Page 165 of Invisible String
This might not be the time to say it, but she looks so damn cute hitting the bags. Her nose is scrunched up like an angry kitten. “That’s my girl. Let it out.”
She grunts with each punch. “I love you, Mom, but how dare you not tell me the truth? How dare you keep it from me?” Hit. “I’m grateful I had two moms who loved me.” Hit. “As amother, you should have told me. I had a mother who died and a father.” Hit. “You knew Max. You knew I loved him, and you still betrayed me by not telling me.” Hit. “I thought we were close. You should have told me on your deathbed,” she cries out. Sweat covers her face. Rainey bends at the waist, gasping for air. My arms gently wrap around her waist, hosting her up.
“Come on, let’s take a break.”
She shakes her head stubbornly. “In the ring.” Her voice is choppy as she catches her breath.
I raise a brow. “You want to fight in the ring,amor?”
“I do.”
“Okay, so you want to hit me? Sure, baby, take your aggression out on me.”
“No, let’s use those punching mitts you use.”
Stepping back, I get them then and lift the rope for Rainey to get in. “Alright, sunshine, remember your stance.”
She’s a fucking natural. Her feet shuffle back and forth, dancing in a perfect rhythm.
“That’s it. You got it.”
“I’m so mad at you, Dad. You’re making it easy to hate you. You might have saved me from further abuse. How dare you hurt Mom.” Double punch. “I understand now why I never fit in. I felt it in my heart. I’m not like you. I don’t discriminate against people based on their wealth like you do.” Her punches hit in pure range. “You wanted to take the best thing in my life. The only person who knows the two versions of myself. I hate you. I hate you, Dad.”
I open my arms so she can fall into them. She backs me into the corner of the ring.
We stay like that for a while until she controls her emotions. My fingers caress her back soothingly. The softness of her bare skin feels good on my fingertips with the tank top she’s wearing.
Minutes later, she glances up at me. Rainey’s wet eyelashes flutter. “Did it help?” I ask.
“Yes, it helped a little.”
I wipe her tears with the pad of my thumb. She lays her head back on my chest, and I continue to soothe her back. We stay like this for five minutes or so until she feels slightly better.
“Max?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Will you kiss me, please?”
I’m taken aback. She’s never pleaded for a kiss. Asked? Yes, but never a please at the end.
“Mi amor, you never have to ask or beg. You just take. I always want your lips all over mine.”
Her lips curve. I know it’s hard for her to smile right now with all this new information. I bend to her and take her lips on mine. Soft and sweet, like always. Our tongues dance in a passionate rhythm. Sucking on her tongue always makes her a little wild. Rainey climbs her legs until she gets to my waist and wraps them around me. My body always reacts to her. I know now is not the time to get hard, but when it comes to my sunshine, even eye fucking her turns me to steel.
We kiss for I don’t know how long. Our lips are locked, and if this is what she wants and needs to distract herself, I’ll do it.
“I love you. Always know that,” she breathes.
I tilt my head at her and wonder what’s going on in her head. “I love you, too,” I say cautiously. “How about we shower and feed you? Yeah?”
“Food sounds good… Do you still have the stuff I left by chance? You know, like the photo album?”
“Yeah, I do. How about I get everything out after we eat?”
She nods. I take her hand in mine.
It’s a lot for Rainey to absorb, not something that a person gets over in days or weeks. She’s Sol, but she’s also Rainey. She forgot a crucial part of her life.
