Read Online Only for You by Marquita Valentine - Free Book Online Page A

not adopted… fucking sold because my sperm donor promised to
come live with us.”
    Rae exhales. “Cole… Jaxon,”
my jaw clenches at the sound of his name on her lips, “he’s two
years—”
    “ Don’t,” I warn
her.
    “ So you’re going to punish
me, punish us ,
because of your mother’s actions?”
    I glance away, unable to
hold her gaze any longer. Her nana’s house catches my eye. It’s
cozy, decorated with Christmas lights, with nothing out of place.
It looks homey, perfect for a family. Perfect for any family not
like mine.
    Finally, I turn my
attention back to Rae. “Look, my family’s not normal, healthy, or
anything like yours. Hell, I’m not normal. None of us are. We’re
fucked up, screwed up… But, if we’re really lucky, Parker won’t get some girl
pregnant and drop out of school to get a full-time job, Kelly won’t
end up pregnant like my mom at seventeen, or with some loser who
beats the shit out of her, because if he does, then I’ll go to jail
for killing him.”
    “ Why do you say stuff like
that? Like your family’s entire future is written in stone
statistics?” she cries.
    “ Because it’s true, damn
it.” I unbuckle my seat belt and hers, grabbing her by the
shoulders. “You think I’m going by statistics? You think I’m just
making shit up in my head? Well, here’s one really dirty, dark
secret that no one knows about, except Crystal. The first girl I
ever had sex with got pregnant. She couldn’t tell her parents, so
she told my mother, and my mother took her to a clinic in
Charlotte. When Crystal came back, she informed me that she’d just
done the world a favor by ridding it of another Morgan
bastard. That ’s
how much she hates me. That’s how much she hates my dad. I was
fifteen years old. Fifteen. The worst part though, was that the girl I got
pregnant thought my mom was doing her a favor.”
    “ I didn’t even know she
was pregnant. I never had a choice, never got the chance to be
there for her or even try to help,” I add, barely keeping it
together. “Women, every last one of you, are on my shit list. All
y’all do is go around bitching about how bad men treat you, never
realizing that you’re treating your sons exactly the same way. But
we’re supposed to take it, right? Because we’re men and it’s what
we deserve.”
    Rae’s face goes as white as
the rare snowfall we had this morning.
    In my head, I know not
every woman thinks or acts like my mother, but my head isn’t the
one in charge right now. It’s my heart, or what’s left of it. And
this is how I’ve been treated my entire life by Crystal, no matter
what I do or say to her. No matter how hard I try to get her to
love me, or for fuck’s sake, tolerate my presence.
    “ I—I—”
    “ Just get out,” I say,
letting go of her. “Just get the hell out of my life.”
    She shakes her head, her
kissable mouth mutinous. “I don’t want to go.”
    I reach across her and open
the door. “Get. Out.”
    “ Or what? You’ll hit me?”
She tips her nose in the air.
    “ This isn’t the time to
make a point about what morals I have in certain areas of my life.”
I press on her back, inching her closer to the door. “Get out of my
Jeep, Rae.”
    “ No.” She scoots forward
and climbs over the console in the middle before I know what’s
happening, landing in my lap with an awkward thud. “I’m not
leaving, and you can’t drive like this.”
    I let my head fall against
the seat. This act of defiance is equal parts funny and
heartbreaking.
    “ Last time you said I gave
up without a fight. This time, I’m not giving up at
all.”
    I cup the back of her head,
fixing my gaze on her. She thinks she’s won. I can see it in her
pretty eyes. “You don’t have to give up, because there’s nothing
between us. I’ve had my fun, fucking around with a pretty little
thing like you, but you’re not worth the trouble. No piece of ass
is.”
    “ Are you serious?” She
blinks at me. Despite