Jonny's Redemption (Gemini Group Book 7) by Riley Edwards (audio ebook reader TXT) 📕

she didn’t know, no one knew. Not even Genevieve, and she was my best friend. And no one would ever know. I’d worked hard to hide who I really was, where I’d come from, who my kin were.

No, Miss Lola didn’t know.

Some of the tension started to ease but searing panic hit me hard when she continued.

“We all have secrets,” she whispered. “Some of us are better at hiding them than others. You hide yours well. But I see you, Roberta. You’re starving for something, girl.”

“Miss Lola—”

“That’s all. That’s all I gotta say about that so you can relax, child. Besides, I’m not the one you gotta talk to, Jonny is. You stop playing this game and open your heart you’ll see I’m right.”

There were a lot of things I’d wished for. They started when I was about five, with me wishing I were born into a different family. By the time I was ten, I’d wished I’d been born somewhere else. When I was fifteen, I’d wished I had no family at all. When I was eighteen, I’d wished I had a different life. There were a lot of wishes in between five and eighteen, loads of them. They never came true. Not a single one of them. So I knew wishing now was fruitless but I still did. And the thing I wished for the most was that Miss Lola was right—that somehow, someway I could help Jonny heal. That he’d open his eyes and finally see me.

I knew that would never, ever happen.

But I could be his friend. I was good at that. I was a good listener, a problem solver, loyal, and that was exactly what Jonny needed.

Yeah, I could be his friend.

God, why does that thought hurt so bad?

3

Jonny sat on the back balcony with his bare feet propped up on the railing, icy-cold beer in his hand, and watched as the last of the beachgoers packed up for the night.

The sun was low in the western sky; only streaks of pink were left over the horizon. This was his favorite time of the day. It was called something, maybe the golden hour, or maybe it was the magic hour. Whatever it was called, it was the time of day where everything seemed softer. The harshness of the bright sun had worn off, the heat had cooled, the day was winding down.

The sight before him—beautiful. The sounds of the waves crashing, hypnotic. Yet Jonny preferred the sun dipping under the woods behind his house in Cliff City. Preferred the sounds of the leaves rustling and the geese in the fall over beachgoers and waves.

Then why the hell am I still here?

The thought flew from his mind as quickly as it had entered. He was in Dewey Beach taking a sabbatical.

You’re not taking a sabbatical, you’re hiding, you jackass.

Weeks of isolation had done nothing to clear his mind. To soothe the guilt that ravaged his conscience. His friends had stopped calling after the first week. Nixon, Jameson, Weston, Alec, Chasin, and Holden had called him nonstop the first seven days. Jonny hadn’t picked up a single call. On day eight, Nix had sent a text telling Jonny he had thirty days to get his shit together.

It was day thirty, so Jonny wasn’t surprised when he heard the crushing of gravel. He didn’t bother to get up. The door was unlocked but even if it wasn’t, the stairs at the side of the house led straight to the second-floor balcony where Jonny was enjoying the view.

No, you’re not, you idiot. You hate the beach.

The sound of feet on the stairs had Jonny tipping his head back and closing his eyes. He’d been right, his thirty days was up. He’d just been wrong about who made the two-hour drive to tell him. Of all the people who could’ve come, Bobby Layne was the worst possible person.

Bobby was…everything. Nothing. The woman he wanted more than air. The woman he never wanted to see again. She was everything and nothing and her mere presence was a stab in the heart.

“Why are you here, Bobby?” Jonny asked, not opening his eyes.

“How’d you know it was me?”

Christ, her voice. He’d missed her voice. That Southern twang she tried to hide, but when she was pissed it came out in full force. Sweet and spicy, that was his Bobby.

No, asshole, she’s not yours.

Maybe thirty days of total seclusion hadn’t been the best idea. Not only was he talking to himself, he was now answering. Not only in his head like right then, but verbally when he was pacing the house at night. Hours and hours of wondering how his life had gone to hell. The best he could figure, it was the day his father had cheated on his mother.

Yeah, that was when Jonny’s life had taken a nosedive and nothing had ever been the same.

“Jonny?”

“Why are you here?” Jonny repeated.

He wasn’t going to admit he didn’t need to open his eyes to know it was her standing next to him. He’d never cop to the way his body came alive when he sensed she was near.

Jonny just knew it like she was a part of him.

“I didn’t like the way we left things,” she said timidly.

That was new.

Bobby was not timid, she was bold and outspoken. She didn’t take shit from anyone. Most especially not from Jonny. It was one of the many things he loved about her. Bobby was a pixie of a woman. A small little thing with a big attitude.

Hearing the nervous tenor made him right his head and open his eyes. Immediately he wished he hadn’t. Her blonde hair was longer than she’d worn it when he first met her. The bob had grown out and the tips now brushed below her shoulders. Short or longer, Jonny didn’t care, but the sight of it always made him want to run his fingers through it. Fist it and use the locks to hold her steady as he kissed