Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 124923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
I search the room for Valen, wondering if she stuck around for my speech. I don’t expect she did, but then I see a flash of her dark hair, sans the ribbon that’s still tucked away in my pocket as she all but dashes from the room.
“You son of a bitch,” my uncle mutters under his breath.
I waltz away, leaving him to do damage control.
Valen
“Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey,” Shayne sing-songs.
I pull up my sleep mask even though I’ve been awake for the past hour, contemplating my shitty life choices. Squinting one eye shut against the bright light, I look up at her. She’s waving a brown paper bag with a grease stain on the bottom over my face. My stomach growls at the sight. “Nicky’s?” I ask, sitting up in bed and reaching over the side to grab my lap desk from the floor to use as a table for our breakfast.
“Only the best for my girl,” she says, plopping down onto my bed as she sets the bag onto the desk between us. “I don’t think any of the campus cafes are open during break, so I figured I’d grab something.” She divvies up the food, handing me an egg, bacon, and avocado croissant, followed by one for herself and a big fruit bowl to share.
“You’re too good to me.” I don’t waste any time taking a huge bite out of it. Delicious. And still warm.
“Then you’re really about to love me.” She walks out into the kitchen before returning with two iced coffees from Dunkin.
“Marry me already,” I mumble around a mouthful of food, causing her to snort out a laugh.
“You’re missing an earring.” She points to my right ear.
I feel my earlobe as an image of Holden’s teeth tugging on it enters my mind. “Must be in my sheets or something.” I take out my other earring and drop it on my nightstand.
“I can’t believe Holden did that last night.”
I freeze, sandwich suspended mid-air in front of my mouth, thrown by the sudden shift in topic. “What do you mean?”
“You didn’t see it? He basically called Judge Ames out and told everyone that Christian was a missing person.”
Oh, right. That part. “I caught the end of it as I was leaving. It could’ve been worse?”
“I don’t know. August is livid,” she continues before taking a bite.
“What happened after that?”
She shrugs. “Nothing, yet. Holden didn’t go back to the house last night. I knocked on his door before I woke you up, but there was no answer. Thayer’s checking his apartment right now.”
A sinking feeling hits my gut. “Where do you think he went?”
“Who knows. I just hope he’s okay. The last time he got shit-faced and took off, I found him with his pants down, chugging straight from the bottle as he was getting head from those two girls. In the middle of the living room.”
I drop my half-eaten sandwich, my appetite completely gone now. Shayne takes my reaction as being grossed out by Holden, but if I’m being honest with myself, it’s more than that. The thought of him jumping from me to someone else in a matter of minutes…
“He’s hurting, Valen. We all have our ways of coping,” she says in way of defense.
“It’s not that,” I start before I realize what she said. “Wait, was he drunk?” He definitely didn’t seem drunk with me. His breath smelled of weed and spearmint, but I didn’t see him with a glass of anything. He’s either really good at hiding it, or he works fast.
She gives me a weird look, cocking her head to the side in thought. “It was New Year’s. I just assumed, but I don’t know for sure.” Her phone vibrates on the bed, and she looks down to read the screen. “He’s not at Thayer’s apartment either.”
“I’m sure he’s fine. You know Holden.”
“I don’t want to know how Samuel’s going to retaliate. I’ll be at my dad’s, so I won’t even be here if shit hits the fan.”
She’s only just recently met her dad for the first time. Her mom kept him away, thanks to a nasty addiction to drugs and gambling, but from what she says, he’s been sober for the past four years and wants to get to know his kid. “When do you leave?” I ask.
“Four days. Thayer’s coming with me. You know, to make sure he’s not secretly a creep.”
“Good idea. What does your mom think about all of this?”
She lets out a heavy sigh. “She doesn’t love it. But she supports whatever I want to do.”
“I’m sure she just doesn’t want you to get hurt.”
“I know. Especially with everything with Grey going on. I think she’s afraid I’m going to get attached and he’ll let me down or something. But I don’t even know this guy. If he disappeared tomorrow, I wouldn’t give a single, solitary fuck.”