Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
I hated that. Hated that I gave a damn. Hated that my heart had started building little castles around him, painting him in colors that weren’t meant for me. I had told myself from the beginning not to fall. He wasn’t the kind of man a girl like me could ever keep.
Still, that didn’t stop the tears. Didn’t stop me from pressing my face into the pillow, muffling sobs until exhaustion claimed me. I’d sent that stupid text and then hurled my phone across the room like the devil himself lived inside it.
Coward. That’s what I was. I couldn’t face him, couldn’t look him in the eye and risk him confirming my worst fear—that Maria was with him too and I never could be enough on my own.
So I cried, and I cried until darkness won.
A dip in the mattress jolted me awake.
My mind hadn’t yet untangled from the fog of restless dreams when the heat of another body pressed into mine. The scent hit me next—leather, smoke, and the faint musk that always clung to Thrasher.
My eyes flew open, panic rushing in fast and ugly.
Before I thought, before I breathed, my hand lashed out. The crack of my palm across skin echoed in the dark.
“Jesus—” his voice growled low.
I screamed, scrambling back against the headboard, clutching at the thin blanket as if it could shield me. My pulse pounded in my ears, my throat raw from the sound that tore out of me.
“Melody,” he said, sharper this time, the rasp of command laced through my name. His hand shot out, gripping my wrist—not hard, not enough to hurt, but enough to ground me. “It’s me. Calm down.”
I blinked at him, heart racing, chest heaving. The shadows shifted with the moonlight bleeding in from the blinds, outlining his features. His jaw tight, his eyes burning, his hair damp like he’d run water over it before coming here.
Enzo.
Relief slammed into me, tangled with confusion and leftover fear. And if I’m honest, heartbreak.
“You scared me half to death,” I whispered, voice breaking.
“Yeah? You scared the shit outta me, swingin’ like that.” He released my wrist slowly, like easing off a trigger.
I dragged the back of my hand across my face, suddenly aware of how blotchy and swollen I must look. He saw it too—his gaze softened, even if his tone didn’t.
“You wanna tell me what the hell that text was about?” he asked.
My stomach dropped.
He leaned back on his side of the bed, propped up on an elbow like he had every right to be here. Like this was normal. Like sliding into my bed in the dead of night was just another Tuesday.
“I got your message when church wrapped up,” he continued, eyes locked on mine. “I was coming back tonight, planning to finish up my business and return to you. Instead, I get that. ‘This doesn’t work. Thanks.’” He repeated it like each word tasted bitter. “So you gonna explain to me how I left a satisfied woman after dinner, only to get dumped before I hit the road back?”
Heat crept up my neck, shame twisting me in knots.
“I—” My voice cracked, and I cleared my throat. “I shouldn’t have sent it.”
“No shit. But why?”
The sharpness in his tone sliced at me, but I couldn’t blame him.
He studied me, not moving, not blinking. Just waiting.
The silence stretched until I couldn’t take it anymore. My defenses crumbled under the weight of his stare, the memories of his touch, the echo of laughter I hadn’t heard in myself for years until he dragged it out of me.
“I thought—” My words faltered. “I thought you dropped me off so Maria could come to the clubhouse for you.”
His brow furrowed. “That’s what you think of me?”
I swallowed hard. “Maria was—”
“Maria?” His voice snapped like a whip.
I flinched, but forced myself to continue. “She was hanging around. Everyone knows she… you know. She doesn’t hide it. She said now that I was home it was her turn.”
He let out a harsh laugh, one that held no humor. “You crying your eyes out ‘cause of Maria? That’s what this is?”
I hated how small I felt, sitting there with tears threatening again, with my hands twisting the blanket in my lap like a lifeline.
“I’ve seen the way she looks at you,” I whispered.
“And what? You figured I was dumb enough to fuck her after leaving you?” His eyes flashed.
I pressed my lips together, fighting the tears. I wanted to tell him no, that I didn’t think that of him. But the truth was uglier—I didn’t think I was enough to stop a man like him from wandering.
“Answer me, Melody.”
“I don’t know what to think,” I admitted, the words spilling out like poison I couldn’t hold anymore. “I’ve never… I’ve never had someone like you. I don’t know how to do this. I don’t know how to believe it’s real.”