Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 100202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Seconds ticked by in complete silence.
“Then do you mind if I—”
Raven threw a pillow, smacking Halley in the chest.
“Got it,” Halley said as the pillow fell into her lap.
“Subject change!” Ava sat up straighter, tugging a piece of paper out of the back pocket of her jeans and handing it to me. “I saw that today and thought of you.”
I unfolded it and swallowed the knot in my throat. World Geographic Photo Open. Phenomenal, action-packed pictures filled half the page with wildlife and portraiture taking up the rest. They were all pictures I would have killed to have taken.
“I think you should enter,” Ava said.
“I don’t know how to get any of these kinds of shots,” I confessed, pointing to a photo of a rock climber mid-ascent. Or how to ask if I could bring a kid along if I ever got close to winning.
“I know someone who can probably help you out with the shots,” Raven said, pointing upstairs. “Or is he not an extreme skier with a helicopter?”
Raven’s right. Weston can help.
An elephant sat on my chest.
I chewed on my bottom lip, my mind racing with all the possibilities, even as that knot in my throat slid like a stone into my stomach. What was the point of even entering?
“Come on, Callie. They can’t tell you yes if you don’t ask,” Ava urged.
“And I just, what? Take off for a year and leave Sutton? Uproot her if they’d even give me the internship with a kid?” I shook my head. Neither was a possibility, which was why I’d unsubscribed from World Geographic’s newsletter. Wanting what you couldn’t have only made it hurt more.
“We could help you figure that out,” Raven promised. “Or just enter for the hell of it and turn it down if you win, just so you’d know you chose to stay here.”
Ava scooted closer, resting her shoulder against mine. “Why don’t you just think about it? And even if you don’t enter, I bet Weston would kill for some shots like this to use for marketing.”
I nodded, staring at the brilliant photographs of rock climbers hanging off the edge of austere cliffs and surfers cresting enormous waves.
“So, are you ready for the onslaught of students with the season firing up?” Ava asked Raven, but I didn’t hear the answer as I stared at the photos.
Yeah. I could think about it, but that was the problem. I always thought about it.
“Right hand, blue!” Maria called out, the spinner between her hands as we sat in Theo and Jeanine’s house after dinner that Saturday night.
Sutton, Max, Seline, and Scott—Maria’s husband—all moved on the giant game board, contorting themselves into place.
I laughed as Sutton blew her hair out of her eyes.
Jeanine took the seat next to me on the couch, her brown eyes twinkling as she watched her kids play. “They’re something, aren’t they?”
“I wouldn’t get up for a week if I tried that.” I motioned toward where Max was in a full backbend.
“Pretty sure Scott is going down on the next move,” Maria whispered, grinning at her husband, who held a position precariously close to a split.
“I heard that,” he said over his shoulder, keeping one hand on blue and the other on green as his legs stretched the entire mat.
I tried to wrap my head around the entire scene and match it to what Weston had told me about his friends.
“What are you thinking?” Jeanine asked quietly, handing me a glass of sweet tea.
“That this is nothing like what I pictured when Weston told me you wanted to have us over for dinner.” I glanced into the dining room, where Weston and Theo were currently hanging a painting.
“What did you expect?” Jeanine asked as Maria called out another position and the players switched.
“He mentioned something about an inquisition.” A smile tugged at my lips.
“Oh, there’s still time for that,” Maria said with a smile. “We just couldn’t get a word in edgewise during dinner the way West jumped in to save you with every question we asked.”
“You all call him West?” I glanced over at Weston, noting the way he used a level to check that the painting had been hung perfectly square.
“As long as we’ve known him,” Jeanine answered. “Which seems like forever. He and Theo were stationed together at Campbell and then again at Drum. They’ve done two deployments together, the last of which—”
“Was with me,” Maria finished with a smile. “Left foot, yellow!”
The kids groaned, and Scott bit back a curse word.
“He seems too serious for a nickname,” I admitted, keeping my tone low.
“Oh, that’s why we make a point of calling him that,” Jeanine replied with a smirk. “So now that we’ve got you alone…”
“Ask whatever you want.” I shifted on the couch, taking a sip.
“Is he totally and completely unbearable to live with?” Maria asked, spinning again.