Timeless (Sutton River #3)

Prologue

Lily

“Don’t you fucking walk away from me.”

It was the night before my high school graduation.

A night that should have been buzzing with a level of excitement that made it impossible to settle my thoughts.

The kind that were anxiously racing with my plans for the following day, which included getting my nails done with my best friend, Arizona, doing each other’s hair and makeup, slipping into our dresses and heels that we drove over two hours away to find, all before putting on our caps and gowns to take photos and celebrate the occasion.

Instead, as I lay in bed, the only sound that filled the darkness was the thunderous roar of my dad’s voice ricocheting through the house, along with his fists pounding the walls, extinguishing any spark of joy I had left.

My dad hadn’t always been verbally aggressive, but something shifted in him at the end of last summer.

He started drinking as a means to escape whatever was troubling him, and became someone I no longer recognized.

My mom and I were constantly walking on eggshells around the house, never knowing which version of him we’d get.

It was like he was unraveling at the seams.

His mood often swung violently between starting arguments, hurling accusations, and strange, explosive outbursts.

Anything and everything set him off, even things that had never once stirred a reaction from him before.

He was a ticking time bomb, a hair’s breadth away from flying off the handle, and tonight was no exception.

My mom tried to shush him as their voices traveled upstairs, his heavy footsteps thudding toward their bedroom, but that only made him louder. I covered my head with a pillow, trying desperately to drown out the horrific insults he was hurling at my mom.

She often stayed silent when he was too far gone to reason with, letting his anger suck all the air out of the room without engaging back or standing up to him, which, in reality, only seemed to fuel the rage.

In comparison, I had zero remorse and had gone toe to toe with him several times, especially when he tried to go out to get more alcohol because he’d finished the vodka bottle he’d just picked up that morning.

I’d snap. I had zero patience for that kind of reckless behavior; it made my blood boil to the nth degree.

Then, as if to add insult to injury, I realized every time I stopped him, my mom would be the one to replenish his stock. She helped keep the cycle going, and I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Why was she enabling him and feeding the monster he became when he drank?

It didn’t make sense to me, just like her silence left me feeling betrayed. I was caught between two people I loved yet couldn’t reach.

“Who else are you spreading your legs for, you fucking slut?”

My stomach twisted, and I thought I was going to be sick.

With my hand over my mouth, I ripped the covers off and, without thinking twice, climbed out the window and eased my way down the cold, metal lattice that clung to the side of the house like I’d done several times before.

Once my sock-covered feet hit the ground, I took off running across the field beside my house to the only person I trusted with my pain.

Jaxon.

The sound of my heart pounding wildly in my chest filled my ears when I slipped inside his home, using the key he’d left hidden under a rock in his mom’s garden for me after the first time I woke him in the dead of night with pebbles to his window.

With the front door re-locked, I climbed the stairs whisper-soft, careful not to alert anyone to my presence.

“Lily?”

Despite my boyfriend’s sleepy voice, he leaped out of bed and rushed toward me like a darkened shadow with ninja-like reflexes, ready to protect me with a moment’s notice.

“I’ve got you,” Jaxon whispered, wrapping me in the safety of his arms and offering immediate protection from the chaos. “I’ve got you.” His voice was thick with emotion.

With the weight of my home life crashing down around me, tears began to free-fall with reckless abandon, streaking down my face and coating his bare chest as the walls around me seemed to close in.

My thoughts began to race. Jaxon pressed his lips to the top of my head, as if trying to anchor me to the present while his hand moved slowly up and down my back in a smoothing motion.

But the air in my lungs was too heavy to breathe, and panic set in.

“Hey, hey.” He pulled back and cupped my cheeks. “Lily-Bee, sweetheart, look at me.”

I hated anyone seeing me appear weak, especially him. But since I’d already laid my scars at his feet, there was no turning back now.

When our eyes met, I found nothing but warmth and understanding in his gaze. No judgment, just acceptance—like he’d seen every piece of me and still wanted to be by my side.

“Just breathe, okay. Focus on taking deep breaths.”

I nodded silently and buried my face in his chest once again. Even though I wanted to scream in frustration, I focused on letting the steady beat of his heart guide me, grounding me in the rhythm of his calm as he made my world bearable in that moment.

