AllFreeNovel
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It’s about the only piece of good luck I’ve had.
A car pulls up on the driveway, and I stand from the porch step. Blonde hair is visible as the driver steps out of the car.
Fuck.My heart’s firing off faster than an AK47 in a gangster movie. Ninety days. Ninety nights. Ninety sunrises without her. It’s a miracle I’m still in one piece. Being apart from her like this has been a worse hell than being in jail ever was.
My breath lodges in my throat, as the driver looks over at me, her brows shooting up in surprise.
It’s Harley.
I open my mouth to call out a greeting, but then the passenger door opens.
And there she is.
My Sunbeam.
Looking so radiant, she steals the words from my mouth as my tongue dries up.
Her eyes connect with mine and there’s a brief light in them as they widen, and she stares at me. But it dims instantly. She looks almost the same as she did the last time I saw her. But her hair is a little longer, the soft waves falling around her shoulders and reaching toward her waist in her jersey dress. And she’s wearing her black over-the-knee boots.Her favorite.The ones she wore that day in the balloon. The day she made me pull the car over so she could climb into my lap.
Back when she wanted to be close to me all the time.
Back when she looked at me with a brightness in her eyes that isn’t there now. It’s been replaced by a cold wariness. And it makes my heart plummet to my feet.
It can only be a couple of seconds, but it’s like time is standing still as I stare back at her, my eyes roaming all over her face, studying it, drinking it in, trying to convey a million thoughts and feelings silently.
I’m so sorry. I fucked up, Sunbeam. I fucked up. But you mean more to me than the air I breathe. You mean more to me than my own life.
You are everything.
She slams the car door and storms around the trunk. Harley races after her, reasoning with her—telling her to slow down and think.
But this is Rose,myRose. She’ll fire out all her passion and think later. It’s one of the things I admire about her the most. That she’s strong and independent. That she won’t allow anyone to walk all over her without calling them out on it. Without calling them—
“Bastard!” She flies up, stopping toe to toe with me, her eyes wild, her cheeks flushed as she pants. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I—”
“Ninety fucking days!” she screams, the whites of her eyes shining as she places both palms on my chest and shoves me until I step backward. “You don’t get to waltz back here without a text message, a phone call. Who the fuck do you think you are?”
“Rose...”
Her eyes stay trained on mine, angry breaths pushing past her parted pink lips.
She jerks her head back, then shakes it. “Don’t. Don’t even say my name. You…” She screws her face up. “Why are you here? You just sent me on some twilight zone treasure hunt to see all your lies and secrets. Is that it? Now you want me to give you my time?” She slaps her palm against her chest. “You want me to listen to you because now you’re ready and it suits you? Well, guess what? You’re about ninety fucking days too late.” She throws her arms wide.
“Rose, why don’t you talk inside—” Harley cuts in behind her.
“No!” Rose snaps, inclining her chin to her sister over her shoulder, but keeping her eyes firmly on mine.
Harley nods and gives me a regretful look as she heads to the front door. “I’ll give you both some privacy.” She heads inside, leaving Rose glaring at me.
Rose’s shoulders are trembling, and even though I know it’s from rage, the sight is like a stake through my heart. I did this to her. I forced her away from me. I thought making her hate me would be easier. But easier for who? Because looking at her now, the last ninety days have been just as hard for her as they have for me. Harder, in fact. Because I knew the truth. She’s only known fragments of it. Broken pieces that didn’t fit together without the missing ones.
“You think you can just turn up here?” The volume has dropped, but her voice is still shrouded with the iciness that was there when she first spoke. A cold, hard distance to it. Separating herself from me.
And it’s the least I fucking deserve.
“Would you have been here if I told you I was coming?”
