Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 61868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
But you took something from him.
That’s why he’s here. Skye’s just a cover. He wants to make me pay for Harold’s death. Time doesn’t change it. Going through the motions at work together won’t change it, either. His brother died, and he blames me.
And I deserve the blame.
“I’m not going anywhere.” Ethan lunges forward, his words slurring from a mouth that seems out of his control.
Jack holds his ground, and so do I. “This is our land, Ethan. And you’re trespassing.” Jack’s weapon hand twitches, and Ethan’s eyes drop to the long, sharp steel.
Even in his drunken state, it must register that he’s in danger. Two against one isn’t great odds when you’re up against men who haul logs for a living.
“All I want is a taste. You owe me that much.”
“I’ll give you a taste of something,” Jack says. “Your own fucking blood. Now, get out of here.”
“YOU OWE ME…” Ethan’s face contorts, reddening with fury as he points at me in jabbing motions. “YOU FUCKING OWE ME, WEST. YOU OWE ME A FUCKING BROTHER.”
The torture in his voice tears at my heart. All the guilt I feel over being the one to escape the falling tree surges through my bloodstream. Harold’s scared face as he shoved me out of the way and the way that expression didn’t change when a huge branch caught him, crushing his body against the ground, is so clear in my mind.
I didn’t deserve to live. He didn’t deserve to die.
It was my mistake, and Harold paid with his life.
Now Ethan’s suffering every day from grief.
“He doesn’t owe you shit, Ethan. It was an accident. You know that. I know that. West knows that. Harold was a good guy, and he put his buddy’s life before his own. He was a hero that day. And no pussy is going to bring him back. You aren’t making any sense.”
Jack takes a lumbering step forward, raising the screwdriver high enough to inspire panic in Ethan’s eyes. One stab of its length would pierce his skull, and we’d be within our rights to deal with a trespasser on our land in the dark.
“All I want is a taste of that girl. What does it matter to you? You bought her. She’s yours to pass around if you want.”
“Fuck, Ethan. You’re disgusting,” Jack hisses. “Go find your own whore.”
My head whips around to see if Skye’s listening. Finn is at the open door of the studio, blocking her view of us, but voices carry in the silence of the looming trees on a now windless night. She’s not a whore. I don’t see her that way, anyway. Our contract agreement might involve sex, but that’s only a part of what she’s here for. I’d never look down on her for doing what she needs to do to survive.
Ethan staggers back, the alcohol destroying his coordination. His eyes are wide, and he mutters under his breath like a witch casting a spell. Something about how it should have been me that died that day, and how he curses my life.
He doesn’t know how many times I wish it would have been me who died and Harold who’d lived. He was my friend, and the burden of his heroics has only crushed my life.
Skye’s not a whore. She’s a balm for three lonely, messed-up men who miss the company of a woman but are too fucked up to find one who’ll stick around. She doesn’t know it, but she has all the power.
“Just go,” I tell Ethan. It’s the strongest statement I can muster. “Just get out of here before we have to kick your ass.”
“I HATE YOU,” he spits. “I FUCKING HATE YOU.”
“Yeah, well, we’re not exactly in love with you either, man. Just go home and sober up.”
Jack jerks forward, and Ethan stumbles backwards at the aggression.
“You could have just given her to me. I don’t need her for long.”
“GO!” I yell, not wanting to hear anymore.
“You can’t watch her all the time, West.” His eyes narrow at me as he takes another step back. “You have to work, and she’ll be alone in this remote cabin.” Ethan raises his hand to sweep across the lonely expanse of forest we’re standing in. “I’ll get her one way or another.”
“I swear to god.” Jack’s restraint is gone in an instant, and so is mine. That’s a direct threat to Skye, and he’s not going to get away with it. Jack drops the screwdriver, realizing he won’t need it against Ethan’s drunk ass.
Jack’s fist makes contact first, and Ethan is knocked to the ground. “You could have just left,” he growls, laying another punch. I kick Ethan’s leg, and he curls in on himself. “You could have left, but now you’re putting me in a position where I have to teach you a fucking lesson.”