Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Once we’re both cleaned up—her in new clothes and me in my boxers while she washes my paint-covered clothes—we spread the Chinese I brought across the coffee table and sit on the floor across from each other.
“All right, now talk to me,” I say, taking a bite of my chicken lo mein.
She sighs. “After we broke up, I was feeling down, so Melissa and Angela dragged me to a college party for Halloween. It was at Richie’s—I mean, Richard’s fraternity.”
I’m about to take another bite of my food, but when she mentions Melissa’s name, I drop my fork and it clatters against the plate. I haven’t heard that name in years.
“Melissa wanted me to let loose,” she continues. “I had a couple drinks, and Richard and I were dancing and…” She shakes her head. “This is going to sound so stupid.”
“No, it’s not.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “Whatever it is, it’s okay.” I move around the coffee table to sit next to her, so I can comfort her.
“I thought he was you,” she says, sniffling. “When we hooked up, I thought it was you.” Her body racks with sobs, and I pull her into my lap. “Melissa… she—”
Fuck, I can’t do this. I can’t sit here and listen to this. Any of this.
“I don’t care,” I tell her, cutting her off. “I don’t care what happened or how it happened. It’s in the past.” I lift her chin so she’ll look at me. “I don’t want to dwell on the past. It can’t be changed, no matter how much we wish it could be.” I kiss her lips and then pull back. “I just want to live in the moment with you.”
She nods her understanding, but then says, “That’s the problem.” She closes her eyes briefly to collect herself. “If I could change it, I wouldn’t. It gave me Hunter and Ella, and…” Fresh tears fill her gorgeous green eyes.
“Hey, hey, stop crying.” I run my thumb under each of her eyes. “I get it. They’re your world. It’s okay.” I turn her so her legs are wrapped around my waist. “Choosing to leave you to go to Salem was the hardest decision I’ve ever made. I’d like to say if I could do it over again, I wouldn’t have left. I would’ve stayed with you and we would’ve lived happily ever after. But the truth is, we don’t know what would’ve happened if I had stayed. Maybe we would’ve made it, maybe not. But looking back and thinking about what-ifs is pointless. I did leave, and you got pregnant and then married, and later, divorced. But the roads we took led us to right here, right now, and that’s what we have to focus on.”
“Okay.” She nods. “You’re right.”
“I have a question for you,” I say, needing to know the answer before we can go any further. “Do you see a future with Richie?”
“No.” She scoffs. “I care about him as my children’s father, but that’s it.”
My heart constricts at her words. I would give anything to have been the one to give her children, but I meant what I said. We can’t go back. And as much as I hate the idea of Harper caring about Richie in any way, the fact she does care about him speaks volumes about the person she is. It also reminds me that in order to have any future with Harper, I’m going to have to accept Richie will always be in her life through their children. She already mentioned before she’s worried he might try to fuck shit up, and I saw the way he acted when he was with her to pick up Hunter from camp. So I already know if I’m going to have a chance with Harper, I’m going to have to be the bigger man. That’s if she wants a future with me…
“Can you see a future with me?”
Her eyes widen. “Like as a couple?”
“Yes.” I laugh. “As a couple.”
“I just thought…” Her cheeks turn a light pink. Is she embarrassed?
“You just thought what?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugs. “I guess I thought we were just having fun. Like friends with benefits or whatever the kids are calling it these days.”
Is she fucking crazy?
“Did you not listen to what I said outside your window the other night?”
“Yeah. We talked about getting to know each other again, but I didn’t think you were interested in anything serious. You deserve better than me, Landon. You deserve to have your own family. If you’re with me, you’ll be reminded every day of what I did to us all those years ago.”
“I think I need to make something clear right now.” I look into her eyes so she understands how serious I am. “I could never have meaningless sex with you. I’ve been thinking about you for the last twelve years, and when you walked into that restaurant… Fuck, I’m gonna sound like a wuss, but I don’t even care. It was fate.”