Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 104745 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104745 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
No offense to Stella—I love her to death—but having Ryann here with insider information makes the situation feel less intimidating and manageable. And now I know that Shannon wasn’t telling the truth when she said they were sleeping together. I still have no idea how long before he and I met that they were banging, but realistically, does it even matter?
Only once I’m alone in my room again do I collapse back on my bed, this time with relief. It’s a stressful kind of relief; I’m still tense and nervous about the conversation I need to have with Drake, but at the same time, some of the worry is gone.
I pick up my phone to message him.
Hey… you there?
Of course I’m here.
What are you doing?
At the gym blowing off some steam so I don’t drive my truck through the neighbor’s house, but I can be over in five minutes if you want to talk.
I could talk, but you don’t have to be here in five minutes. Maybe I should come to your house? I feel like I’ve been cooped up for the past 24 hours and should get outside…
What if I met you at the park instead? Neutral ground?
That works too…
Half hour? I’d like to scrub my balls quick so I’m not a sweaty mess.
Wow. Seducing me with your words already…
At least I’m consistent…
Very true.
fifty-four
drake
Shut up, heart. You’re fine.
I had just enough time to grab her flowers—an oversight I forgot on our fancy dinner date, but I’m making up for now.
Are they “forgive me” flowers? Yes.
So what.
Sue me for trying my hardest to apologize.
I pull at the collar of my shirt, glad I had something decent in the back seat of my car to wear, the black golf shirt had been tossed in the cab after the last time I’d gone golfing and had never been taken out. But also not washed.
I sniff my pits.
Not horrible.
I’m the first one here, having raced through my shower with a simple scrub down. Slapped on some deodorant, pulled on my clothes, and ran out to the car so I wouldn’t be late for our appointment—and ended up being early.
My knee begins to bounce as I wait, impatient to get this conversation started. I slept for shit last night and suspect Daisy most likely did too.
Ryann didn’t tell me much about how Daisy was feeling, but she did explain everything she told her while she was at her house today. Her history with Shannon and her roommate, the way fan girls tend to lay claim to players, and how I hadn’t technically done anything wrong.
Not technically.
Did I lie by omission?
I don’t know.
Is there a good way to tell a girl you just started dating that you had a fuck buddy you’d been sleeping with the past eight or so months but that you ended things with the week before your first date?
No.
Hard no.
You want to have an awkward conversation, make that the first one on your list.
I see her walking at the far end of the park, her pink shirt a stark contrast to the green grass and trees surrounding us, nothing but a phone in her hand.
Jean shorts.
Sandals.
I climb out of my truck, shuffling forward almost bashfully, shoulders slouched, hands stuffed in my pockets, like a puppy that has done something wrong and feels ashamed.
There’s a picnic table nearby, and I head for it, standing next to it as I wait for her to catch up, her long hair catching in the breeze, blowing around her sweet face.
Her eyes look tired.
Like she’d spent the night crying.
Fuck.
“Hey,” she says as she approaches, surprising the fuck out of me by walking up and wrapping her arms around me. Hugging me.
I fold her up, too, squeezing.
Oh my god, it feels good to hug her…having her enfold my waist, face buried in my neck.
Thank god.
A few pounds of weight floats away as we step back from one another, then take a seat at the picnic table, me on one side, her on the other.
“It’s been a long day,” I say as if her day hadn’t also been long and now I feel like a dumbass. “How did you sleep last night?”
Another stupid question but too late to take back.
“Not great. But I’m feeling much better.”
“Good.” I nod. “I was feeling like shit until you messaged me. Ryann went to see you, eh? I didn’t put her up to it, I swear.”
“Yeah, she came to see me, and I’m really glad she did. It shed light on a bunch of questions I had. Mostly.”
I tilt my head but keep quiet so she can say her piece.
“I think yesterday I was embarrassed. It’s not every day someone screams at me in the quad, saying they fucked my boyfriend, and he went over to her house just the night before I’d said you couldn’t come by ’cause I was studying.”