Truly

by Carmel Rhodes

“I see you, Truly. If my brother was stupid enough to drop you, you better fucking believe I’m going to pick you up. I will own you, every inch that belonged to him will be mine.” I swallow at the conviction in his words. At the finality of them. I stare up at the demons dancing in his eyes, and in that second, I know that I should run. I turn and bolt for the stairs. “You can run, Little One,” he calls after me. “But I will chase you, and I won’t stop until your innocence is smeared all over my cock.”

Noah Tedesco is hot, I’ll give him that, but so was Ted Bundy.

It’s not about blindly following. It’s about trusting the process. It’s about the journey. It’s about doing the work. Sowing the seed so that you may grow in faith, in life, in love. So that one day, you can move mountains.

“You’re trembling,” Noah whispers, lifting my chin with his thumb and index finger. His lips feather over mine. “Everything okay?” “Yeah, I’m…fine,” I lie. “A little hangry is all.” “Let’s get you fed then.” Noah presses his mouth to mine, and I let him kiss away the pain.

There are a few things I’ve learned about Noah since he forced his way into my life with a sledgehammer. One: if he gets something in his mind, there’s no point in trying to stop him. B: he’ll do just about anything for me, aside from leave me alone. I don’t know if it’s because he feels guilty about the treehouse or if he actually does care, but I’m pretty sure if I asked him to do the hokey pokey wearing a pink tutu, he’d do it. Then he’d wrap the tutu around my neck and fuck me senseless for asking in the first place.

“Truly—” He opens his mouth, then closes it, choosing his next words carefully. “I have always noticed you. You just noticed him first.”

“I hate you,” I spit, as he clicks the buckle in. “I don’t give a fuck,” he spits right back. “The pussy is just as good when you’re pissed as it is when you’re happy.”

“I’m not your prince, Truly. Our story isn’t a fairytale. I don’t vow to always be kind, or do what the world deems as right, but I will always do right by you. I will always protect you. Plus,” he pauses, and I can feel the corner of his mouth tip up, “I’ll fuck you better than the prince ever could.”

“Your heart is the only thing I care about,” he says, wrapping his hands around my neck. He walks me backwards toward my twin bed. “The. Only. Fucking. Thing.”

“Also, I want my hoodie back.” He taps a few buttons on my phone, then hands it back before tucking a strand of hair behind my ear and bopping me on the nose. “Hoodies are for girlfriends. You can have it back when I can have you back.” Then, the fucking asshole stands up and saunters away.

cupping my face between his palms. “You told me you couldn’t keep bending yourself to make me comfortable, and I realized I don’t want to be the kind of man who makes you bend. I don’t want to change the person you are, Truly. I only want to change your last name.”