All Chapters of Say it Again-Tell Me l'm not just another deal to you : Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

The last stop on our grand Marshall estate tour was off the main road leading to their front door, beyond the ranch itself. It was a circle, an old well made of thick black rocks. With a galvanized metal jug swinging on a hanger beneath its wooden lid, it was out of a Grimm Brothers' fairy tale, and I clamped down on Gravity close to my chest for fear she'd wriggle free and toss herself in.And this is the wishing well of the family." Bruce stopped to rub the warm stones with a satisfied smile. "I ain't no superstitious person or nothing, but this wishing well has done a good thing for itself over the past couple centuries. We stopped using it for water in around 1900. My great-great-grandfather got something during that time, and his wife, Bertha—she was a nurse—thought he'd never get over it.". The doctors gave him a couple of days. Folks came from all around to say goodbye to the old man. She sat along the edge of the wishing well one evening, deposited a coin, and prayed he'd get

If you won't, I will. And I'll make sure to wish for something properly spiteful." He narrowed his eyes at me for a moment. "That your fluffy boobs will sag or something.""You wouldn't." My gaze cooled."You know I would. It's typical me."A statement that was entirely true. Flinn was that sort of obstinate, much like me. We weren't yin and yang; we were two fucking yins who somehow still managed to complete each other.He held the coin in front of my face, slowly pretending to hypnotize me. "You're getting very sleepy, and you need to make a wish with this, because I said that's what has to happen, and I always get my way.""Ugh." I pulled the pendant from his grasp.Understanding, I gazed down into the dark hollowness of the well and took a deep breath. Summer air hit the bottom of my lungs. I knew what I wanted, but I was afraid to ask for it. I had worked the past four years at training myself so hard not to want, not to wish, not to dream that it was hard to admit that I wasn't

"I wasn't finished." Bruce bared his teeth, jaw thrust taut across his face. "He spent three years inserting himself into my business, to the point I was dreaming about getting a restraining order on him. And then my dad died of cancer after a long illness."We picked up our shotguns and headed to the shed.Bruce poked his tongue between his upper teeth. "My father always wanted to be buried on Slipdown Mountain. He'd take us hiking there when we were kids, me and my six brothers and sisters. We'd camp. The location has some of our fondest memories. But Slipdown Mountain's a tourist destination. There were little private sites for sale there."I knew where this was going, and my blood went cold. I had a ruthless side, but I wasn't a sadist. Shane was."Shane purchased all the private plots?" I guessed."Sure did." Bruce nodded brusquely, opening the shed door. It wasn't a degree cooler inside than it was outside. If anything, air was stale and still in addition to being hot. "Every av

It was a pragmatic move not to waste all of my time with someone whom I was barely going to be seeing in a few weeks. And it was cruel to allow Gravity to keep making a bond with me when I wasn't about to be a permanent figure in her life in any real way. Also, I had to put a boundary somewhere. When I found out Cosmos was sick, I bolted from whatever I was doing and to her. Nice on paper, lousy in execution. I didn't do relationships, monogamy, or loyalty. I was a hot fucking mess. All thanks to the people on the other side of my door, now banging on it with their fists, refusing to leave a hint alone."Flinn!" my mum scolded, angry. "Open it!"The coffee machine tutted, and I put the mug in it, making a macchiato. I fiddled with the elastic of my down-at-the-heels gray sweatpants, greeting my morning semi, and scrolled through the Financial Times' news headlines on my phone."Flinn." Now my dad's turn to lecture me from the other side of the door. "This is ridiculous. Not answering

By the time I'd driven in front of the shelter, my head was a mess. I leaned over into the passenger seat for the leashes and twisted around to clip them onto the dogs' harnesses. They complied without complaint, hanging their stupid, innocent faces in my direction."Don't look at me like that." I scowled.They blinked in unison."You don't fit my lifestyle. I didn't sign up for this. For any of this crap."Silence."God dammit." I unclipped the leashes, throwing them onto the passenger seat and rubbing my face.By leaving these little shits at a shelter, I was becoming my parents. An emotionally unavailable, selfish human being without a single redeeming bone in his entire body.I knew lots of people. I could get them rehomed somewhere nice, with people that I knew. Taking them to a shelter was the easiest, coldest, most immoral thing to do. It was the wrong thing to do.I let out a breath, allowing the back of my head to drop to the leather seat. "Fluffy?"He whimpered in response.