Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 63289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Horace twisted his face in pure rage.
Uh oh.
Bernard grinned. “The mother leaned over and whispered in her child’s ear, ‘No, baby. We’re Niggers today.’”
Oh shit. . .
I froze in horror.
That is definitely racist.
Horace glared at him. “What did you say?”
Bernard laughed. “We’re niggers today. Get it? It starts with a N, so in the alphabet it would put them later in jumping—”
“I should punch you in your fucking face!” Horace began taking off his jacket. “In fact—”
“No. No.” Claire held out her hands. “He didn’t mean it!”
Horace tried to lunge toward Bernard.
Ryan and Claire got between them, blocking Horace’s path.
Bernard just sat there in shock.
Meanwhile, Horace, Ryan, and Claire clashed in a chaotic jumble of twisting elegantly dressed bodies.
M.J. sang more to his past lover, hoping she remembered their good times.
“Oh no.” Bernard shook his head. “But. . .a Black person told me this joke—”
Somehow Horace slammed his fist into Bernard’s cheek.
Claire screamed. “Horace! How could you?”
“I am tired of him disrespecting you!” Horace tried to hit Bernard again.
What does that mean?
“No, baby.” Ryan struggled with gripping Horace’s shoulders to hold him back.
Bernard touched his face. “H-he hit me?”
And, the limo pulled up to the Manor.
I pointed to Shi. “Hurry. Let’s get of here.”
No fool, she scooted fast, opened the door before the driver could run around, and got out.
I quickly followed.
Meanwhile, the poor driver almost bumped into me as he got into the limo to stop the fighting.
Yeah. Note to self, Bernard shouldn’t tell that joke.
I climbed out of the limo, making sure I didn’t step in the puddle.
But I did anyway. . .because of the sight in front of me.
Right when I was trying to step around, I looked up and saw Ethan already standing right there with an expression of shock on his face.
He’s here early. Why?
That was when I stepped in the puddle.
He rushed over, caught my arm, and pulled me to him. “Dear God. I thought you were dead.”
My breasts smoothed against his chest.
I blinked. “W-what did you say?”
“I’m alive. You’re alive.” Ethan crashed his lips against mine, devouring me with an intense passion that made our kiss in the maze seem like child’s play.
My only thought was. . .He’s stuck in the time loop too?
Chapter 11
Stuck Together
We stood by the limo kissing. Ethan kept his arms around me, sealing me into a deep passionate embrace. His sweet-smelling cologne wrapped around me. His soft lips tasted like wine. His tongue felt like velvet.
And, our lips danced in the rhythm of desire as if nothing else existed.
I swore it lasted forever.
It was so raw, yet so tender.
Utterly intense, but so true.
With our lips—intertwining and caressing—we spoke a language beyond words. It was one of passion and new love. It was a promise of forever. A seal of our fates.
In that moment, time stood still and the world melted away. Life paused like a movie. It all stopped. The clicking of clocks. The passing of minutes. It was all irrelevant.
The rest of the world shifted to ghosts, spectators fading into the background.
Then, Claire screamed, “Maya!”
Shocked, I pulled back from Ethan, thinking that perhaps Horace had killed Bernard or something.
I had to admit my head was dizzy with Ethan as I turned around.
Instead of a bloodied Bernard lying dead on the concrete, all of my friends stood outside of the limo and stared at us in shock. I couldn’t see the expression on Shi’s face due to her mask being on.
Still masked, Ryan shook his head, probably thinking I was the biggest slut in the world. In this repeated moment, he still believed I was sleeping with his husband.
Meanwhile, everyone else wore shocked expressions.
Oh yeah. In this moment, they don’t know that Ethan and I have already met each other.
Claire had her mask off and her eyebrows raised. “Did I miss something, Maya?”
Bernard had his mask off too. Blood dripped from his nose.
I shook my head. “I’ll catch you up later, Claire. For now you should help your husband out.”
She scowled. “Excuse me?”
“Yeah, Claire. Go fix your husband.” Horace’s jacket was torn and his tie undone. Still, his face brightened with excitement as he hurried over to us. “Well, this is quite a surprise.”
I frowned.
“Already, love is in the air.” Horace gave us a wild grin. “Maybe, we should all go to the bar and get a drink. Together, you two could change the world for everyone. Ethan, has Maya told you about the organization that she wants to start? It’s called HeARt.”
“No.” Ethan turned to me. “She has not.”
I cleared my throat. “We haven’t had the time to talk about that.”
Claire strolled over, still gazing at me in shock. “But, you had the time to kiss?”
I let out a long breath.
“First, you were nervous about coming to the party and acting like you didn’t even know Ethan.” Claire held her hands out. “Next, you step out of the limo and kiss him—an absolute stranger to you.”