Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 37636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 188(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 188(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
Ethan shrugged. "I remember everything about you."
And so he did, Anah thought. Looking back on the memories they shared, she knew what he said was true. He always remembered. But despite this...despite remembering every little thing about Anah, none of it had ever been enough to make him forget Guilia.
Like now.
She only had to look at him, and the bleakness in his gaze would still be the first thing she'd see.
Ethan saw Anah pull her knees up and tuck them under her chin. "Cold?" She shook her head, but he took his jacket off all the same and placed it over her shoulders.
The scent of him surrounded her, and Anah found herself pulling the jacket closer.
Ethan's lips twitched when he saw what Anah was doing. "So you are cold."
"I'm not." She saw him roll his eyes and couldn't help smiling. He was probably thinking she was lying out of pride, and it was best to let him think that. The truth was worse, after all, which was that having his jacket around her shoulders was almost like being in his embrace.
Anah allowed herself a second to imagine saying such words to Ethan...
Never!
Anah barely managed to repress her shudder.
Yuck, yuck, yuck.
If she were to ever say such a thing to Ethan, she might as well beg him to love her.
And that was the one thing she'd never do, Anah promised herself. Never ever ever—-
Ethan was amused to see Anah's lovely features suddenly contort into an expression he could only describe as ferocious. "Penny for your thoughts?"
"Not for sale," Anah answered without hesitation.
"That bad?"
"Extremely."
Ethan chuckled, and the sound was so, so lovely it almost made her think she had won a piece of his heart to herself.
Almost.
Anah's gaze drifted back to Ethan. Still heartbreakingly gorgeous, she thought, and still not hers. He never was. Probably never would be either, and the thought had her burrowing deeper into Ethan's jacket. Loving someone isn't about making that person yours, Anah tried rationalizing to herself. Rather, loving someone was all about wanting to see that person happy, and in Ethan's case...
Anah had to clear her throat several times before Ethan finally turned her way.
"You have something to say now?" he asked in amusement.
"I do, yes."
"And?"
Anah couldn't help clearing her throat again. "I've been thinking..."
"When you use that tone," Ethan murmured, "it's usually bad news."
"I was going to talk about Guilia."
"Knew it," he deadpanned. "Bad news."
"I disagree. One year ago, you couldn't even say her name in my presence. So in my book: good news."
Ethan's lips twitched, and her heart ached at the sight of it.
If only...
If only loving was just about making a person smile.
But it wasn't.
"So about Guilia..."
Ethan's gorgeous face turned expressionless.
"I just wanted to say," she went on doggedly, "I've always believed - and I still believe this - that she only has to see Hartland, and she'd get it. You just need to figure out a way to get her to finally say yes and come here. I really believe all she has to do is see Hartland," Anah said earnestly, "and she'd get it. She'd understand what your dream is, and then that's it."
Ethan still didn't speak.
"You'd live happily—-"
Ethan cut her off with a sharp look. "Stop it."
"Ethan—-"
"Enough, Anah. I mean it." Did she really think he wouldn't be able to see how much all these words were costing her? Maybe she was right, and he was no longer the same man he was before. Maybe something really had changed, and that was why agony no longer ripped through him every time he had to think or talk about Anah.
But even so...it wasn't fucking enough.
And that was why he never wanted Anah to hurt herself the way she was doing now.
"It's okay, Ethan," Anah whispered.
But it wasn't okay. How it was between them had never been okay, and they both fucking knew that.
Ethan breathed hard. "I wish..."
"I know."
And so she did, Ethan thought dully.
This was Anah, after all. His little Anah, who even at sixteen had been able to read an entire story simply by looking into his eyes—-
Just like she was doing now.
And the story, even to this day, remained painfully the same.
Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. And the girl's name was still not Anah.
Chapter Ten
More weeks passed. Kady and Slade were now a couple. Ethan had to fly back to Jackson Hole for work, and it was there he remained when Anah celebrated her nineteenth birthday. His absence would've been devastating...if not for the fact that it was his texts she woke up to each day. Granted, the text messages were all forwarded ones - everything from memes to GIFs and even the odd chain letter or two - but she cherished each and every one of them nevertheless. She knew, without being told, it was Ethan's way of letting her know that he and Guilia still hadn't gotten back together.