AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I swallow the lump in my throat. I’ve rolled the dice. I decide to enjoy this, us, before they stop rolling and determine our fate. I will enjoy us, enjoy having Rose like this, come what may.
We stay in the car, lost in one another, waiting for the weather to clear before heading back home. Rose is asleep on my lap. Her red, fire strands are sprawled all over my legs as I deliver slow, soothing caresses to her head. My mind is running a thousand miles and hour, and I figure that all roads do fucking lead to Rome. I met my destiny on the path I took to avoid it.
Fucked up as it is, I can’t overlook this. I can’t let this go without a fight.
I decide to tell her what I feel as soon as we get home. I’ll make love to her again, tell her exactly how I feel about her, and how much I want her to be mine. Mind, body and soul.
We drive home in silence. It’s heavy and drenched with unspoken words. Rose has been staring out the window ever since we left the city.
I look over to her and see the wheels turning in her head too. What’s going through that pretty head of hers? She catches me staring and gives me a small smile before turning to the window again.
Her eyes don’t harbor pity, filling me with hope. Maybe she’s thinking about the logistics. About how we should tell our parents. About their reaction. It didn’t faze me, but I know it’s something that would worry her.
We drive into our home town, like we’ve done countless times before. When we get home, this is it. This is when I bare my heart and tell her that I can’t let her go. That she’s mine to keep.
Chapter Eight
Rose
The day I came home, and Dad told me my mother had left. The day of Dad and Elizabeth’s wedding. The day I got my acceptance letter to art school. The day I got my first real job.
We don’t often realize which days will stay with us forever when they are happening. These are the only ones I manage to fish out from a sea of memories as we make the drive back ‘home’. And today. I am keenly aware of the fact that I will remember this day forever.
No matter what happens, there will always be a before and after today.
The walls that crumbled all around us today? I could practically hear them falling. I felt seen, wanted, desired. Just like Dorothy, I landed somewhere new and unexpected. My world turned technicolor, and I will never be able to go back to black and white. I had been choosing gray for so long, I forgot how much I love every color, how much I love to color outside the lines.
“Crawl out of your head, buttercup. We’re almost there.” Shit. I haven’t said a word since he started the car. He is right about me getting lost in my thoughts. He has been right about so much. “Do you want to stop for hot chocolate or something?” James offers me a shy smile. Fuck. It’s even more disarming than his flirty ones.
“No. The only thing I want is to go home with you.” My simple statement freezes the air in my lungs. It is a simple truth, a short little sentence that tells me everything I need to know. Simple truth, complicated reality.
James’ eyes are glued to the road ahead, I wonder if he even heard me until I see the tight, white-knuckle grasp he has on the steering wheel.
In the next minute we are making a right on the all-too-familiar road. The snow has done its job coating away imperfections, differences, singularities. From the outside it all looks perfect, pristine, exactly as it should be. But snow melts, muddy slush always follows.
I look to my left, the usually overconfident driver is looking mousy. It is so out of character it makes me laugh.
“What?” He asks without looking at me.
“Nothing. You just look like you’re taking your driving exam, or something.” James drops his head and laughs at himself. “Hands at ten and two at all times,” I tease him some more. “Relax, would you?” I turn his usual comeback on him.
“Fuck you, Valentine.”
“Here’s hoping, Archer.” I stretch out my arm, grab the short hairs at the back of his head, and give a firm tug. James sucks air through his teeth.
He finally settles his dominant, unmistakably intimidating gaze on me. “You’ve done it now, little girl.” He licks his bottom lip before carrying on. “Here’s what’s going to happen. I will park at the bottom of the driveway. When I pull up the handbrake, your three second head start begins. You better run and pray you make it inside the house before I get to you. Otherwise, I am fucking you right on the front lawn. Understood?”
Fuck. Dirty talk is new to me, but I am a willing convert. James’ words cut through flesh and bone, settling right into my core. I know what I’m supposed to say. I know what I want to say. “Yes, Daddy.” I am not backing away from this.
He revs up the engine, a wolfy grin on his lips. The wolf ate the mouse, and he will eat me next.
I already unfasten my seatbelt, I am ready to jump out the door and sprint towards the house the second the car stops. I thank my lucky stars I wore sensible footwear today. The house sits on a slope, the driveway is at an incline, I don’t want to fall flat on my face and ruin whatever wonderful plans James has for me tonight.
The engine stops and I’m off. I don’t even bother with closing the car door. Hopefully it gets me an extra second. I keep my eyes on the ground, I still don’t trust my grip with all this snow. I’m almost at the house, I hear car doors slamming and swearing. Shit, James’ stride is much bigger than mine. I’m giddy with excitement as I reach the porch steps. Yes! Victory! I’m at the door!
“Rose!”
Fuck. I stop so abruptly I slip on the ice on the top step and fall flat on my ass. I hear James calling out for me when he sees me go down. Double fuck. I get up as quickly as possible, the pain I should be feeling doesn’t hold a candle to the shock I’m in. I give James an apologetic look, his answering grimace tells me he’s about to be bulldozed and I can't do anything to stop it.
