My Stepsister Ran From the Wedding, So My Stepmother Sold Me to the Man Who Hates Her Mother novel · Chapter 17 of 24
Chapter 17: Hands on the Water
He walked to me across the shell road with his hands open at his sides.
Priscilla had shut the cabin door behind us.
I heard the chain go on, and then her cot creak as she lay down with her face to the wall.
I took Marcello's wrist and led him around the side of the cabin.
I did not say where.
Past the last cabin the camp had a short wooden dock that ran out over the shallows.
It was gray and silvered, with a rope rail and a bench at the end.
The tide was coming in.
The whole sky over the Gulf had gone the color of a plum, and the first thunder rolled along the far horizon.
There was nobody on that dock but the two of us.
"You followed me," I said.
"Yes," said Marcello.
"Across the whole bay."
"I stayed outside," he said.
"I saw," I said.
I stopped at the end of the boards and turned.
He stood a yard from me with the wind pulling his shirt flat against his chest.
He looked tired and unguarded.
The gray at his temples had caught the last of the light.
"I'm not ready to forgive you," I said.
"I know."
"I'm ready for something else."
His eyes did not leave my face.
"Tell me," he said.
I took my boots off.
I sat on the edge of the dock and peeled off my socks.
Then I stood, unbuttoned my black dress and let it fall on the bench.
I stood in my underwear in the wind.
He made a sound, low in his chest, and did not move.
"Take off your shirt," I said.
He did it with unsteady fingers.
He pulled it over his head and dropped it, and the long scar along his ribs showed pale against his skin.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of My Stepsister Ran From the Wedding, So My Stepmother Sold Me to the Man Who Hates Her Mother are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
← Chapter 16 · All chapters · Chapter 18 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend