Loving Enough (The Enough Series Book 2)
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Authors: Nikole Bloom
Loving
Enough
Book
Two of the Enough Series
By
Nikole Bloom
This book is a work
of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the
author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, or persons
is coincidental.
Copyright
© 2016 Nikole Bloom
All rights reserved.
In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and
electronic sharing of any part of this book without permission of the author
constitutes unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.
Permission to use material from this book must be obtained by contacting the
author at
[email protected]
.
Thank you for your support.
Editor: Kate Wood
All songs, song
titles, and lyrics mentioned in the novel Loving Enough are the property of the
respective songwriters and copyright holders.
Austin
Ten days. That is how long I have sat on the sidelines and
allowed the love of my life to blame me for her brother's accident. To be fair,
she also blames herself and, most importantly, she blames love. She believes
love is never enough; in fact, she believes it is downright destructive.
Rylee Ash is the most amazing, loveable, gorgeous,
kind-hearted, stubborn, pain in the ass woman I have ever met. I was in awe of
her from the moment she stumbled into my life. I could tell from the beginning that
she was different from the others. She didn't fall at my feet or see me for my
status.
I spent months holding myself back after I had to beg her to
be my friend. Now I am driving back to the hospital to sit in the waiting room
and hope that maybe today will be the day she chooses to acknowledge my
existence. I want to see those luscious lips curl upward and bring a sparkle to
her green eyes.
This is fucking ridiculous. I am Austin Black, Super Bowl
MVP, and I am hanging around this girl waiting for her to throw me a bone, a
scrap - hell, anything at this point. I could walk outside and find any number
of girls willing to do my bidding, but, alas, it is Rylee who has me tied in
knots. It is not every day a woman comes along who can keep my curiosity longer
than a few days. The last girl who did, and I say girl because we were
teenagers at the time, almost lost her life for loving me. Since that incident,
I have been more of a good time guy; ‘never get too close’ became my motto.
I go to the hospital every day after workouts, bringing her
and Bode food and clean clothes. I brought Boss up a time or two just to see
her smile, if only for a second, at her lovable dog. I’ve only seen her a few
times because she is always in Jeremy's room, trying to will him back to her.
The bond between those two is undeniable and I admit it baffles me at times. My
sister and I are close, but we do not share near the closeness Ry and J do.
Rylee puts J before anyone in her life. I’m sure there is a story behind their
bond, but the hell if I know what it is. All that is important right now is
that he finds his way back so that she will find her way back to me.
Jeremy was in a car accident with the senior detective
assigned to Rylee's stalker case. Detective Rhodes died in the accident and the
authorities suspect that the man after Rylee is responsible for his death. Her
stalker threatened to harm either J or myself if Rylee did not stop seeing me.
It seems as though he made good on the threat. The look on Rylee's face when Detective
Ruzek told her about the accident was pure fear. If I had any clue who the
asshole behind this mess is I would kill him myself for putting that look on
her face. I had to stand there and watch her recognize her worst fear. To see
her in any kind of pain cuts me to the core, especially when I cannot help her.
Heaven knows I would do anything to fix this for her. I would do anything for
that woman.
J started out in a medically induced coma, but came off the
heavy meds a few days ago. He still hasn't come around, leaving the doctors
without any answers. J and I decided, before the accident, not to let Rylee's
stalker interfere with her life; we were determined to keep her safe and happy.
Now the burden falls on me and I
will
keep her safe. She may not be
willing to let me near her, but she cannot stop me from protecting what I still
consider mine. And, make no mistake, I still consider her mine. I have never
wanted anything more in my life than I do Rylee. There is no limit to the
lengths I will go to in order to defend her.
Taking a deep breath, I exit my truck with sandwiches in one
hand and a suitcase in the other, ready to face the familiar pain of rejection
again. Each day I make this trek. It is like walking on death row, hoping to be
spared by the warden. Rylee is my warden, and she has yet to grant me a stay.
Today's walk into the hospital and ride up to the third floor ICU is as
uneventful as always until I step through the waiting room door.
Rylee is curled up in a ball on one of the cold gray chairs,
sobbing into her knees. Despite her position, she is still the most beautiful
thing I have seen in this world. Her silky hair is falling down around her
face, providing a golden curtain for her to hide behind. My heart contracts
with her noticeable grief. I hurt for her and I don't know what happened, but I
suspect the worst. I look around expecting to see Bode or Eric, her friends who
qualify as family and who are never more than a few feet away, but they are
nowhere to be found.
