Rev Read Free

over me and wrapped his arms around me. To me, it was an embrace of acceptance. Like I finally had somewhere I was desired, somewhere I unequivocally belonged.
    Finally, there I was standing at the door to his skyline terrace suite, I ran my hands through my dark coffee hair, which I’d had smoothed earlier during the spa-day retreat. The stylist had recommended highlights, but I felt attached to the shade as it was. Maybe it was because my dad used to call me coffee bean, patting my mess of tangled hair and laughing out loud as I poured myself a cup at breakfast even when I was 12. I would get extremely hyper and start making schedules of all the important stuff I had to do for the day, from homework to reading to painting my nails.
    Those were simpler times.
    I pushed the door open. The lights were out and only the soft glow of small fixtures guided me through the entrance hallway into the expansive, open living space between the rooms.
    “Frank, it’s me—Winter,” I called out, hushing my voice mid-sentence as I realized he might already be asleep, out like a light, and recovering from a brutal hangover.  I heard a groan coming from the bedroom to my right and walked quietly over, pushing the door open.
    What the fuck?!
    Frank was there, alright. Basked in the eerie glow of the bedside nightlight, his pasty ass tensed between two tan, smooth thighs. The woman was moaning in an artificial, lazy kind of way. And Frank was panting like a dog, still in his open shirt and socks, grinding his cock into some club hostess he’d brought back to an impressive, expensive hotel suite.
    He turned his head to the side and did a double take when he saw me at the door. His expression was full of shock, but lacked the shame I would have expected. In fact, he didn’t even get off of her, whoever she was.
    “What the hell, Winter!” he shouted as if I was to blame. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
    My hand went instinctively to my forehead as I tried to fully process what was happening. “I…I…We’re…” I stared at him disoriented and bewildered.
    Frank hushed the girl under him as she began to question the situation in high-pitched whispers of protest. “Winter, don’t look at me like that!” he spat, annoyed. “We’re not even married yet!”
    “I can’t. Frank, I can’t.” The words finally tumbled out of me. I gripped my engagement ring and pried it painfully off my finger. “You can have this back Frank.” I threw the diamond ring right into the middle of the bed and it landed somewhere in the tangled mess of their bodies. “I know how much your mother wishes it went to someone better than me anyway.” I turned to leave.
    Not one word of attempted apology came out of his lips. And I swear they got right back to fucking the minute I left the room. I broke down in tears. My hair stuck to the side of my cheeks as pushed the salty wetness from my eyes. I was a mess, as much on the inside as the outside. Now I really was lost. I had nothing, and after all that, I had no idea where my life was going.
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Two
    Rev
    There were a million girls just like her. They’d show up at the tracks looking like wide-eyed deer in headlights. They were usually light blonde, perfectly done up, impeccably put together, and trying their best to look like the good-time girls of Las Vegas.
    But daddy’s money always showed through. The expensive designer purse, red-bottomed shoes, and the entitled vibes they gave off—no, they didn’t belong here. For them, this was an act of rebellion. They came to the tracks with the most daring of their friends. They felt the reckless abandon and wild thrills of the races. But what they really came for was guys like me.
    What they wanted was a night of sex they’d never get anywhere else. They wanted a story to tell when they started dating that boring asshole their dad liked so much. They wanted something to remember when they touched themselves late at night