The Worst Kind of Promise (Riverside Reapers #2)

by Celeste Briars

He even doodled small hearts. Hearts. Like a teenage boy who has a school-grade crush on a girl.

we are marrying as we speak

“I don’t want this to be a summer fling,” Kit says, recapturing my focus. “I know you have school. I know you’re going to be in Pennsylvania. But I want to be with you, Faye. I don’t care about the distance or your brother.”

“What about long distance?” “We’ll make it work. I’ll find weekends where I’m free to come to you, and I’ll make sure to carve time out of my day so we can call or FaceTime,” he answers.

“But you need to focus on hockey. You’ll be so busy, and you’ll have games all the time.” “I will be busy, and I will have eighty-two games to play. But I don’t care. I don’t care how exhausted I am. I will always make time for you.”

“I’m so sorry” is all he says before he shoves me off the boat and into the freezing cold lake below.

we were married and now divorced

They’re going to know something is up. Or Gage will. Fulton’s kind of…empty up there.

“What kind of fish live in this lake, Kit?”

“The gold kind,”

“I thought goldfish were only in pet stores,”

“Sweet, sweet Fulton.”

“Have fun catching your goldfish, Kit.”

wishing I could reach out and waffle our fingers together.

waffle

“What if I want to keep doing things for you?”

A silhouette that I wouldn’t be able to miss anywhere, no matter what hemisphere of the earth I was in. A silhouette that strikes a chord of fear in me, stronger than the fear I feel whenever my brother gets too close to the truth. That kind of fear is amateurish in comparison. Maybe fear is too soft of a word.

im going to castrate this rapist (im guessing its the rapist)

All I can see is that man’s face, staring straight into me, the exact same predatory eyes that once violated my body all those years ago. Behind his well-liked façade lives my everlasting sentence to hell.

The devil can be your next-door neighbor, your partner, your mother, your ex-friend, you. The devil can be someone you barely know, or someone who’s infiltrated every aspect of your life to bring you the most unimaginable types of torture. My devil is Saxon Thompson—the man who raped me.

I can’t…I can’t be here. I can’t do this again. I thought it was over. I thought I was free. I thought I was better.

“Saxon Thompson. From high school. Oh my God, it’s been like…what? At least a few years since we’ve seen each other,”

“How have you been? You look amazing.” How can he say that? How can he act like he doesn’t remember? Unless he doesn’t. Unless that night was so inconsequential to him that he forgot he sexually assaulted someone he considered his best friend.

All those controlled wrinkles—manufactured to look genuine—make him look like the lowest life form there is. Repulsive.

“Breathe, Princess. You’re okay. You’re safe,”

I felt like I had to flee to protect myself, that he would hurt me in broad daylight. I don’t mean hurt like punch or kick me. I mean hurt like…touch…me. Even a platonic touch, like a hug or a handshake. Nonconsensual.

“Was that the man who…raped…you?”

“Oh, Faye.”

“I can’t believe I just let that fucker walk away unscathed,”

“A lot of victims don’t get the justice they deserve.”

“Please, Kit. I just need you to be here with me,”

“Thank you for telling me, Faye. I need you to know that as long as I’m in your life, I’m going to do everything in my power to protect you, okay? I never want you to feel that kind of pain ever again.”

A weed invading Faye’s lonesome little dandelion, starving her of peace and happiness, growing between her cracks with an irremovable grasp on her. And how do you kill a weed? You pull it.

“Oh, trust me. It won’t be a pleasure for much longer.”

if you get yourself arrested ill lose my shit

My life doesn’t fucking exist if Faye’s not in it. Whenever she decides to leave this planet, I’m going to follow her, because there’s no way in hell I’m going to survive if I never see her face again, never hear her voice, never hold her.

I was supposed to protect you, and all I did was let you down.”

I’d been content living a loveless life because I never really knew what love was.

“I love you, Faye,”

I believed that love was all about sacrifices instead of compromises.”

“Yeah, you’ve been kind of a dick lately,” she mutters.

“How do I know you won’t hurt me again?” Because I won’t let it happen.

I’ll flip this entire world on its axis and condemn myself to an eternal life of hell if I ever hurt her again.

“I love you,” she whispers into my neck.

“Because we’re finally alone,”

SMUT SMUT SMUT

I want to say I’m a gentleman and would never fuck her when she’s coming off an emotional low, but I’m not a gentleman,

She’s all mine, and I’m all hers, and I’m going to service every one of this woman’s needs.

We stumble our way over to the penalty box, and I make sure to shove the door open before her back has the chance to hit it.

“Are you okay?” I ask. “Better,” she says.

“Better is good,”

“Shh, Faye. You’re okay. You’re safe,”

“Breathe, Faye. I’m right here.”

“You can. In and out, Princess. Follow my breathing.”

I know I probably should’ve said something along the lines of “Thank you,” but all that spews from the cusp of my lips is “You came.”

“I’ll always come when you call,”