Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
No regret? I drew in a shuddered breath. “I don’t know if I can do that.”
“Then I’ll help you. Let me help you.”
I nodded, taking that from him, knowing I could take that from him.
He cradled my face in both of his hands, his thumbs smoothing down over my cheeks. “You good?”
No. But I said, “Getting there.”
“Good.” He dipped his head down again, his mouth finding mine, and just like in his truck, the desire didn’t take long to build. A deep groan left him as he bent, his hands falling from my face, going to my ass, and he lifted me up.
My arms and legs went around him, and he carried me to his bedroom.
I’d had sex with Cris a lot, but this night was different.
It was more.
It was deeper.
I was pretty sure it was with love.
17
MAREN
STILL LATER.
The response to the article was overwhelming. It was mostly good, turning so many things upside down. There was some bad, but it was how the world worked. There’d always be bad. I only focused on the good, and a big good thing that happened was that Kellie was kicked out of school.
I rolled over in bed with Cris one night. “Tell me again what Cahill said to Ryan.”
That was another of the changes that happened.
He shrugged, lying beside me with one of his arms around me. His other hand was playing with mine, and he was looking up at his ceiling. “You get off on this shit, don’t you?” He glanced down at me.
I gave him a wolfish grin. “Maybe.”
He snorted, grinning. “Cahill was pissed when he found out about that article, and I mean pissed. His parents are suing her because he never wanted Ryan off the team. He was just an asshole, wanting to be top dog. That’s it. Ryan is the reason he didn’t go pro early, because he knew with him joining, we could win March Madness. The team came so close last year.”
“Is that really true? Cahill really didn’t want Ryan off the team?”
“Yeah. He never did. He just wanted to make sure Ryan wasn’t top dog. But fuck, that article has people looking at him so sideways.”
“I do wonder why she did it for him, though. If she wanted him? Or if there was another reason?”
“She didn’t say?”
I shook my head. “It seems the interview he did to clear up his side was pointless.”
“Goes to show you how damning words can be, because no one believes that Cahill was another victim in all of this too.”
“The lawsuit might help.”
He grunted. “No one’s going to care. People have made up their minds, and not only does everyone love Ryan, everyone loves his girlfriend.”
I smiled, snuggling even closer to him, one of my legs tangling with his. “That’s the best part.”
“Yeah,” he said softly. “That is.”
Everyone rallied around Mackenzie. Almost literally.
She broke everyone’s hearts, anyone who read the article, then clicked to learn about her sister’s story. The university reached out to her because they wanted to discuss if she’d be interested in becoming the face of their advocacy and student hotline program.
Local and national news asked to do interviews with her. Major outlets, like Good Morning America. Ryan Jensen drew everyone in, and then they looked next to him to where Mackenzie stood, and they fell in love.
“I don’t understand that feeling. I don’t know why. I just can’t, but I’d have to imagine that it’s one of the worst feelings to experience, of not wanting to be here anymore.”
We had our talk. Mac and me. I asked her questions, and she answered them. I worried if I would trigger her again. If I’d be too much with all my questions, but she shook her head and said, “No. We’re told to talk about our issues, if we’re struggling with something except about this. It means the world that you’re asking because you want to learn. I will sit here for days answering your questions because that’s how grateful I am.”
I didn’t understand why she was saying that, but I thought about it a lot.
I said to Cris now, “Everyone wants to be understood. Right?”
I felt him start to frown, but he didn’t comment. He knew this was something where I wasn’t really talking to him. I was more talking to figure something out.
“I kinda wonder if it’s like a train where it’s only going off of a cliff. She’s on it, but she can’t get off on any of the stops. If she does, either people have their backs to her or she’s going to be met by other scary people. So because of that, she can’t get off on any of the stops until it’s the end where she knows it’s going off a cliff so she has to jump at the end—”
“Okay.” Cris rolled over on top of me. “Enough with the train analogy.”