Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 47521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
I bark out a laugh. “Geez, it’s not like I’m some old maid or something. I’m twenty-two and I just haven’t found someone I want to do that with yet. It’s not a big deal.”
She nods in agreement. “You’re right. It’s not. I’m sorry I assumed.”
I shake her off. “Don’t. You don’t owe me an apology for anything. Now can we please change the subject?”
She waves down a waitress and asks me, “What do you want?”
After the last few days I’ve had, I’d love to have a drink to take the edge off, but again, I don’t want my principal to hear I’ve been drinking in town. “I’ll just have a soda.”
Chloe scrunches her nose up, and when the waitress comes over, she points at me. “Cassie will have a soda, and I’ll take a Long Island iced tea.”
The waitress just nods her head. “I’ll be right back.”
When she disappears, I nod my head toward a man at a corner of the bar. “Let’s talk about how you keep staring at that man over there, surrounded by all his buddies, and he hasn’t taken his eyes off you since we sat down.”
I have to give Chloe credit. She doesn’t even look his way, but her cheeks do turn a pretty red. “I don’t know what you mean.”
I barely resist rolling my eyes. “Oh really? You don’t know what I mean? That’s funny, because you’ve been looking at him all night too.”
She shakes her head, and it’s obvious she’s doing her best to not look that way. “I have not.”
“Whatever, Chloe. Look, it’s okay. You can talk to me. I’m here if you need someone to—”
She cuts me off. “Forget it. I think he works for Walker or something. He’s definitely military, and knowing how those guys are, he won’t be in town long…”
When her voice trails off, I scoot to the end of my seat. “But you like him. Admit it.”
She doesn’t deny it. “It doesn’t matter. All he does is stare at me. He never comes over and talks to me.”
I look over at the man, and he is in fact staring at Chloe again. “Uhhhh, you’re wrong. That dude is so hot for you, he can’t stand it.”
The waitress brings our drinks back and sets them down in front of us. After we tell her thanks and she walks away, I take a big sip of my soda as Chloe twirls the straw in her drink. “Trust me, he’s not. We’re just friends.”
“Bull—”
I’m cut off when two men stop next to our table. “Hey, ladies.”
They say it plural, but both men have their eyes on Chloe. I don’t begrudge it, though. Chloe is beautiful inside and out. She’s like a Barbie doll with her petite figure, long blond hair and big blue eyes. I take a drink of my soda and watch everything unfold in front of me.
Both of the men are vying for Chloe’s attention, and it’s obvious she’s not comfortable, so I cut in. “Hey boys, uh—”
I start to interrupt them, but in a split second, they’ve turned on each other. The first one slurs, “I told you, I got the blonde.”
I bite onto my lip and tug my fingers through my red hair as the other man replies in a matching slurred voice, “And I told you redheads don’t do it for me.”
Chloe is staring at me wide-eyed. She hates confrontation, and so do I, but I’ve had to deal with it my whole life, so there's no way I’m going to just sit here and take it. I stand up from my chair. “Hey, you two, can you take yourselves somewhere else?”
But neither one of them is listening. They’ve moved to where they’re standing almost against each other, talking in low tones, but I know it’s going to escalate quickly. When one pokes the other in the chest, I move to stand between them. It’s definitely not my smartest move, but here I am, all five foot four of me, pushing my way between the two of them.
I try to nudge the two apart, and I’m not sure exactly what happens first, but I hear Chloe scream my name, I feel myself being pushed, and I put my arms up, but I’m not quick enough.
The pain in my head is intense, but I don’t lose consciousness. At least I don’t think I do. I hear yelling, what sounds like a table being knocked over, and then I’m sitting in a chair with Chloe hovering over me, and the man that is always watching Chloe is now hovering over her.
I put my hand to my head and wince, but at least there’s no blood. “I’m okay.”
Chloe gasps. “You’re okay? You just tried to break up a bar fight. I think you’re far from okay.”
There’s a grunt from the man, and he’s staring at Chloe like he’s about to throw her over his shoulder and carry her out of here. Yeah, he’s definitely into her. I push Chloe’s hands off me. “I’m fine. I could go for some ice or something maybe. I really don’t want to have to explain a bruise on my forehead at school tomorrow.”