Life With HIM: Rennillia Series Prequel (Companion Novelette) Read Online Free PDF

involuntarily filled with tears, I breathed, “Why?”
      “Because, I love you,” he answered.
    Shaking my head as tears rolled down my cheeks, I couldn’t remember the last time I heard those words. Emerson was the first and only person who had ever said them to me. I wanted to say it back but just the thought was excruciating enough.
      “So how are things? Anything new?” I asked , wiping my eyes and trying to distract myself.
      Emerson’s eyes were sincere as he replied, “Nothing has changed, we are all the same as we were before,” and I got the feeling there was more meaning behind his words than simply answering my question.
      “Before what?” I questioned.
      Almost at a whisper he answered, “Before you left.”
    Feeling myself frown, I nodded.
    Guilt swelled in my heart as I realized what I had done to him. Emerson was sweet, loving and kind. I had no business becoming friends with him in the first place. He couldn’t help himself but I could. Quietly eating my lunch, I decided this was the last time I would meet with him.
    ~
    When we said our goodbyes, I hugged him, allowing myself to indulge in the feeling one last time. There was a time when it was the best feeling I knew. That was before. Now, it just made me sad. I didn’t want to be sad. I wanted to feel things that were within the realm of possibility. They had nothing to do with genuine emotions, they had everything to do with the ability to lose myself in a moment.
    ~
    Shaking my head at the way Henley carefully hung clothes in the closet before counting and re-counting hangers, I sat outside his closet on the floor. Aside from my bad times, I didn’t mention my father. Even then, it was mostly heaving sobs of regret.
      However, my parents had been on my mind so much lately, I felt like I needed to ask, “How did you know my father?”
      Immediately stopping what he was doing, Henley turned to me and asked, “Did you ask Roberts the same question at lunch?”
      Confused, I said, “No, how would he know?”
      Narrowing his eyes at me, he replied, “Through my uncle.”
      I nodded, asking, “Were ya’ll friends?” as I recalled the day I witnessed Henley call my father by his first name.
      Stepping out of the closet, he sat down in front of me saying, “ He helped me out a few times.” Then as if he missed my father, he continued, sharing, “He never treated me like.. Your father always treated me with respect. I respected him.”
      “ Did he approve of me and you?” I questioned.
      With a slight smile, he informed, “Your father talked about you all the time,” before shaking his head and saying, “How disobedient you were,” then added, “I couldn’t stand you.”
      “You didn’t even know me,” I said.
      Nodding, he shared, “I saw you once, when his friend Charles died. I was waiting at the back for him and I watched you walk off with Mason Roberts. That was the most disrespectful thing I had ever seen.”
      Swallowing hard, I questioned, “Why did you start asking me out then?”
      His expression grew serious as he replied, “I had to.”
    Glancing away at first, I gave a soft smile.
      “I’m not going to have lunch with Emerson anymore,” I informed.
      “I never told you, to stop,” he said with a strange look on his face.
    Scooting closer, I moved onto his lap, wrapping my arms and legs around him.
      “You shouldn’t have to,” I admitted before pressing my lips against his.
    This was where I was meant to be. We were meant to be. Henley had no one. There was only me. Since I had met Henley, there was always someone else. Parents, friends, I had other people in my life. Now, finally letting go of everything in my life but him, he was all I needed. It took almost six years for me to completely surrender myself to him. And now I had.
    ~L~w~H~
    I grew more devoted to Henley every day. Coming to terms with the fact that I would never be able to make up for the way I was