Page 197 of Forgotten Prejudice

So much love.

Soren reclaimed my lips and somehow moved us into a new position where I was on top. Now having the power again, I rolled my hips while he slid his hands over my body, admiring me in the way only he knew how to do. His touch was warm, burning my skin with his love, and I wondered how I’d ever mistaken his hands to be cold.

Soren thrust inside me at the same time I rocked my hips, and it didn’t take much before we both came together, while being so in love with one another it was almost illegal.

“What are you doing?” Soren asked as he returned to bed after he’d taken a shower.

Glancing at him, I smiled, then handed him my phone. “Just texted the guys a photo of the ring.” I smiled to myself. “They are so excited for us, and Jessie already asked to be the best man.”

Soren gave me back my phone before leaning closer to kiss the top of my head.

“They can all be your best men,” he chuckled.

“I want a small wedding, though,” I said, my eyes going over the boys’ texts again. “Like my parents had.”

“We’ll have whatever wedding you wish, Sparrow. Big, small, I don’t care as long as I get to marry you.”

I snorted. “You’re such a romantic.”

And while all the boys responded in the group chat immediately, one didn’t. And even though his lack of response wasn’t surprising, it was noticeable. It was noticeable because despite not hearing from him in over a year, Diesel’s presence in our life was still vivid. Whether it was the empty chair around our dinner table, his clothes and plants we took from the old house, or his name that still appeared on our group chat in spite of him never responding to any of our messages.

I missed him, we all did, but knowing that he didn’t want to be found, I had no choice but to accept it as a fact. And yet, despite my acceptance, there were times I couldn’t help but wonder where he was or what he was doing. All I knew was that he had disappeared off the face of the planet like he’d never lived, leaving us all behind, including Shay-Lee.

But who knew better than me that sometimes, you had no choice but to leave your heart behind.

My heart broke for Shay-Lee, and I took small comfort in knowing that Soren was constantly there for him. For the past year, they’d grown closer, probably over their shared trauma, or maybe not? Their conversations were private, and I respected that.

Unable to stop myself, I clicked on Diesel’s contact info and hovered over his number. Sadness washed over me, but it quickly vanished once Soren hugged me.

“You’re thinking of calling him again?”

“He won’t answer.” I closed my phone and tossed it over the bed, then turned to look at him. “Where do you think he is right now?”

Soren simply smiled before grabbing my hand and bringing it to his lap. “Someplace warm, hopefully.”

The thought of Diesel bathing in the sun somewhere in the world, a thousand miles away from all the crap that had haunted him for years, brought me a bit of comfort, and I wished that that was the case and that he’d left simply because he wanted a fresh start. After all, wasn’t that what we all wanted?

Looking at our interlaced fingers, I admired my ring, then turned to face Soren. “I hope you’re right.” I closed my eyes and leaned against him, thanking God for giving us our own fresh start.

Camilo

The city of Seattle seemed to be in the same state as my heart, buried under a deep layer of snow that kept it still and frozen. It was almost impossible to see ten feet ahead, with thick fog covering it all like a blanket of frost, as barely there noises reached from the street. The tip of my fingers stung with the cold, and my face grew numb after I stood on the rooftop of this twenty-story building for the past thirty minutes. I hated Seattle almost as much as I hated winter, but then again, what I liked or disliked had no say in what my life had come to.

Feeling dead inside, I took out my phone, the one I almost always kept shut down. Moving my finger over the broken screen, I felt the shift of the damaged surface underneath the pad of my thumb as I waited for the screen to light up. Once it did, I opened the group chat of the people I used to consider my family and focused my attention on Chief’s text. He was getting married to the lawyer who’d represented me during my trial last year. I had no idea how it happened because the last I knew, he was with Kai, but then again, I didn’t care.

While I was stuck in the hell I was born into for the past twelve months, they all kept living their lives. In the beginning, they used to write to me, especially Andrei, but after a few months, even he’d stopped. I never answered any of their calls or texts, so they eventually gave up, which was good… I guess. And yet, even though I knew being away from me kept them all safe, I couldn’t help the rage twisting my gut. Not at them but at myself and the decisions I’d made that forced me to be away from him. Away from the missing part of my heart.

Doing what I promised myself not to, and only because it hurt so fucking much, I closed the group chat and opened my photo gallery. I tapped on that one photo where soft sunrays reflected in Shay-Lee’s eyes while his gorgeous lips stretched into the most beautiful smile a sucker like me had ever seen as I kissed his cheek. Only the cracks on my screen went right between us and nearly erased my whole face. By some miracle, his side remained untouched, and I could continue to gaze into his stunning eyes for the rest of my life.

My heart ached with the distance separating us, and my stomach flopped with the memory of leaving him behind. Whenever I thought of him, the pain nearly sliced me in two, and in the beginning, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get through this year without going crazy. I was worried sick for his well-being and recovery, but somehow, I was able to block away those thoughts long enough to survive one day at a time. My only comfort was that in a few weeks, I’d finally be free to go back to him.

“What the hell are you doing here?” someone asked, and I turned to look at one of the men I worked with. “My balls are fucking freezing, and I’ve been here for less than a minute,” he tsked, still standing by the emergency exit leading into the building.

“What do you want?” I snapped, irritated at this idiot for infringing on my time alone.

He seemed even more pissed off than I was. “The boss is here, and he’s pissed.” That was his way of saying I better get my ass in there before he turned on his heels and left me alone.

With my jaw clenched, I ripped my stare away from where he stood only a second ago and looked back at my phone, my heart breaking with how much I missed Shay-Lee.