Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 120708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 604(@200wpm)___ 483(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 604(@200wpm)___ 483(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
It felt like a dagger hit me right in the heart. Timberlynn looked as if she might burst into tears.
“A moment of insanity and irrational thoughts?” I asked in a confused voice.
She looked down, then back up. For a moment I thought she was going to come to me. She looked so lost. Then her body went rigidly straight and she lifted her chin. “I’m not Lindsey or some girl on the rodeo circuit, or your special friend you can fuck and then walk away from.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “I never said you were. I don’t want a quick fuck with you. I want more, and I thought you knew that. I thought you felt the same way.”
She let out a shallow laugh. “Oh, so you want more? Is that what this is? Mess around with me, and see if you’re ready to settle down for a bit?”
I shook my head as I tried to make sense of what was happening. “What are you even talking about?”
“No, thank you, Tanner. Not interested.”
My confusion was replaced by anger. “You sure as hell were interested a few moments ago, and all day when you let me flirt with you, even hold your hand.”
Panic flashed across her face as she looked away. She was thinking of something to say, a response that would invalidate what we’d shared that day. I saw the moment she picked the words she would use as her weapon. Her entire body went stiff. She didn’t bother to look at me when she launched them out in full attack. “You’re the last man I would want to have a relationship with.”
I inhaled sharply. That hurt a hell of a lot more than I thought it would. I was positive my body reacted as if someone had hurled a hammer at my chest, because the moment she said the words, she flinched.
I nodded and took a few steps back. My hand went to the back of my neck to rub away the instant ache. I had no idea what had caused the turnaround. Embarrassment that my mother had almost caught us? Maybe I wasn’t the type of guy she was interested in after all. I honestly had no clue. The only thing I knew was my head was fucking spinning, and she was making it clear she wasn’t interested.
With a quick nod in her direction, I made my voice void of any emotion. I sure as hell wasn’t going to let her know her words had affected me. “Okay, well, thank you for making that clear to me, Timberlynn.”
Without another word, I turned to leave. The anger built faster than I had ever experienced before in my life. Or maybe it was the hurt of her rejection sinking in. Her words replayed in my head. She had hurled them out at me so easily, I almost believed her. I knew she had been hurt by someone, but that didn’t mean she had any reason to hurt me too.
“Tanner. I didn’t…”
I got to the door and threw it open so hard it slammed against the wall. I didn’t hear the rest of what she was saying because I walked away so fast, I nearly sprinted.
You’re the last man I would want to have a relationship with.
As I made my way down the steps, my mother called out for me. “Tanner? Honey, where are you going?”
“I’m going out, Mama,” I said as I glanced back over my shoulder.
Timberlynn stood at the top of the steps, her face a mixture of emotions.
“I’m going to the Blue Moose. Don’t wait up for me, I’ll be home late.”
Timberlynn didn’t say a word, she simply stood there. I willed her to ask me not to go, but she didn’t. I turned and headed down the hall to the front door. Opening the door, I didn’t bother to look back as I shut it behind me.
Chapter Twelve
TIMBERLYNN
The next morning I sat at the kitchen table as Stella and Kaylee talked about the New Year’s Eve party Stella and Ty Senior were going to throw. “I hope the weather is good, and we don’t have a storm blow in,” Stella said as she made a list of things to buy and things to do to prepare for the party.
Staring at the empty chair that Tanner normally sat in, I tried not to think about where he had gone last night. After a quick google search on my phone, I knew the Blue Moose was a bar, and my mind raced all evening and half the night. What had he done? Did he meet up with anyone? Leave with anyone? Stay the night at a friend’s house? It drove me mad last night, and I ended up getting up at four in the morning to read a book. I knew I had absolutely no right to even care, but I did. It felt like I was being torn apart inside by the things I said to him. Things I didn’t even mean.