Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
“What do you mean?” Jordan asks.
“I’m scared of getting hurt if this continues.” She makes a motion with her hand, gesturing to whatever the unnamed thing is that’s going on between us. “Nothing has ever worked out right between me and a man. Ever. So just like you, Zane, but for much less of a good reason, I don’t get involved. I don’t try anymore to make relationships work, because they never do.”
“My relationship with Sarah was a good one,” Zane says, and Brittany winces.
“There’s a good chance it’s me. Maybe I’m the common denominator,” she says, and I want to wrap my arms around her, but I can tell she wouldn’t welcome that right now.
“I’ve had a Guinness-world-record-worthy run of shitty men. Men who were nice one day and mean the next, men who drank too much, men who wanted me to support them even though they were perfectly capable of working, and the time I thought I had a good one — the time I got engaged — that one cheated on me, and when I caught him, he tried to make me think it was my fault that he cheated.”
“Asshole,” Jordan mutters.
“Whole bunch of assholes,” Zane says.
“And the guy who cheated wasn’t the worst by a long shot. That was an easy one compared to a couple of the others.”
She’s trying to sound unfazed by it all, but it’s clear that she’s been hurt badly, maybe more than just emotional pain. “Did they hit you?” I ask.
She shrugs a shoulder and looks away. “A couple of them. There was also one who stole a lot of money from me. That hurt just as much.”
My fists tighten. I want to find all of these motherfuckers and knock them down, one by one, like a carnival game.
“What the fuck?” Jordan mutters.
“Yeah. So…” Brittany says, “I don’t do relationships. I don’t sleep with a man more than once anymore.” Her eyes shift to Zane, who looks more sad about Brittany’s past than he did his own.
“But you have with us,” Owen says, his voice low.
“I’m stuck on this tour with the four of you, aren’t I?” She cracks a smile then, and it’s a relief.
You hear stuff all the time about the shit women have to deal with, but I never suspected it was this bad. No wonder Brittany was stalking around like a fire-breathing dragon when we met her. It’s amazing that she’s even talking to us, or that she’d share her body with us the way she has.
“We won’t hurt you,” I say firmly, needing her to believe me. I’m speaking for all of us, and maybe that’s overstepping, but I’ve known Jordan and Owen for a while now, and I’ve gotten to know Zane well over this past week. None of them would hurt her. Not intentionally, anyway.
Jordan reaches over to touch Brittany’s arm. “Maybe you know there’s something different with us.”
“I used to think that with all of the men,” she says. “Every single time.”
“I’m so angry about all you’ve had to go through,” Zane says, “and no one could blame you if you swear off men forever, but I don’t think you really want to do that.”
She shrugs and returns her focus to her pancakes, eating a couple more bites as she looks around at us. We’ve all forgotten about our food entirely. Eventually, she sighs. “Why do you all have to be so goddamn irresistible?”
She’s waiting for a laugh, but we’re all still looking at her with care and sincerity.
“I hope you’ll let us prove ourselves to you,” Owen says.
She looks back at him, clearly conflicted. “I don’t know what to say. You’re right that I’ve already let you past my usual barriers, and I should feel more uncomfortable about that, but I don’t.”
“We can take it day by day,” I tell her.
She’s quiet again for a minute, taking another sip of her water, looking through the window out into the darkness. “I think that might be best,” she says. “For now.”
It’s not a grand slam, but it’s a run. A victory of sorts. She could’ve told us all to leave her alone, but she didn’t.
She knows there’s something between us. We just need to give her time to get comfortable, and to trust us.
“You’re a fucking ball of fire, Britt, a force of nature.”
She looks up at me, blinking.
“I admire you for not trying to turn into a lesbian so you could forget about men altogether.”
A laugh bursts out of her, and it makes my chest burn with need for her. “It doesn’t work that way. If it did, I probably would have tried.”
“Women’s loss, our gain,” Jordan says, chuckling.
“Speaking of women,” she says. “I’ve been curious. Have some of you shared a woman before?” She’s looking at me and Jordan mostly, and also Owen.