Out of Sight

by Cleo White

“Because if you don't, it means sacrificing your happiness for theirs. Is that fucking fair? Is that what you would ask your children to do?” I scoff, shaking my head because I already know the answer. “How they treat you is the opposite of love, sweetheart. It's manipulative and cold. I don't know why they're like this, but they don't deserve a thing from you. So, why are you giving them your fucking life?”

“Princess?” Issy groans and tries to squirm out of my grasp, but I hold her still, murmuring the truth softly into her ear. “I call you Issy because nobody else does. Maybe I want a piece of you all to myself. Did that ever occur to you?”

“I want you more than I want my next breath, sweetheart. Not just the pieces you've decided are good enough to show the world, but fucking all of you.

I've had a lot of first kisses in my life, but I know this one will be my last from the moment I get my first taste of her.

“I’m coming for you, Isobel Bradley,” I joke quietly, my voice strained from the effort it takes not to kiss her all over again. “You can run, but you can't hide.”

"Shut up." Silence. Complete, ringing silence. "What did you just say to me?" Mom asks after a long moment, her voice dangerously quiet. I hold my head high and repeat, "I told you to shut up, Mom. I would rather be an emotional, anxious wreck every day of my life than be like you, and guess what else? I didn't have to tell Judah a single thing about you for him to see what kind of a person you are. He hates you because of you, not because of me."

know when you're lying, Isobel Bradley?” I drop my head forward, kissing her fluttering pulse point. “Things like this, like us, don't happen every day. You gave yourself to me last night, and you can't take it back now.”

I stare down at my hands clutching the rumpled white sheets, tears swimming in my eyes. “I don't have a job or money. I won't be able to finish my degree. I don't know what I'm going to do if I don't go to medical school. And all that is on top of the issues with my family and me being half your age and an anxious basket case. Why would you want to be with someone like that?” A tear hits the sheets below me. “I’m not good enough for you.”

“I’m going to get you pregnant,” he whispers, voice rough with emotion. “Going to give you a family, Issy. A real family. I’ve always wanted that, and I think you have too. So, we’re going to make one together.”

I want you as is.”