My entire body trembles as I quickly dart forward, and framing her face with my hands, I lean down and press a kiss to her forehead. Against her skin, I vow, “I will always love only you, Kelcie. You own all of my heart.”
I duck down lower and kiss her soft lips before I force myself to let go of her.
I rush out of the back door, and as blinding pain engulfs every part of my being, I somehow make it back to my house.
I feel Lick nudging her head against my hand, and when I drop down on the couch, she jumps up and lays her head on my chest, her big eyes locked on my face.
Fuck.
I gasp as the pain keeps intensifying.
Lifting my arms, I grab hold of Lick and bury my face against her fur. She whines as if she can sense my distress.
I just lost Kelcie.
I let go of Lick, and unable to sit still, I dart to my feet and begin to pace up and down the living room for God knows how long.
When I hear an engine start, I stop by the window, and seeing Kelcie’s car backing out of her driveway, I rush to my front door and rip it open. As I run across the yard, she drives by and keeps going.
Jesus, she’s in no state to drive anywhere!
I stop in the road and lift my hands to the back of my head, my breaths exploding over my lips as worry for her safety floods me.
“Levi!”
I glance over my shoulder, and seeing Rene, I turn away and walk back to my house.
“Please,” she cries.
The next second, she grabs hold of my arm, and I just react, yanking away from her while growling, “Don’t fucking touch me.”
I’m instantly filled with disgust so thick, it threatens to suffocate me.
Lick barks threateningly, and it has Rene quickly retreating a couple of feet. “I just want to talk to you.”
“I have nothing to say to you.”
I go inside my house, and as I wait for Lick to come in, Rene says, “We lost everything to pay for your brother’s lawyer. I wouldn’t ask for money if I had any other choice, but we’re family. We read you made millions from your books and the movie.”
You have got to be fucking kidding me.
My eyes lock with her desperate ones.
For a split second, I thought she was here to ask for forgiveness. To tell me she missed me.
But instead, she’s here to ask for money?
It feels like I’m losing my mind, and a dark chuckle escapes me. My voice sounds foreign to my ears as I say, “You come to my house with a reporter and ruin the most important thing in my life, only to ask for money?” I shake my head hard. “Even if you were dying of hunger, I wouldn’t give you the trash I throw out every week.”
I keep eye contact with her and let her see every ounce of hatred I feel for her. Only when I see the realization that she’s not getting a dime from me register in her eyes do I shut the door.
With every step I take through the living room, my body trembles more and more, and by the time I move in beneath the scorching hot spray of the shower, there’s nothing left of the man I was this morning.
I sink down until my ass hits the tiles, and lowering my head, I stare at nothing.
I’ve lost Kelcie.
My chest shudders, and for the first time since I ran away from home, I break down.
