Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 106806 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106806 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
I have no one to blame but myself, but I already know it would destroy me.
The only stupid thread of hope I had left was dashed by the text she sent me not long after. I got my period. And then the one that was the real gut punch, What a relief!
Of course she’s relieved. Who wouldn’t be relieved to find out they weren’t tied to me for the rest of their life?
When the door opens, I jump off the couch.
Savvy slams it behind her and drops her big purse on the ground. She glares at me. “What did I steal?” She points to the bag, and tears fill her eyes. “What the fuck is in those envelopes that’s worth your car and ten grand—and let’s not forget my dignity.”
The disgust on her face is an anvil to my heart.
My phone rings, and I decline the call without looking at the screen.
I swallow hard. “What are you talking about?” I glance to the bag again, and my mouth drops open. “You did it? You got what was in the chest? Everything?”
“Yes. I stole it. For you. Because I thought I loved you, and I wanted to do something good for you. Because you’re right, you know. I wanted to believe you were the hero, and you’ve been warning me all this time that you’re not. I just didn’t peg you for my villain.”
Thought I loved.
Thought.
Past tense.
I knew this couldn’t last. I’m not the kind of guy who gets to be loved. I’m the mistake. The one they walk away from. “I didn’t mean to hurt you,” I rasp. It’s the only thing I can say without falling to my knees and begging for something I don’t deserve. Something that would never work.
My phone rings, and I decline the call again. This time, the name Peony catches my eye. Leave it to my little sister to know when my world’s falling apart.
“Never mind. I don’t want to know what’s in that bag,” Savvy says. Tears spill down her cheeks. “Whatever it is, I hope it was worth it.” Her steps echo off the high ceilings as she rushes to the bedroom.
I sink onto the couch, and when she appears again, the big duffel Julie brought her on her first morning here is slung over her shoulder. It’s packed so full, it can’t even be zipped.
She strides toward me and stops in front of me. I can’t bring myself to look her in the eye, so I stare at her feet. If I have to see the loathing on her face, I’ll crumble.
“Your key,” she says, tossing it onto the couch.
I close my eyes. Don’t go. Please don’t go.
But why beg for a delay to the inevitable?
“You know what’s crazy, Oliver?” she asks. “You didn’t even have to spend all that money. I would’ve been your thief for no reason other than you were kind enough to feed a drunk girl pancakes. I guess we both made some stupid mistakes.”
I don’t answer. I just listen to the sound of her steps heading to the door and then the ding of the elevator beyond.
My phone rings again, and I nearly drop it in my rush to answer. “Savvy?”
“No. Rose,” my sister says. “I’ve been calling.”
“What is it?” I snap.
“It’s Dad,” she says, and I register how wobbly her voice is. “They found him in his New York office. He’s . . .” She draws in a ragged breath. “Oliver, he’s dead.”
SAVVY
“Wait—so you had unprotected sex and he was freaked that you might get pregnant, but neither one of you thought to run to the store for the morning-after pill?”
I cover my mouth with my hand. I’m sitting on the couch in Julie’s boyfriend’s basement, spilling my guts to my best friend. “It didn’t even occur to me,” I admit.
“How? How did that not occur to you? Do you want a baby before you graduate?”
“No, but . . .” I blow out a long breath. “I guess I was so okay with leaving it to chance, I didn’t consider finding a way I wouldn’t have to. In that moment, having Oliver’s baby didn’t seem like it would be a terrible thing.” It sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud, and I bury my face in my hands. “Oh my God. I just wasn’t thinking.”
“Hey.” Julie rubs my shoulder. “Sav, it’s okay. You’re not pregnant. It worked out.”
I shake my head, sending tears rolling from my eyes and down my cheeks. “I was an idiot. I would’ve done anything for him, and he . . .” I swallow hard. “He set me up, Julie.” I lift my gaze to meet hers. “He set this all up.”
She frowns. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ve been convinced someone paid Chuck to throw that fight at the beginning of the semester.”