Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 59603 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59603 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
1
CARMELA
Big Danny T’s was the best bar in town, and my favorite place to unwind. Especially now that I was going to have Trevor with me. I could only imagine how much better that was going to be.
We had been dating for a few months now, although we probably weren’t as far along on the relationship as most people would have been by now. Mostly because he lived in a different town, and we conducted a lot of our relationship long-distance. Late night phone calls and check-ins through text and chat apps kept us in each other’s everyday lives even when we couldn’t see each other.
Now that I had him with me, and it was time to finally introduce him to my friends.
Some of them were a bit miffed they hadn’t met him by now. Jade had given me shit about it, insinuating that I was hiding him from them for some reason. It was ridiculous, but she was kind of right. I was hiding him, but only because I wanted him to meet them in a way that they could all hit it off. A way that we could all be comfortable and in our element.
We were both in our late twenties, but he maintained so much of that swagger that men tend to have before they hit forty. He was different. A little dangerous.
Sometimes maybe a little too much.
The relationship hadn’t been perfect, but really, whose was? The combination of the distance and the lack of mutual friends had put extra strain on us that led to some sarcasm or tiffs between us. I tried to overlook them, chalking them up to the kinds of things that are bound to happen when two people try to stay committed to each other even if they couldn’t see each other all that often.
This was a big step, and I was nervous. Introducing my friends to Trevor meant that I was asking for their feedback. I knew they would give it to me straight too. If they thought he was no good, they would let me know. But I wanted them to like him so badly, and I was just sure they would be fine.
As Trevor drove, I sat in the passenger seat, giving him an overview of each of my gal friends. I provided him with a head’s up cheat sheet as to what he should expect, not that he seemed particularly interested.
“Also, please don’t forget, Jade has that scar down her arm that she’s very sensitive about. If you see it, don’t mention it.”
“Uh huh,” he said, fingers tightening around the steering wheel.
“Oh, and remember how I told you Jess was blonde? She’s not anymore. She’s a redhead, and she is desperate to have everyone believe that’s her natural color. I told her no one would believe that for a second, but you know, you just have…”
“I got it,” he said. His tone had a sense of finality to it. “You don’t need to go over all this again. I’ve heard it. A hundred times.”
“Not quite a hundred,” I joked. “Maybe ten.”
“Enough,” he said. “Enough times.”
“Fine,” I said, straightening up in the seat and turning to look out the window. “Turn right up here. Not this stoplight, the next one.”
“I have a GPS,” he grumbled.
“I know, but it’s telling you to go in the entrance from this road on the side, which is always packed, and accidents happen there all the time. It’s faster and safer to go right up here.”
Trevor didn’t respond, but his fingers tightened a little harder around the steering wheel. Part of me wished I had driven my own car rather than have him pick me up. Then he just would have followed me, and if things got too weird, he could escape if he needed to, and I could make a slower, more natural exit afterward. But that wasn’t what Trevor wanted. A united front, he called it.
“I know I keep going over stuff with you,” I said. “I’m sorry that it’s annoying. I just want them to like you as much as I do.”
The fingers released a little from the wheel, and he turned to smile at me. I returned the smile, even if we were blowing right through the stoplight, I’d told him to turn at.
As I thought, the turn into Big Danny T’s nearly caused a wreck, and Trevor let out a string of curses under his breath. I shook my head and tried to keep from saying I’d told him so.
We parked and headed inside, excitement clenching my belly as I saw my friends in the distance. When they caught sight of me, the squeal and careful running in heels to get a hug was followed by the introduction of Trevor to the group.
“This is Jade,” I said, pointing out my gorgeous, dark-haired friend. “This is Jess and her boyfriend, Ronnie. And this is Gary and Tom.”