Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 137433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 550(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 550(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
They’re acting like they didn’t have a nuclear showdown just a few hours ago over almond-flour waffles and bacon.
Then we all retire to our rooms. Mom is on night watch with me. She doesn’t say anything to me when she sees how I wrecked the room. Just mutters something about how Uncle Vicious owes my dad some favors and he better not have a tantrum about it.
I fully expect Lev to contact me. He doesn’t. Not during the night or the morning after it.
Not when I am dragged to one of the green trails by Racer, Knight, and Luna, who try to teach me how to ski. And not when we all sit down for another dinner.
The night before we’re scheduled to board the plane back home, I blink first and break the silence. I text him under the covers once Mom is asleep.
Bailey: Congratulations on finding them.
Bailey: The pills, not your balls. Those are still MIA, as your family can attest.
Aaaaand we have reached the truth-bomb portion of the evening, ladies and gents.
Lev: You seemed to know exactly where they were when you sucked nice and good on them the other day.
Bailey: That was before I knew you were a cheater, a scumbag, and a narcissist.
Lev: Check into rehab, Bailey.
Bailey: I’m actually glad you didn’t apply to the Air Force Academy. Our country needs people with ACTUAL courage. Not a spoiled brat who wants to play Top Gun.
Lev: Check into rehab, Bailey.
Bailey: Don’t bother contacting me ever again. We’re done.
Lev: CIRB. Good night.
CHAPTER 24
Bailey
Age seventeen
It’s been seven hundred and forty-six days since Rosie died.
Seven hundred and forty-six days since Lev and I have started sleeping in the same room. In the same bed. In each other’s arms.
Seven hundred and forty-six days since our scents began mixing together into a perfume called love.
Seven hundred and forty-six days since I promised to never leave, to never betray him, to never disappear.
Humans are adaptable creatures.
Designed to mold themselves into shape even in the harshest conditions. You’d think things would get easier for me. You’d be wrong.
The complications keep piling up. The warm, inviting morning wood that keeps bumping into my flesh under the blankets.
The way I notice things about him I had been blind to before. Like his cheekbones, that have recently chiseled into perfection.
the way his hair turned from straight and silky to coarse and floppy over last summer.
The way his body filled out everywhere—biceps, abs, shoulders, back. Biology is doing a number on me.
Shut up, evolutionary psychology. I’m trying to do the right thing here.
But it’s terrifying. To see a hot-as-hell man spurting out of your cute, unassuming BFF.
I see the way he looks at me. With unapologetic hunger. I want him to eat me whole.
To gorge on his forbidden fruit, seeds and all.
But I’m stuck in this stupid, boring role. I’m his best friend, his saint, his salvation.
I cook his favorite meals, hug him to sleep, and send him reminders for important games and homework that’s due.
Like right now, I am sitting on the bleachers, cheering him on as he wins the state championship against St. John Bosco, making history for All Saints High.
The game is over. The crowd is on its feet, cheering.
I jump the highest and shriek the loudest. Uncle Dean grabs me by the jacket and pulls me into a hug, ecstatic. I have tears of joy in my eyes when his brother points at Lev and roars, “That’s my brother over there! What a freaking legend!”
Happiness alters into pent-up sexual frustration as Dean, Knight, and I make our way down the bleachers and I catch the sight of Lev peeling off his shirt, exposing his abs, every ridge and curve so defined he looks Photoshopped.
His skin is golden, glistening, and demands to be licked to its last inch.
His hair is a mess and I want to comb it with my fingers. I stop a foot away from him and wait patiently as he spits out his mouthguard and hugs his brother and father.
There’s a bottle of his favorite iced tea in my hand. Then he turns to me.
“I’m so proud of you!” I exclaim, opening my arms wide, expecting a hug.
“Screw your polite hugs. We just won the state championship!”
He picks me up by the back of my thighs and hoists me in the air, spinning around.
I laugh and shriek as he tickles me, elated, and there’s a good chance I’ve never been this happy my entire life. Not even during my own victories.
“Lev!” I squeal as he tosses me in the air like I’m a toddler, grinning, his eyes coated with tears.
I know those tears are there not only because he brought his dad happiness but also because his mother couldn’t be here to see it.
Lev keeps his hands firmly on my waist when he brings me down, tucking my head under his chin, nestling me close. “Couldn’t have done it without you. Thanks for being the ground beneath my feet…or, you know, some shit.” He winks.