AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’re not what I pictured all this time.” I dished up the eggs on two plates, and then the bacon, before setting it down on the placemats she found on the kitchen counter.
She was getting up on the barstool, her eyes watching me cautiously. “Let me guess, covered in tattoos and red hair?” She twirled a lock of her dark, wet hair around her finger with a small smile.
“No. I wasn’t expecting you to be so short, for starters.” She laughed, picking up her fork, she started eating the food I prepared.
“Well, I certainly wasn’t going to mention my height in a letter, East.” I rolled my eyes at her quick wit, letting her claim another piece of my broken heart.
“You’re kind,” I continued with my description, and she blushed.
“You didn’t get that from me joining the program, to begin with?”
“We both know you needed to do that to graduate, just like I needed it to get out. Speaking of, when do you graduate?” She had polished off her plate of food and was jumping down from the barstool, giving me her back in response. “Harley?” I questioned, following her into the kitchen where she started the dishes.
“This week.”
“And the problem with that?” I pressed, putting my plate in the dishwasher. Wrapping my hands around her small wrists, I forced her to stop and look at me. She tried to cover her face with her hair, but I saw through the thin wisps.
Unshed tears shone in her beautiful blue and green eyes.
“My parents won’t be able to make it.” Her parents continued to surprise me. How could they have raised her to be so kind when they were so cruel?
“Did they say why?” She nodded, and I let go of one of her wrists to brush away her wet hair.
“It’s not a big enough reason for them to come see me.” Anger flooded my body at her shrug at their disgusting behavior. “But that’s okay. I don’t want to see them anyway.”
She blinked slowly, swallowed thickly, and then plastered a fake smile to her swollen lips. Always putting on a brave face.
I wanted to get past her armor. I needed her to know it was okay to tell me the truth. I needed to be her safe space.
“You don’t have to put on a smile for me, little bird.” I softly brushed my thumb along her plump, swollen, bottom lip.
“It’s better this way,” she insisted, her lips moving against my finger.
“For you or me?” I whispered, fighting every urge in my body to press my lips to hers.
“Everyone. I won’t beg them to be there, and I won’t make my problems yours or anyone else’s.” She pulled away from me again, but I tightened my hold on her wrist and dropped my other hand to her waist.
“Don’t pull away from me, Harley. Let me in.” She tugged her wrist from my hold and then took a quick step back.
“We barely know each other. Why would I suddenly let you in?” I tried to reign in the hurt. Swallowing thickly, I saw the storm brewing in her eyes. Her bottom lips quivered, and her chest rose and fell quickly.
“What else do you want to know about me, Harley? I spent the last year answering every question you asked me. I put all my secrets down for you on paper. What else do you need from me?” She took another step back, bumping into the kitchen counter.
I could easily close the distance between us. Two steps and I would be caging her in, giving her no chance of escape, but I didn’t move.
“I need to know you’ll still be here now that I got you out of prison. I need to know that you aren’t going to leave me, too.” Her voice shook, and I took a step closer to her, but she wrapped her arms around her torso, making me pause.
“I’m not leaving. You weren’t just a get-out-of-jail card, Harley. This isn’t fucking Monopoly.” I gritted out the words, and her gaze fell to the ground.
“You still haven’t told me what got you in prison in the first place, East. You haven’t shared all your secrets. Just like I didn’t share all of mine. Who knows how many more still exist between us?” I balled my hands into fists, hating her truth.
“You want to know why I served five years? You need me to tell you how I was betrayed by my foster brother? Do you want the details of how my foster father abused me and Gray for years? Do you really need to see all my broken pieces to let me give you the rest of what I have left? Tell me, Harley. What do you need?”
A soft cry escaped her trembling lips, and I hated myself for causing her more pain, but she’d turned what I had hoped to be a good fucking morning into a shitshow. She wasn’t the fucking victim here.
“I don’t know what I’m doing here,” she whispered, turning away from me, her body shaking with silent tears.
“What do you mean?” My voice was low. I failed to keep my own pain from lacing the question.
