Total pages in book: 21
Estimated words: 19985 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 100(@200wpm)___ 80(@250wpm)___ 67(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 19985 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 100(@200wpm)___ 80(@250wpm)___ 67(@300wpm)
God, this is just what I need after the day I’ve had. For a few seconds, the Charger with government plates and Danny’s arrest cease to exist. All that matters is her.
When she pulls back, she sees something in my eyes and frowns. “What’s wrong?”
Christ, she’s already able to read me.
“Just a long day,” I say.
It’s a half-truth, and she’s right not to believe me. Her hand lingers on my chest, and her eyes stay fixed on mine, but she doesn’t push it. She leads me to the couch and pulls me down beside her, draping her exposed legs over mine.
We sit there quietly as the sound of the streets drift up through the windows. Traffic, music, someone’s dog barking. Normal sounds. No gunfire, engines revving, or tires screeching. Just a world where people come home, cook dinner, and fall asleep on the couch watching TV together.
A world where people don’t keep a duffel bag packed with cash in the closet.
A want hits me so suddenly that it takes my breath away.
“What if we left?” I ask her.
She looks at me. “Left?”
“Yeah, San Diego. California. All of it.” I don’t know where this is coming from. Some vault in my chest that’s been locked for a decade and is now being cracked open by her. A safecracker breaking into my soul. “I could take you somewhere, Avery. Somewhere quiet. Oregon. Colorado. A nice small town where you could do your photography.”
She stares back at me, trying to figure out if I’m serious. “Chris, I like you, but we’ve known each other for less than a week.”
“I know how long it’s been,” I say, taking her hand.
“And leave? People don’t just leave.” I almost laugh. She has no idea how many times I’ve done just that. New name, new city, new empty house. “I have a job—"
“We could start over, Avery.” For the first time in my life, I can see it. A real future. “A house close to the water. Big windows, lots of light. Just a nice, normal life.”
“Chris…” She’s being careful with her tone. Gentle. Like she’s afraid to hurt me. “Where is this coming from?”
“It’s what I want,” I say simply.
“You want a house in Oregon?”
I shake my head, cup her face with my palm. “No. I want you.”
She pauses. “You don’t even know my middle name.”
“So tell me.”
She can’t fight the smile. The corners of her lips betray her. She can’t hide how she feels. She’s honest, and it’s one of the things I love about her.
“That’s not the point. The point is you’re talking about running away with me like this is a movie. This is real life, Chris. Things don’t work that way.”
I shrug. “Maybe they do. Maybe the only reason they don’t is because people are too afraid to try.”
“And you’re not afraid?” she counters.
I am. I’m terrified. But she can’t know that. “No. My whole life has been about keeping myself clear of commitment. Anything that could tie me down to one place. But now that I’ve met you…I know that has to change.”
She looks at me quietly, eyes searching my face, searching for a lie. I look back at her unguarded, coming to terms with the realization that my mantra that built the strong walls that have protected me all these years has really just built me a prison.
Her hands tighten on mine. “So what would our days look like?” she asks softly.
Something goes tight in my chest. She’s not saying yes, but she’s also not saying no. I have to paint a picture for her. One that will show her the life I am desperate to provide.
“I’d wake you up nicely…” she blushes but keeps eye contact. “We’d make breakfast together. You’d teach me how to not to make my scrambled eggs taste like rubber.”
A half-laugh escapes her lips. “Crucial skill.”
“You’d take pictures all day and show them to me. And at night, we’d fall asleep together. You curled up in my arms while I listen to you breathe and ask myself how I got so lucky.”
Her eyes are bright now. She’s clutching my hand tightly. “You really want that?”
I nod. “Only if it’s with you.”
She stays silent a long time. I let her. I’ve put it all on the line for her. There’s nothing left to do now but wait. The city hums outside as I watch her. I’m standing on the edge—on a tightrope wire—and what she says next will determine if I live or die.
“Rose,” she finally says.
“What?”
“My middle name is Rose.”
My arm tightens around her. I kiss her gently on the forehead and close my eyes. It’s not a yes, but it’s a step in the right direction. And right now, it feels like enough.
It feels like a beginning.
6
AVERY
I text Jules from Chris’s bed while he’s in the shower. I’m wearing his black T-shirt that smells like him and a pair of panties, my legs all tangled up in the sheets.