Page 107 of Poison Aches

I feel intoxicated.

I can’t think.

Can’t move.

All I do is stare, desperate for his touch,greedyfor his attention.

His eyes drop to my lips and then as if he can’t help himself, he quickly runs his thumb over my bottom lip.

“Don’t worry, Angel, you will, whether you like it or not.”

Before my gasp is audible enough to embarrass me, the glass door behind Emmett slides open and Noah pokes his head out. Emmett moves away from me so fast, as if he’s just been electrocuted. When I blink again, he’s gone, and Noah is looking at me with a strange look.

“Dinner’s ready, Doc.”

“Oh, uh, thanks,” I croak.

Noah laughs out loud. “Seems like this party’s about to rock in more ways than I thought!”

But I don’t hear him.

Emmett’s last words just left me with a sinking, nasty feeling deep in my heart.

What was that?

CHAPTER 14

Ivy

Imake my way down to the airline check-in desk, pulling my carry-on suitcase beside me.

I’m headed to New York City with nothing but a huge cloud of pipe dreams and a wish, and a heavy load of guilt.

I can still picture Grammy’s face, the way she hugged me as if it were the last time.

She thinks I’m going to Baltimore. After fighting with Sameul, I figured Grammy would be stressed if I told where exactly I’m going.

So, I lied. Again.

What’s even horrible is, I stood there, smiling with a huge weight of lies and guilt hanging over me.

The thing about my grandmother is that she has always been very perceptive. So if she saw the secrets in my eyes, she didn’t address them.

She also knew that Samuel and I had a fight and that he was against my departure, but she wasn’t aware of the exact reason.

She also doesn’t know that I’m literally going with a little under fifty-five hundred dollars in my account. If she knew, heads would roll.

Now add the lie I told last week…

A sharp pain strikes again in the center of my chest.

Every time I think of all the lies I’ve told, and my deception, as well as the fear of being caught red-handed, the pain slits through me as if to pierce my soul.

I already know that I’m going to suffer from this, but on the hope that I will find the woman that broke my grandmother’s heart, I started searching for her.

Beverly Olivia Irving.

At least that was her given name. Olivia from Grammy and Beverly from Gramps.

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