Page 23 of Midnight Confessions

My own vulnerability, maybe?

“Your turn, Fox…”

“What do you want to know, Winter?” I hear my voice travel the space between us before my mind has a chance to stop it.

“What happened before ten, Aleck?”

Fuck.I can’t get close to Winter. I don’t even know her. And she doesn’t want to know this about me. I don’t know what it is about this fucking woman that keeps me so damn interested when all I want to do is fuck her then book another room so I’d never have to see her again.

The way she’s standing there, only three feet away, after cutting her chest open and spilling her crushed heart at my feet makes me want to do the same. But I can’t. I don’t know why I know I can trust her, but I do. Still, trusting her with my past, my childhood, would surely make her hate me.

Because then she would know I come from pure evil and not just a rich couple from West Hills.

“Hell, Grimm.Hellhappened. And hell is no place for a child. Or ice cream.”

SEVEN

WINTER

No one wakes up knowing today is the day something will change their life forever. Fate and circumstance sneak up on you like a slowly approaching storm. The only difference is that with a storm, you can see it and hear it in the distance before it’s overhead. You have time to prepare for it and take steps to manage it.

It’s the storms that darken the skies in an instant, rain down on you without warning, and light up the sky with veins of electricity, that remind you how powerless you are to fate, chance, and circumstance. It’s in that powerless state you learn to understand what it is you truly want, even if it’s not what you need.

Iclose the book I’m reading, wiping the mist from my eyes. Three times and counting. I have read this book three times—and probably will do so again—and every time, it touches my heart differently.

Grabbing my brush from the nightstand, I thread it gently through my wet, tangled hair. After my run with Aleck—which, if I’m honest, was surprisingly pleasant even though he could run circles around me faster than Marie Kondo declutters—we retired into our own spaces to shower and get ready for the day.

We have a cake tasting in about an hour with the resort’s pastry chef.

“Hell, Grimm. Hell happened. And hell is no place for a child. Or ice cream.”

It’s been repeating over and over in my head ever since Aleck said it. He cut our conversation short last night, so I knew that was all he was willing to say about his childhood. What did he mean by that? What had little child Aleck Fox been through? One thing is for sure, Idon’tknow dick about him or his life. So I won’t make any more assumptions about it.

He’s a tyrant. A monster with a rigorous cardiovascular conditioning routine and a diet that awards him with close to zero percent body fat, Venus dimples, and a body I want to climb like a rock wall, but a monster with a guarded heart I assumed he didn’t possess. I’m not too proud to admit I was wrong. Aleck Fox has a heart, and it’s secretly bleeding.

The more time I spend with him, the more I realize how mortal he truly is.

My door swings open, and Aleck ambles in like he owns the place—and me.

His black tailored dress pants hang low on his hips, showcasing his deliciousV-shaped muscles, and he’s shirtless as always.

It’s the storms that darken the skies in an instant, rain down on you without warning, and light up the sky with veins of electricity that remind you how powerless you are to fate, chance, and circumstance.

Aleck Fox is a quickly approaching storm if I’ve ever felt one.

“Your legs Jell-O yet?” A devilish smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth. “It’s not the last time I’ll make your legs shake, Winter.” His taunting tone pricks at my nerves as it’s intended to. He plops down on the bed next to me and lies back, crossing one leg over the other, folding his arms behind his head.

“I’m notthatout of shape. I can go on a run without going comatose.”

“You run like Phoebe Buffay inFriends.”

“One, I don’t. You’re only trying to get a rise out of me. And two, I’m more amused that you know who Phoebe Buffay is.”

“Everybody watchedFriends, Grimm.”

“You’re noteverybody, Fox.”

“Whatcha readin’?” Before I’m able to process what’s happening, Aleck reaches across me. His bare chest brushes my thighs, creating a wave of hormone induced flutters to swarm my insides.

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