Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 78048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
As soon as Lisa spots me at the bar, she starts in my direction with the two women. Not even asking why they are here, I know why they’re here. I can see it in the catty way Lisa is looking at me and the way the girls are flanking her on either side.
“Is Colton here?” Lisa asks when she reaches the bar.
“Nope,” I answer, then ask, “can I get you girls something to drink?”
“What’s going on with you and Colton?” the brunette asks, looking me over in a way that I know she’s sizing me up.
“I don’t think it’s any of your business,” I tell her honestly, then look at the three of them. “Are you drinking?”
“Are you seeing him?” the blonde asks.
“Everyone has been seeing you two around town,” Lisa puts in. “Real classy making out with him in broad daylight.”
“You sound jealous,” I say, and her eyes flash with anger then fill with what can only be described as pity.
“I’m not jealous. He’s mine. He’s always been mine. We’ve been together since we were fifteen, and when he gets over this, we will be together again. Even his mom has been trying to get us back together again.”
Staring at her, I know she truly believes that. She thinks Colton will eventually get over what she did to him and go back to her. For all I know, he might, but I really doubt it. The damage she did cannot be repaired. As for Rose, I don’t know what she’s thinking.
“Are you drinking?” I repeat my earlier question, and the three of them look at each other, then climb up on the barstools in front of me.
“We will each have a water,” Lisa orders, and I pull out three glasses and fill them with ice then bring up the soda gun and fill their glasses with water. Pushing the full glasses toward them across the bar, I’m half tempted to tip them over onto their laps. But I don’t, because that would be rude, and I don’t really feel like cleaning up the mess it would cause.
“How’s your grandmother?” Lisa’s blonde friend asks, making my already tight muscles bunch almost painfully. “I heard she’s not right in the head.”
“I heard you only came to town to get her money, and when that didn’t work, you tried to kill her by setting her house on fire,” the brunette says, and my hands ball into fists at my sides.
“You need to leave now,” I growl, ready to jump over the bar.
“I think Rose would disapprove of you talking to paying customers like that,” Lisa says with a smile. “In fact, when I leave here, I’ll make sure to call and let her know how rude you’ve been to us.”
“Call her now,” I suggest, and her eyes turn to slits before they all stand at the same time like some well-planned performance.
“This is going to be my first and last warning,” Lisa sneers, knocking over the three full glasses, causing water to go everywhere and the glasses to fall off the bar and shatter at my feet. “Stay away from Colton.”
“It will be kinda hard to do that, when I live with him,” I tell her, and her body jerks back and surprise fills her eyes. I don’t even have it in me to feel bad for her, since she’s such a bitch. But I still think I should have kept that information to myself, because she is obviously crazy.
“Come on, Lisa. Let’s get out of there,” the brunette says, taking hold of Lisa’s arm and dragging her toward the door, with the other friend following along with them.
I wait until the door closes behind them to suck in a deep lungful of air. I didn’t even realize I wasn’t breathing until then. Tears burn the back of my eyes, but I fight them off and lean over, resting my hands on my knees and trying to calm down. My nerves feel shot and my body feels wired, like I drank way too much coffee. Gritting my teeth, I fight the urge to call Colton and tell him what just went down. I don’t want to worry him about this, or make him have to think about Lisa or deal with her. Especially when I know that’s exactly what she wants.
“Gia.” My head flies up when I hear Colton call my name, and I watch him come toward me with worry-filled eyes. “What the fuck happened?” he asks, looking at me then the mess of shattered glass and water at my feet.
“Nothing,” I say shakily, watching him set a bag on top of the bar. “You know me. I’m clumsy.”
His eyes narrow. “Tell me what happened and why you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Nothing happened.” I wave him off. “Like I said, it was an accident.” I grab the garbage can from under the counter and set it down in the middle of the floor then move toward the office to grab the broom and dustpan.