Saving Paige, page 1
Saving Paige
Finding Hope Series Book 4
T.O. Smith
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Epilogue
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About the Author
For Riley, my reason for everything that I do.
* * *
For all women who were forced to go through their pregnancies alone, this is for you.
* * *
For all men who stepped up and became the fathers their children needed, this book is also for you.
* * *
This book is also for all single parents doing everything they can to be a good role model for their child(ren).
First Edition: ©November 2020. T.O. Smith. All rights reserved.
Second Edition: ©May 2022. T.O. Smith. All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, living or dead, is coincidental.
Cover Design: Tiff Writes Romance
Editor: Tiff Writes Romance
Proofreader: Kimberly Peterson
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than review purposes), please contact authortosmith@gmail.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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1
I barked out a laugh when Byron smacked Jimmie upside the head, scowling down at his cousin. Jimmie whined, making Byron’s scowl deepen. “You fucking idiot.” Byron snarled as he peeled his wet shirt away from his torso.
Jimmie had just tripped while trying to stare at some girl and ended up spilling his drink all over Byron as he did so all because he wanted to stare after some mixed chick with a great ass – his words.
Jimmie was something else, I tell you.
“Bro, did you not see her?!” Jimmie exclaimed as he rubbed his head. “I’d eat that ass all night.” He informed us, making me grimace. He just grinned at me, knowing how I felt about eating ass.
I loved ass on a woman, don’t get me wrong, and I would eat pussy all day and night if I could – fucking breakfast, lunch, and dinner – but I drew the line at eating ass. I do not eat ass.
I grimaced just thinking about it.
It was so unsanitary.
I shrugged my bag off my shoulder when Byron began peeling his shirt over his head, almost making some girl run into a pole. I snorted. Being around Byron and Jimmie provided fucking limitless entertainment.
“Byron, I should have an extra shirt in here,” I told him, wanting to keep some poor, unsuspecting girl from busting her face open.
“Thank fuck.” He grumbled. “All I can smell is that nasty ass orange shit that he was drinking.” Byron grimaced, sending another scowl his cousin’s way.
“This nasty ass orange shit,” Jimmie mocked, making Byron’s scowl deepen, “is fucking delicious, Byron.”
I rolled my eyes. I swear, these two were like an old married couple, they argued so damn much. And if Jimmie loved anything, he loved riling Byron up. I don’t know how many times I had broken up a fight between the two of them only for them to be buddy-buddy a few minutes later as if they hadn’t just been ready to hospitalize one another.
After Byron switched shirts and tossed his old one into a garbage can nearby, grumbling something about it smelling like a girl’s unwashed vagina which had me roaring in laughter, we began walking towards the student center to get something to eat and probably grab some caffeine. We’d been studying all afternoon and finally called it quits a few minutes ago when Byron’s stomach threatened to cause an earthquake.
“Oh, hey, look. There’s that girl you’ve been daydreaming about, Byron.” Jimmie pointed out as he nodded his head towards Winter. I quietly laughed. From the moment my best friend laid his eyes on the curvy brunette, he’d been hooked. Byron normally wasn’t one for attachments and commitments – made his skin crawl. But I knew the moment I saw him with her that Winter would forever be different for him.
And honestly? Byron needed that. He needed someone sweet like her in his life. The guy had been dealt a shitty fucking hand growing up. He deserved happiness, and I was hoping like fuck she would be the one for him.
My eyes instantly locked on the beautiful blonde in line next to Winter. Paige was dressed in a pair of baggy sweatpants and a hoodie, her bedroom slippers on her feet, but she had never looked more beautiful to me. She surprisingly didn’t even have make-up on her face, and instead of her blonde hair hanging around her shoulders in soft waves like it normally was, she had it pulled up into a messy bun on the top of her head, strands falling out all around her face.
She was still the most breathtaking girl I’d ever laid my eyes on. And my heart skipped a beat at the sight of her just like it did every day we had class together.
“Isn’t that the girl you’ve been talking about?” Byron asked me, obviously figuring it out by the description I had given him.
I nodded. “Yep; that would be her,” I admitted.
Byron shot me a knowing smirk before Jimmie shouted Winter’s name, making Byron scowl at his back. I just laughed. What the hell else were you going to do with Jimmie? He gave no fucks how anyone else felt about the shit he did.
I had told both Byron and Jimmie that Paige was in a committed relationship. Even though the guy she was with was an absolute douchebag and cheated on her, I knew she was madly in love with him. I wouldn’t get in the middle of that shit no matter how badly I wanted her.
Even if I knew without a doubt I would treat her ten thousand times better than her boyfriend did.
