Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 110549 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110549 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
“The moment I found out you were my blood family, you became tainted in my eyes,” West spoke up as she stepped into the kitchen, her arms crossed defensively over her chest.
Meghan flinched at her words, but she tilted her chin up at West, not backing down. Lincoln quickly turned the food off, and we slipped out of the kitchen, allowing the two women to have this long, overdue talk.
West
“I thought the same thing about you,” Meghan told me. I swallowed thickly, her words cutting me, though I knew we were both speaking our minds right now. “But then, I reminded myself that despite all of that, you’re so much different than the rest of any family I had ever known. They were okay with being destructive monsters, okay with hurting everyone around them.”
Meghan stood up, her hands shaking. She clasped them together. “But West, every single day, no matter how much it hurt you to, you put one foot in front of the other, and you forced yourself down a brighter, better path, and that is why I didn’t allow my view of you to be marred.”
“I’m scared,” I told her honestly. I swallowed thickly. “I’m terrified that one day, you’re going to hurt me as much as she did,” I said, referring to my mother. “I never knew any other family. She was literally all I had. You and I—we’re the only family left now, and I can’t take it if you end up trying to bleed me out like she did.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Meghan told me. “We’re not the only family. Lincoln and Jessie? They’re your family now, too. Maybe not by blood, but they are your family. Julian and Axel? They’re your brother-in-laws—family. Hope? Your daughter. Holden, Lana, Jaxon? Your nephews and niece.” She grabbed my hands in hers when I dropped them to my sides. “They’re all family, West. And they’ll never let you down, never hurt you.” Her green eyes, the same color as mine, stared into my own. “I’ll never let you down, West.”
Tears slid down my cheeks. “I want to believe you,” I choked out. “But it’s hard, Meghan.”
“I know,” she soothed. “Trust me, I’ve been let down by people I deeply cared about, but I will never hurt you, West. Before my sister, you are my best friend—always. Nothing will change that.”
My bottom lip trembled. “Promise?” I asked her, my voice hoarse.
She hugged me tightly, and I instantly wrapped my own arms around her. “I swear on my life, West,” she promised me. “But please don’t push me away, and don’t block me out. I can’t take it. These past few weeks have been really hard for me. I thought I was losing yet another person that meant a lot to me.”
I squeezed her, nodding my head. “Okay,” I choked out.
She was abruptly pulled back from me, and she squeaked in shock when Julian spun her around to face him before he wrapped his arms tightly around her, squeezing her to him. She sighed, melting into him. “Don’t ever fucking do that to me again,” he grumbled into her hair.
Jessie gently turned me to face him, his hands coming up to cup my cheeks. Using his thumbs, he brushed some tears off of my face. “Better?” he quietly asked me.
I nodded. “It’s not easy,” I told him.
“I know, baby. Trust me, I know, but trust her. Meghan loves you, baby girl, and she’s just as attached to you as you are to her. Sometimes, we have to force ourselves to open up to others, to let them in.”
I brushed my fingers over his cheek. Jessie was so damn strong that a lot of times, I forgot that he spent his life in foster care, never having any real family. He didn’t know who his biological parents were—only knew their names. And before I’d come along, the only person he had to rely on was Lincoln.
“I wish I could be as strong as you,” I blurted.
Jessie pulled me against him and wrapped his muscular arms around me, his lips coming down on mine in a soft, slow kiss. “You’re stronger than me, baby. The fact that you’ve hit rock bottom so many times, yet you continue to climb back up every single time—that makes you so much fucking stronger than me.”
My heart swelled in my chest. “I love you,” I quietly told him.
He grinned—a grin that melted my soul. “And I love you, baby girl. Always.”
40
West
It was a bad day.
It was Lincoln’s turn at the garage, so Jessie was home with me. But I knew Hope had to come first. I didn’t resent that.
But God, I really felt like shit. I knew lows could still happen while I was on the medication, but was I supposed to be this low?
Jessie stepped into our bedroom with Hope in his arms, a frown on his handsome features. “Baby, you can’t lay in bed all day.”