“They helped me pass time when I was younger.”
It’s almost eight o’clock, and I can’t get it out of my head that she’s out there, searching for whatever she can find.
“Colson?”
“Sorry. What?”
“You’re distracted.”
It’s not a question. That’s what I like about Violet. She’s confident in the things that she knows, and as luck would have it, she’s spot on.
Iamdistracted.
Two steps and I sink down on the mattress, feeling the springs poke up and press against my ass. I rest my elbows on my knees. “Something doesn’t feel right.”
She kneels in front of me, sitting back on her legs. Her hands find my knees. I stop myself from reaching forward and bringing her mouth to mine. Those soft pink lips would silence the blaring sirens in my head. If only for just a moment.
Those lips pull down into a frown. “I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“Whatever you’re feeling right now, you don’t deserve it. You’re so much more than all of this.”
Yeah,right. What a crock of shit.
If I were more than what lives inside this house, I wouldn’t be here, would I? I’d have goals, like her, that I’d be working hard to reach. I’d have dreams that would excite me when I woke up in the morning.
She must see the doubt in my features.
“You are. I see it when I look at you. You’re a good person, Colson.”
I have no words but lock onto the color and conviction in her golden-brown eyes. She believes every word she’s telling me. I’d love to believe them, to think my life is more than dealing with a recovering mother who has fallen off the wagon more times than I’d care to admit and cleaning up her irreversible choices.
Violet may not be mine, but she does make me want to live. She’s a reflection of a person I hope to be one day, one who isn’t afraid of dreaming. For so long, I’ve been doing what I need to survive because that’s what I was taught.
But then I met her.
My ego gets the best of me. It ties my feet to anchors and jumps from the plank, trying to take me with it. “You realize I was ready to beat the hell out of that guy at Lucy’s, right? That’s the kind of shit people around here do. They don’t control their feelings and use their fists instead. They take what they want. Theydowhat they want without thinking how it might affect others.”
“But you stopped.”
“No, you distracted me.”
“It’s what friends do; help each other. Just like you did for me.”
I quirk a brow at her, loving the feel of her hands on my legs. At some point, they slid down to my calves, but it’s her lips that hold my focus. I can’t look away.
Plump.
Kissable.
And once upon a time, on mine.
The most random question pops into my head. “Do you kiss all your friends?”
“Do I what?”
“Do you kiss all your friends who need saving?”
