Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 40566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
Sutton with her blonde hair and soft smiles is carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. Despite his own baggage, Ryland can’t help but be drawn to the pretty waitress.
He wants to protect her from her struggles, and when he discovers she’s been hurt, everything changes. He’s no longer willing to sit back and wait. Ryland is determined to show Sutton how he truly feels.
Now that Ryland realizes love is worth fighting for, will he be able to break through Sutton’s walls and claim the happiness they both deserve?
In a world full of obstacles, Ryland is ready to do whatever it takes to make Sutton his.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
PROLOGUE
RYLAND
One Month Earlier
“Goddamn, mother trucking son of a bitch,” I mumble beneath my breath when I see none other than Sutton Rawlins walking down the street.
“Son of a bischhh,” Case mimics me. Great, this is just fucking great. The preschool is going to have a field day with my boy if he so much as whispers the phrase I just used. The only problem I have with nipping it in the butt is, my boy repeated those four words without so much as a hiccup. Well, besides dragging out the end of the last one.
“Case, that’s not a nice word.” Holding back my smile and laughter while looking in the rearview mirror at my boy is damned impossible. I use a stern voice, and when his little lip wobbles, I know I made my point even though it’s tearing up my gut. “You’re not in trouble. Daddy shouldn’t have said it either.” I nod, and he returns the appreciation. That’s it. There’s no more discussion. Holding a grudge isn’t in my nature unless it’s Case’s mom. Then I’ll hold on to the anger I have for her until the day I die. How she could abandon my sweet boy, I’ll never ask her, and I’ll never know either. Thank fuck.
“Kay, Daddy.” Case turns back to the window and the reason for my harsh words to begin with. Sutton Rawlins is walking down the street, huddled into herself and the sorry excuse of jacket she wears when the weather is bitterly cold. Except she’s no longer Sutton Rawlins. She’s Sutton Sullivan, and her husband is a worthless piece of shit. I’ve witnessed firsthand how her brightness has dulled. No longer is she the happy-go-lucky, smiling-while-walking-around girl. I mean damn, I’m not either, but her light is completely sniffed out. And Shane Sullivan is the one to blame. The local hometown football hero isn’t what everyone expected him to be. How Sutton hung her lasso to him, I’ll never understand. Then again, I haven’t been through the hell she has either. My family rallies around when shit goes sideways. Sutton hasn’t had that, ever. Her mom did the best she could as a single mom working two jobs, her husband in the wind, a lot like Case’s biological mother. I refuse to call her his mom. Sure, she did the right thing. The way she did it though… Fuck, it could have been so much worse. Sutton’s mom did the best she could with what she had, and no one in town ever abandoned them, like when Mom noticed they needed new shoes. Or when the holidays were around the corner or summer came creeping up, Mom would load up the family, we’d have dinner at the diner, and she’d leave an extra tip. Then she’d go a step further: when no one was at the Rawlins house, Mom would leave care packages for the two of them.
That’s who Mom is, and when Sutton’s mom, Ms. Taylor, passed away, she stayed with Sutton until she was secure in knowing her friend’s daughter would slowly be okay. What no one expected, not even me, was her marrying Shane. He was a hometown hero of sorts, and everyone thought he’d go pro, but an injury ended his career early, and when he returned home from college, he set his sights on Sutton. My world was imploding with learning about Case’s speech delay at the time, which I took harder than necessary and closed myself off yet again.
“What do you say we give Sutton a ride home?” I ask my boy, pulling over ahead of where she’s walking.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah!” he chants. We’re on our way home from preschool, and while the last thing I want to do is potentially see Shane, Sutton could use a break from life. The woman works more than anyone else I know. The only reason I’m aware of this fact is because my family is nothing but a bunch of Nosey Nellies, our mother being number one. Working down the list are my brothers and sisters-in-law. Dad is the only one who keeps things to himself, unless it’s about one of us kids, and yes, we’re still considered kids by our parents, even with us brothers varying in ages from early thirties to forties. Needless to say, I know more about Sutton than I’ve asked for, and my mother makes it her mission to remind me just how pretty she is. I know exactly how beautiful Sutton is. I thought about it before, and I still think about her now. But she’s wrapped up with the scum beneath my boot, meaning I’m at a damn standstill until something changes.
“You good?” I ask Case as I put the truck in Park.
“Uh-huh, I have a ssss…nack.” My boy picks up his granola bar in one hand, shaking it around. Undoubtedly, I’ll have a mess of crumbs and wrappers to pick up once we’re back home. It’d be a lost cause to deal with right now.