One Billion Reasons by Sophia Travers

Author:Sophia Travers [Travers, Sophia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-12-03T18:30:00+00:00

25

Miles

I can already tell that tonight’s event is going to be messy. The crowd seems to know each other now, after a few days of mingling, and the conversation is flowing. Richard and Harold have created some sort of drinking game in the corner of the ballroom, and they’re getting rowdier by the minute. I’m at the polished wood bar, and Lane is at a small high-top table, talking animatedly with Catherine and a friend of hers. Lane waves her hands in the air, and Catherine laughs. I have to look away. Lane’s so pretty, it hurts to look at her sometimes. She’s in a blue dress tonight. It’s short, with a neckline that plunges to her navel and exaggerated shoulders. I chose it for the way it would hug her body, but I didn’t realize that so much exposed skin would be dangerous for my health.

I order a whiskey to chase away the memory of her scent and her soft skin. The give of her delicate muscles under my fingers. The way she moaned when I touched her. I was helpless in the face of her desire. I need a little distance tonight, or I’m liable to drag her into a closet. And it’s getting harder and harder to remember why that can’t happen.

“Miles,” I hear before a meaty hand thumps down on my shoulder. Henry’s alcohol-laden breath wafts in my face, and I jerk my head away. “Let’s talk.”

I grit my teeth but follow him to a table near the bar. He smells drunk, but he doesn’t look drunk. I eye him as I sip my whiskey.

“So talk,” I say shortly. I’m done being polite to him. He thinks I’m an asshole. Might as well act like it.

“I, ah, need to apologize.” His face reddens. “I’ve been giving you a hard time.”

“Yes, you have,” I say tightly.

“Well, Amanda took me aside yesterday morning and explained to me that you’ve been nothing but kind and accommodating to her. So, I’m sorry.” His voice is gruff. “And I see now that you’re very in love, and Amanda is too. It wouldn’t have worked. Can you blame a father for wanting to protect his kid?”

My shoulders relax just a fraction. “No. I can’t. I understand.” My dad was the same way. He wanted to protect me from all the cruelty of my mother’s world. He was never entirely successful, but he tried to provide a balance to it just the same.

Henry looks uncomfortable in the silence between us, so I take pity on him. “Another whiskey? What are you drinking?”

I get our drinks from the bar, and when I return, Mark is at the table too. His eyes have a cruel light to them that I remember from when he was fifteen years younger and I was just a teenager. My dad tried to usher me away at so many of those parties, but I always wanted to stay. I had some misguided notion, that I, a skinny teenager, could protect my father from cutting words and snide glances.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.