)___ 640(@250wpm)___ 533(@300wpm)
I think he’s too busy feeling a surge of emotions to laugh or even crack a smile in this moment. I wouldn’t believe it if I wasn’t watching it with my own eyes, but Arsen’s usually impassive and hard features are scrunched up slightly and are lined with what I can only call longing. There’s a wet sheen to his dark eyes that’s so bright, just like the midday sun, that I have the urge to blink my own eyes against the glare.
But I dare not because I don’t want to miss this reunion.
That’s what this is, isn’t it? A reunion after eight years. I also think I know who this younger guy might be: Axton. He’s the first to break away, and as soon as he does, he rears back and lays a punch on Arsen. The sound alone of flesh meeting flesh makes me flinch, but Arsen, other than his head jerking to the side, hardly moves. He doesn’t even reach up to touch the spot or acknowledge it in any way.
“That’s for being an asshole every time I came around to see you and you wouldn’t see me,” the younger guy growls.
Arsen simply looks at him and dips his chin. “Noted.”
I watch as maybe-Axton’s shoulders go up and down with his heavy, noisy breaths. “You look… old.”
At this, Arsen finally barks out a laugh. “Eight years’s a long time, huh.”
His shoulders heave again. “Yeah. A fuckin’ long time.”
Arsen’s jaw clenches for a second before he dryly delivers, “You look the same, though.”
The guy chuckles. “Fuck off.” Then, his head shaking, “I can’t fuckin’ believe you’re back.”
Another flash of longing moves through Arsen’s features before they go impassive like always with a hint of condescension. “Yeah, well, eight years and nothing’s changed. You’re still gonna get your neck broken and end up dead before you can legally drink.”
“What, that?” He motions with his thumb over his shoulder. “That was just a little bet to see who gets to break that bronco first.”
“You don’t really seem to be winning.”
“Are you kiddin’?” Axton waves his objections away. “I’m the only one who’s been on that sucker for close to thirty seconds. It’s been a week since Rad rescued it from some real hillbilly type. Ain’t no one been able to touch it let alone ride that bad boy.”
Arsen shoots him a look that I can only call superior. “Well, that’s about to change, ain’t it? Because as you said, I’m back.”
I don’t really see it because Axton’s back is turned, but I feel him rolling his eyes. “Think you should probably worry less about me and more about you. Because where the fuck is your shirt?”
Before Arsen can say anything, we hear a shout—a woman’s—bursting from the direction of the mansion. Thankfully. I wasn’t prepared to hear his answer.
“Axton Jonah Grayson, get your lazy ass back in the house and pick your tighty-whities up off the floor right now or I’m gonna lose it. I’m not your fucking…”
The voice trails off, because the woman it belongs to bounds down those wide stairs and stumbles upon the scene in front of her. By that I mean, she catches sight of Arsen and comes to a sudden halt. Her eyebrows scrunch up and her mouth falls open, a reaction similar to the younger guy’s.
Is this Annie?
As soon as the thought flashes through my mind, I’m ashamed of it. For a variety of reasons. Including that this potential moment is much bigger than my useless fascination with a girl that I know for a fact is important to the man I was forced to marry. So important that he’s ready to burn down the world in his quest for revenge for her. So important that I think he loves her.
He does, doesn’t he? Because you don’t go to such lengths for someone you don’t love.
And this woman here, she’s beautiful. She might be the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. She has the blackest, shiniest hair, which goes past her hips, and her skin is a beautiful shade of bronze, making me think she may be of Native American descent. Her eyes are catlike, with arched ends and a dark fringe of lashes. And her lips are plump and dark pink with an enticing curve. With a plaid shirt, skinny jeans, and cowboy boots, she looks at home here. Like she belongs on this ranch. I wonder what that’s like.
I watch her mouth Arsen’s name before she takes off just like Axton. She runs up the path, her long hair flying behind her, and right in front of my eyes, she jumps into Arsen’s arms. Her feet lift off the ground and her arms wind around his neck like she’ll never let him go.
Despite myself, I press a trembling hand to my belly. There’s an acute pain down there that only increases when I see Arsen rocking her in his arms. I hear a soft sob escaping her as she hides her pretty face in the side of his neck.