Page 68 of Word to the Wise

Thinking back on those times now, I feel like an entirely different person. One who planned a whole life that went up in flames.

Even if I chased my professional dreams, I wasn’t happy. I hadn’t smiled without forcing it in years. Not until I came back and Mason breathed life into my heart.

I'm finally getting hints of the girl I forgot exists inside me. Someone who has her own passions and desires. Someone with dreams still worth chasing.

I remember a girl who led with her heart instead of her head.

A girl with a heart at all.

Mason reveals it, forcing me to listen to the urge of every beat. Asking me to feed it when it’s been starving.

Whatever amount of time is allowed for getting over a relationship, I don’t feel like I should be ready yet. But Mason makes me want to be ready.

He’s uncovering the best in me.

I don’t remember how long it’s been since I felt loved. My heart hung onto Carter well past the point it should have when he left me out in the cold years ago. It was no longer a relationship. He was my toxic habit. The puzzle I was determined to solve, no matter how many times it came crashing down on me.

Carter haunts me, but I don’t miss him. We’re done. My heart is moving on, and I should be allowed that ounce of peace.

Opening the back door to Twisted Roses, it's a warm day in late winter, and I appreciate that about California. When I moved to the East Coast for college, I thought I wanted the change in seasons because I’d never experienced snow. But then I lived in it and realized being trapped inside from the weather wasn't any better for my head than being at the Twisted Kings compound.

I make my way over to the dumpster and lift the heavy lid, tossing the trash inside, and the moment it slams shut, a shiver runs through me. My eyes dart around the empty alleyway, but there's no one there, and I breathe a sighof relief.

Maybe I’m imagining things. Sage said Carter’s been calling, but he hasn’t shown up on my doorstep.

Spinning around, my heart nearly stops as my path is blocked. Dark eyes narrow down at me, dragging me straight back to the hell my mind escaped.

“Reed.” Carter smiles, stepping closer. “I’ve missed you, baby.”

My stomach plummets at the intensity of his dark, evil eyes. He's standing between me and the side door to Twisted Roses, and he’s grinning as he skims me from head to toe.

I beg my feet to move—to dart around him. But I’m frozen in place.

I know I should run.

Or scream. Maybe one of the guys would hear it over the buzzing of the tattoo needles. But when I open my mouth to make a sound, all I do is stare at him—slack-jawed and breathless.

The strength I’ve mustered over these past couple of months is wiped away with one gleam of his eyes, resurrecting the fear he brings to life.

“What are you doing here?” I manage to choke out.

“Come on, Reed. You didn’t think I’d just move on, did you?” Carter takes a step toward me.

He closes the distance, and the familiar scent of his musky cologne floods my senses. Blood rushes through my body, and I’m drowning in his scent—his presence.

“I’ve missed you so much, baby.” He seals the gap between us, wrapping an arm around my waist and tangling the other one in the back of my hair. “You know I didn’tmean any of those things I said. You’re the only girl for me.”

He’s kissing the side of my face, roaming his hands over my back and my cheek.

And I’m standing, silently suffocating.

Dying a little with each graze of his palms over me.

“Carter.” I plant my hands on his hard chest.

He still feels exactly like I remember. Like a concrete wall there’s no punching through. I try to push him back a step, but he drains my strength in the same way he drains my soul.

His body pins me to the brick wall, and from the corner of my eye, I spot a man in a suit watching from one end of the alley.