In Love With The Boy Of Hope {IN LOVE SERIES #2}

Chapter 4 - That Lip Of Yours

"Back there, no I'm too weak,"
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I fought, over and over again, through the day, and now the night. The screams are more prominent, they echo louder, and I still wonder how it is that we've never been caught down here, fighting, bidding, committing a punishable crime. It's as if they don't care if they get caught.

  Less people make up the ring now, while more people are just sitting around drinking carelessly, the stench penetrating my nose. Men holding huge stacks of cash approach me slowly, their bets.

  "Here John, $5,000, great fights tonight!" One speaks, slurring his words, clearly drunk. I nod, taking the money and stuffing it into my bag. I stand, placing my suit jacket around my arms, my entire suit seems as if it was never taken off. I swing my bag onto my shoulder, striding towards the door, not making any eye contact with anyone.

"See you tomorrow, Doe!" Logan shouts from behind me, and I wave my hand in the air waving a blunt goodbye, not caring to turn around.

  I exit through a secret doorway, one that I still have trouble finding after a year. As I stride farther away from the building and stone steps, I touch my hand to my busted open lip that has gotten worse over the corse of three hours. A zapping pain goes running through my mouth as my finger tip grazes it gently, a low groan following after it.

  What am I going to tell Adeline?

***

  The night is cold, the nightly walkers jaunt across the sidewalks either with their pet or with a partner. The dead trees rustle in the slight headwinds. The snow on the ground scrunching under my dress shoes. The city lights are dimmed, more so than normal.

I near the neighborhood, few cars entering and exiting due to the fact that it is so late. At the thought of this, my heart and stomach starts to ache.

  You said you wouldn't be home late, I scold myself.

I pick up my pace, running down the street now, the cold air restricting my breaths making my lungs seem to close. Within minutes, I'm at the doorstep of our home, our home that we've claimed for more than eleven months.

Ms. Spencer's porch lights are off, and so are ours. I run a harsh hand through my hair, mentally kicking myself for being so late again. Without a second thought, my hand reaches for the doorknob, twisting the key in then twisting it back out of the keyhole, the lock making a soft clicking sound.

The door swings open, the hinges squeaking like a small house mouse.

"What happened!?" She runs up to me immediately, dropping whatever she was doing as if it were on fire. Adeline reaches for my cheek, nearing the worsening wound.

"Cole, what happened to your lip?" She asks, lighter this time around.

"I, um," I stall, quickly conjuring up an idea, well at least one that would sound believable. "I ran into a door by accident."

She scrutinizes me for a minute, before laughing out loud, her voice making my skin warm instantly. "A door? How could you possibly?"

I itch the back of my head, "honestly, I have no idea...it just happened," I say, sounding casual and more believable.

Adeline gives me the stink eye with a soft, distinguishable smile; but that smile quickly fades when the moment of laughter fades away.

"I though that you'd said that you would be here earlier, and not this late at night. Do you have any idea what time it is, Cole?" Usually when she says my name, it makes me feel a spark, but this time is different. The words escaped her lips as if tied down by hurt, and I one hundred percent understand why.

"8:00 PM?" I state, honestly having no clue what time it is due to the fact that my watch isn't on my wrist, but is buried deep in my bag.

"It's 11:00, Cole, 11:00," she conveys in an angry tone, but doesn't dare shout.

"I-I'm s-"

"All what I wanted was for you to be home so that I could have a dinner with you for once, just for once so that I could talk to you, see your face, hear your voice. I only ever see you anymore in the mornings it seems like, never do I see you another time. Never on weekends let alone weekdays. All that I ask is that maybe once you would be home," her eyes plea silently, and my insides become mush.

"I understand that it might be hard, to support us both when we're so young, and when I don't have the proper education to even have a job. I understand it, okay? All what I want is to see you, it's not too much to ask for...is it?"

I shake my head, "no, no it's not too much to ask for," I take her into my arms tightly, her blossom aroma flooding my senses, causing me to pull her impossibly closer to me. "I'm so sorry Adeline," I whisper into her ear, and I feel her relax beneath my touch.

"It's alright, now...let's fix that lip of yours."

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Hi! I hope that you've enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying this book so far! Thank you so much for deciding to continue on from In Love With The Girl Of Scars to In Love With The Boy Of Hope.

HAPPY READING!

~AlexisJadeS22