Shaking my head and forcing myself to act normal, I ran up to them in my normal happy-go-lucky way, a grin stretching across my lips as I let my eyes meet Paige’s blue ones. Forcing myself to act chill, I shoved my hands in my pockets, watching as Byron gripped the back of Jimmie’s shirt and yanked him off an alarmed Winter. I coughed to cover another laugh. Byron was clearly extremely possessive of Winter, even if he knew Jimmie would never be a dick and make a move on her.
“I swear to God, did your mom teach you any fucking home training?” Byron snapped at him.
Jimmie just grinned at him, watching as his scowl deepened. It was so easy to get under Byron’s skin when it came to Winter, and Jimmie lived to annoy the shit out of Byron. She had quickly wormed her way under his skin in such a short amount of time.
I looked over at Paige to see her staring at the ground, her usual smile gone from her face. I frowned. She was always smiling. It was one of the things that had originally drawn me to her. She was so beautiful when she smiled.
What the fuck had happened to her?
Studying her a bit more, I could easily tell she had been crying recently. Her eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks not much better.
Someone had hurt her. I had to stop myself from curling my hands into fists as rage swirled in my gut on her behalf.
“Who are you?” Byron suddenly snapped at Paige, making me scowl at him. He knew very well who she was considering he had hunted her down to find out who in the hell Winter was when I’d told him I had seen them speaking a while back near the beginning of the semester. Byron had been desperate to find out who Winter was, so he’d gone out on a limb and went in search of Paige, hitting the jackpot when he found out she was Winter’s roommate.
Winter introduced them, and I realized Paige didn’t even smile at him like she normally would have. I clearly remembered in class when I had gotten paired with her for our writing assignment that she had done everything with enthusiasm.
That enthusiasm was missing, and it didn’t settle well in my gut.
“Oh, I remember you,” Byron stated, clearly dismissing her as he placed his arm around Winter’s shoulders. I kept my eyes trained on Paige’s face. She either didn’t notice me staring at her, or she didn’t care. I vaguely heard Byron ask Winter something about a movie, but I was lost in my thoughts.
“Did you hear? Luca Gladen is single.” I heard a girl whisper next to us in line. I glanced at her for a moment considering she was talking about the guy who was supposed to be Paige’s boyfriend. “She,” the girl not so discreetly pointed at Paige’s back, “caught him cheating. She obviously wasn’t enough.”
“I heard she’s knocked up.” Her friend whispered.
Are you fucking serious?
This is why I would never understand the female gender. How in the hell was it the girlfriend’s fault for her shitty ass boyfriend cheating? And why was it such a shitty thing that Paige was pregnant?
As a single dad, I hated people who made young, single parents feel like shit.
“I’m hanging out with Paige.” Winter suddenly announced, drawing my eyes to her as she turned down Byron’s offer of watching a movie together.
I forced myself not to laugh at the slightly shocked expression that flashed across Byron’s face for a moment. He wasn’t used to being turned down by a girl he wanted. Jimmie coughed into his hand to hide his laugh, and I elbowed him in his ribs, making him grunt in pain.
Paige began to protest, but Winter quickly shut her up, surprising me that the girl actually had a backbone. She didn’t seem to have much of one when I had first met her.
I glanced back at Paige. She looked miserable. I hated it. I was desperate to see that pretty smile on her face again. I needed those blue eyes to light up.
“Are you lesbians?” I blurted, my mouth opening before my brain could even register the words being spoken. I immediately wanted to slap myself on the forehead for that dumb ass question.
Really, Dylan? Are you fucking lesbians? Did you seriously just fucking ask that?
Byron slapped me upside my head, shooting me a glare. I rolled my eyes at him as I reached up to rub it. I swear, it felt like he hit me with bricks sometimes.
I barely resisted the urge to tell him to reserve the beatings for the bedroom. That would probably only get me smacked again.
“What?” I demanded, trying to cover up my stupid ass question. “I was just asking a question.” I defended, still internally asking myself if I was actually normal or not.
Are you lesbians?
Jesus, I was a special kind of special. Had to be.
That, or my mom dropped me on my head quite a few times when I was a baby.
Paige smiled at me a little, and I felt my heart race in my chest at the sight of her beautiful smile aimed in my direction. Suddenly, I didn’t feel so stupid anymore. If acting like a damn idiot got her to smile at me, I would gladly be the dumbest mother fucker to grace this planet.
“What if I said we were?” Paige asked me.
I resisted the urge to smirk. The girl had a fire in her soul, and I loved it.
Using my wonderful acting skills, I gaped at her, acting completely shocked by her words. “Please tell me you’re bi,” I whispered, not even caring what dumb shit flew out of my mouth now. I didn’t care as long as she continued smiling at me.
She laughed, and I swear, I almost swooned at her feet. Oh, fuck me, I was slightly obsessed – even more than Bella was with Edward.
“No, I’m completely straight.” She informed me.
I let my face fall from my hopeful one, and her laugh got louder at the look on my face.
I could listen to this sound all damn day.