Unsure of what to do, but driven by my love, I quietly walk
over, drop to my knees, and crush her to me. I do not care how furious she is
with me, she clearly needs someone and I am determined that person will be me.
The first touch of her skin on my fingertips is like a drink of water for a parched
man. She quenches every need I have just by being near. She is the only person
that makes me feel whole.
To my surprise, she falls into my arms and continues her
body wracking sobs. I stroke her wayward hair, trying to soothe her pain. My
mind races with the what ifs of this situation. With a silent prayer, I
continue to hold her and wait for her body to relax before facing the storm
head on.
"What happened, Ry?"
I am terrified that her answer will be that Jeremy has left
this Earth and she will never recover. Rylee is tougher than anyone in her life
gives her credit for, but I have no doubt that Jeremy's death would wreck her. While
she considers Eric and Bode family, they do not come close to bond she has with
Jeremy. He is her rock and, although I want to be the one she runs to, I
certainly do not want it to be in his absence.
Instead, she looks up at me with wet lashes, tear-stained
cheeks, and a slight smile. Absolutely fucking beautiful.
"He woke up. Austin, he is awake."
The sound of my name coming from her gorgeous lips reminds
me why I continued to deal with her repeated rejection over the past ten days.
I never knew the sound of my name could be such a turn on, but from her mouth
it definitely is. It is like music to my ears.
She says it so quietly, it is as if she is afraid that voicing
it will make it untrue. I brace her against me and allow her emotions to run
their course.
Thank heavens he is alive. I am beyond thankful that J is
awake and Rylee will not be forced to endure the insurmountable grief that
would have come with burying her only brother, her only true family. Thank fuck
he is still with us. That means my chances of keeping this incredible woman in
my life just went up. Yes, that is a selfish reaction, but I won’t apologize.
Not for loving Rylee.
The weight now lifted from my chest, I take a deep calming
breath. It’s the first one possible in nearly two weeks. My body hums against
her. Every part of me comes alive with the feel of her. I force myself to rein in
my reaction to the news of J's recovery. I don't think sexual awakening is the
go-to response when your girlfriend tells you her brother is awake and alive.
My reaction to her is primal. I need to protect her, I want to feel her, I am
in love with her, and I want to show her. I want her to feel what I am feeling.
I want to go to that place where only she and I exist. The place where our
bodies do the talking and our hearts listen.
Being this close to her and allowed to embrace her reignites
the fire in my soul that was extinguished when she asked me if love is ever
enough. Because I can say without a doubt that YES, it is. I will prove that to
her over and over if I have to. I will never forget the look in her emerald
green eyes that day questioning everything about us. It scared the life out of
me. I am thankful she is letting me comfort her, no matter the fact she will likely
push me away as quickly as she fell into my arms.
I bury my nose in her hair, which smells of hospital shampoo
instead of her usual cherry scent, and memorize the way she feels against me. No
doubt the change in smell is due to the fact she has refused to leave the
hospital since the day J was admitted.
Even with the sterile change, she astounds me. She has a
quiet strength that has been tested repeatedly, but she keeps fighting. I can
only hope that, when J is alright, she will see fit to fight for us with the
same tenacity.
I am head over heels in love with this woman, and she is
probably moments from relegating me to the sidelines again. Taking advantage of
my time, I run a hand down the length of her spine resting it above her perfect
ass. I would love to grip it and slide her onto me but I resist relishing my
current opportunity. She doesn’t realize the power she has over me. It might
make me a weak little man, but I am incomplete without her. We haven’t had an
easy relationship so far, but she is my world. My Rylee. My missing piece. My
heart, my soul.
I will not give her up without a fight, but I also know I
will need to put up one hell of a fight. She may not believe she is worth it,
or that love is, but I sure as hell know better. Ry is worth everything, and I recognize
I am worth more with her than without her. She doesn’t know it but she taught
me how to love again when I closed off the possibility long before she did. Love
is not easy, that much I know, but when you find somebody who fits into your
life like the missing puzzle piece you fight like hell to keep it. Even I am
smart enough to know that.
There are no words between us as I sit holding her, allowing
her breathing to even out. Her body has recovered from the earth shattering
sobs and is molded perfectly against me. This is how we are supposed to be.
This is where she is supposed to find comfort. I am her shelter from the storm.
I dreamed about the things I would say to her when this moment came, but now
nothing seems more appropriate than holding her close and showing her how much
I love her. If she feels a fraction of the love I am pouring into her right now
maybe, she will realize how much she is worth. How much what we have is worth.
Maybe, just maybe, she will help me fight for us. Because I promise there is
going to be one hell of a fight.