Goose bumps danced across my skin, causing a shiver to run down my spine when Jaxon’s fingertips brushed across my neck under my hair as he held me close.

“Shit, you’re cold.” He reached behind him, pulled the comforter off his bed, and moved to wrap it around my shoulders.

“I didn’t even stop to think about getting dressed, I just left,” I said, looking down and taking in my attire—a white tank top adorned with little lemons and matching shorts.

“That bad, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Your jammies are cute, though.”

I couldn’t help but smile at his attempt to lighten the tense air that weighed me down.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked as the sound of a floorboard creaking outside his door made us both freeze.

Jaxon quietly led me to the spot where we’d been spending an unusual amount of time lately.

His closet. After the first time Jameson, his twin brother, caught me one night, innocently curled up in Jaxon’s bed where he was consoling me, we’d retreat to this hidden space whenever I’d snuck inside his room.

It felt a little strange at first, and yet there was something oddly comforting about it.

In the darkness, with Jaxon close beside me, I felt safe enough to voice my fears, even when it was hard to put them into words.

Not being able to see his face or read his expression made it easier to open up.

The secrecy of the closeted space was where I could speak my inner thoughts without overthinking.

He couldn’t see the sorrow in my eyes, the tension in my cheeks, or how my shoulders sagged under the weight of defeat from my despair.

“There are brighter days ahead, I promise you, Lils,” Jaxon murmured.

With our fingers woven together, he brought my hand to his lips and softly peppered me with reassurance.

“I can’t believe we are graduating tomorrow. We’ve talked about this day for so long, and it’s finally here.”

The milestone in our lives and the reminder that we were soon leaving Sutton River together gave me something to look forward to amid the uncertainty in my home life.

Arizona and I had our apartment locked down, summer jobs all set, and Jaxon, along with his brother, were following in their father’s footsteps by enrolling in the fire academy.

Despite heading off to schools in different cities in the fall, we promised to stay loyal and see each other whenever we could. He was my person, and I was his. But that fact did little to alleviate the nervousness that had settled in the pit of my stomach lately and refused to go away.

“Crazy, right?” he agreed.

I snuggled in closer, draping my legs over his thick, muscular thighs.

Jaxon’s body was a work of art, the result of countless hours he and the football team logged in the gym and on the field, coupled with his strict, disciplined diet, which helped shape every defined muscle and curve with precision.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“I know the plan after the dance was to go to Tucker’s place for the bonfire . . .” I hesitated, summoning the courage. “I was wondering—”

“What is it?”

With the way his forearm tensed around my back, I was positive he could hear the sound of my heart pounding in my chest. “I-I want to celebrate . . . just the two of us.”

“Just us?” Surprise was evident in his tone.

“Yes,” I confessed.

“As in—”

“Yes.” I nodded even though he couldn’t see me.

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to feel any pressure.”

“I’m ready, Jaxon. I don’t want to wait any longer to be with you.” I reached out and felt my way through the dark until my fingers grazed the side of his cheek. Under my palm, I felt the curve of his smile.

Tingles snaked up my spine the moment his hand traveled across my bare thigh to where he gripped my hip over my sleep shorts, while my pulse raced with an intensity that left me breathless.

“Lily.” His breath ghosted over my lips.

“Please.” I couldn’t help the pant that crossed my lips with desperation. “Touch me, Jaxon, please.”

Sure, we’d messed around, and all our firsts were with each other, but we had yet to go all the way.

“Lily, I—”

“Jaxon.”

“Let me do this right. I want this moment to be one we’ll never forget. Just one more day.”

“One more day,” I repeated, grateful for the darkness; it hid the flicker of hurt I couldn’t keep out of my expression. I understood his reasoning, but that didn’t stop me from needing something more to hold on to.

Another memory of us.

An assurance that we were stronger together.

However, the devastating truth was that neither of us knew how fragile or cruel life could be.

How close we were to the edge of everything we’d dreamed of being ripped away. That tomorrow wouldn’t bring the thing we were waiting for.

It wasn’t the beginning we’d planned.

It was the breaking point.

A storm we never saw coming, one that would irrefutably shatter our hearts.

And by the time I realized the error of my decision, it was too late.

I’d broken us.