Not to sound like a freak – okay, I probably would, but whatever – I wished that I could record her laugh and listen to it all the time. It was beautiful.
“Damn,” I grumbled, slightly mesmerized by her grin. I moved to stand next to her and put my arm around her slender waist, tugging her against my side. I could feel the dip in her waist, and I resisted the urge to groan out loud. I was a sucker for slim waists that flared out to wider hips. It was the hottest fucking thing ever.
Perfect place to grip when I was hitting it from behind.
Shit, my dick was hard.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” I asked her, though I already knew the answer to that if that annoying, gossiping girl behind us was right. I wanted to hear it from her lips. I knew how wrong rumors could be.
Rumors were normally just rumors after all.
I mean, once back in high school, someone had made a rumor that I ate my English teacher’s ass during detention, but we all know that’s a lie.
I don’t eat ass.
Paige’s mood dimmed, and I swallowed hard, wanting to do nothing more than bring that beautiful smile back to her face. “No, not anymore.” She told me softly, making my eyes widen.
So, the rumors were true?
It was shitty that she got dumped, and I hated that dick for hurting her, but at the same time, I was thanking him.
Now, I would get to make my move, pick up her pieces, and make her mine.
“Well, he was a dumb ass for dumping you, then,” I told her in all honesty. If this girl was mine, I would never let her go. She was one of those girls that you cherished – held on to for the rest of your life. “You’re a gorgeous girl, Paige.” She blushed at my words, her lips tilting up the tiniest bit. “You deserve the world and then some.”
And she did. I barely knew her, but I wanted to give her everything I possibly could.
I heard Winter snap my name, but I didn’t look over at her. I kept my gaze trained on the beautiful girl next to me, knowing Byron would talk to her. I could tell by Winter’s tone of voice that she was worried I was playing Paige, but I would never.
Not her. Never her.
“Want to talk about it?” I gently asked her.
“I’m sure you’ve already heard.” She grumbled.
“No.” I lied. I had, but I wanted to hear it from her lips.
“That you’re pregnant?” I asked her. “I don’t normally believe rumors, sweetheart,” I informed her. She shot her shocked eyes up to mine. I shrugged at her. Why the fuck would I care? I’d been taking care of my daughter since she was an infant. Her mother had given her up to me. “After having the most ridiculous rumors spread about me, I’ve decided not to listen to them anymore.”
She shrugged. “Well, I’m knocked up.” She spit like it was one of the worst things in the world.
I shrugged. “It’s not the end of the world, sunshine,” I told her honestly. “I have a three-year-old little girl. Her name’s Kaylyn.”
She shot her wide eyes up to mine again. “Then why are you here?” She asked.
I sighed. “I wanted to go to this school badly. But they don’t offer the program I want to major in online, so I’m forced to live on campus for the first year before I can move off-campus and be home with Kaylyn full time. My mom watches her.” It was an agreement my parents and I had come to at the beginning of my senior year. When I started college, Mom quit her job so I wouldn’t have to pay for daycare while I was away. “I go home on the weekends to be with her,” I told Paige.
I pulled my phone out of my back pocket, showing Paige my lock screen where Kaylyn’s picture was. She was laughing at something I had said to her. Her blue eyes were locked on me, and her wide grin was stretching across her face. Her blonde curls were scattered all over her head. I swear the child could never keep her hair tamed. Five minutes after she woke up, it always looked like she stuck her finger in an electric wall socket. Mom said it would get better when she got older, and her hair continued to get longer.
“She’s beautiful.” Paige breathed.
“Thanks,” I murmured, pocketing my phone again, my heart squeezing in my chest. I missed my baby girl.
Paige looked up at me. “What’s the craziest rumor you ever had said about you?” She asked me, her eyes shining with curiosity.
I grimaced. “That I ate my English teacher’s ass during detention,” I informed her.
Paige barked out a laugh. I couldn’t help it. I grinned. “Isn’t that what guys like you love to do?” She asked me. When I arched an eyebrow at her in disbelief, she explained. “You’re not unknown around campus, Dylan Bowen.” She reminded me.
I snorted. I knew I wasn’t. “I do not eat ass, princess,” I informed her. “It’s unsanitary.” She laughed. “Pussy, yes. Best fucking meal of the day for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and all the snacks in between.” She grimaced, but her laughter grew. “But eating ass is where I draw the line. There is no fucking way a person can clean away all of the shit.” My stomach churned just at the thought of it.
I swear, if my arm wasn’t around her waist, she would be sitting on her ass on the floor, she was laughing so hard.
“Get the fuck off my girl!” A voice boomed through the student center, making Paige instantly stop laughing as her face paled. We both turned to face her ex—Luca Gladen.
His last name was misleading. This mother fucker was definitely not glad right now. In fact, he looked ready to beat me into a bloody puddle on the floor.
