Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
INDY
Now
I was drunk.
And you know what, it felt fucking great.
I hadn’t had this much fun in for fucking ever.
I stumbled against the jukebox and pressed my palms against the glass to hold me up. I admit, I had trouble focusing on the playlist. The black letters swam in front of my eyes before slowly coming into focus.
“Okay, you fucking drunk,” Abby said, walking up beside me. She leaned a hip against the jukebox and folded her arms across her chest. “I think you need to go home and sleep it off.”
I sighed dramatically. “What is it with everyone thinking they can tell me what to do?”
“You’ve had enough, Indy.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, I haven’t even started to let down my hair.”
“Oh, is that what you call that?”
I ignored her and kept reading through the playlist. It was taking me a while because the words would go in and out of focus.
“You just attacked Cade in front of his friends.”
I looked at her and narrowed my eyes. “Whoos’ide are you on anyway?”
“His. I’m on his side because you’re acting like a crazy bitch.”
I pulled a face at her and then shrugged it off. “Whatever.”
Twelve years’ silence was a lot of time to separate alliances.
“You both have some talking to do, but here is not the time and place.”
“I’ve got nothing to say (hiccup) to him. . .”
“We both know that’s a load of shit. You two need to sit down and talk about what happened and find some kind of peace with it.”
When I looked at her I saw two of Abby. I swayed as I tried to focus on just one of them. “Want to know a secret?”
She didn’t look impressed. “Not really.”
“I don’t care what he. . . (hiccup) . . . has to say. I’m burying my monster of a father in four days and then . . . I’m gone . . .” I pretended my hand was a plane taking off and flying away. I even made the sound. Because apparently after four drinks I was five years old.
“Just like that? You come back and then just leave?”
“Yup. Just like that.” I tried clicking my fingers but they didn’t work.
Abby pushed off the jukebox and shook her head. “What happened to you?”
The way she said it—with disgust—got me pissed. I narrowed my eyes.
“You were my best friend. Why are you not sticking up for me?”
“Best friend? You’ve ignored me for twelve years,” she snapped. But then her face softened. “You can’t just show up here after twelve years of nothing and expect me to feel sorry for you. He hurt you, Indy, not me. Yet you abandoned me when you left him and it hurt. So, forgive me if I’m not rushing to your defense. I did that a lot in your absence but your continued silence kind of dampened my loyalties.”
Abby had never been one to show her emotions. She was tough. Stoic. But even in my intoxication I could see how my actions had hurt her. It made me feel bad. And because I was drunk, it made me defensive.
“I got out of this shithole and made something of myself. You should be happy for me. I’m not that brokenhearted girl anymore.”
Abby’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah, well whoever that girl is now, she can kiss my southern ass.”
I watched her walk away, then turned back to the jukebox. Closing one eye in a pathetic attempt to focus, I found the song I was looking for and pressed the button.
CADE
Now
I found her standing in the doorway to my bedroom. Standing being a generous description. In reality, the doorjamb was holding her up. And she was staring into the room as if it mesmerized her.
“What are you doing?” I asked, even though I knew exactly what she was doing.
She swung around and her eyes narrowed. “Thought I’d check out the scene of the crime.”
I inhaled deeply. This was always going to go down. But I had hoped it would be when she wasn’t behaving like an inebriated asshole.
“Fine. You want to do this now—here I am, Indy. In the flesh. Give me your best shot.”
She huffed. “I’ve got nothing to say to you.”
“Of course, you do. You have twelve years of pissed to fling at me.”
“You know what, you’re right. I am pissed at you. And it’s fucking insane because it’s been twelve years and I really shouldn’t give a fuck. But now that you bring it up, fuck it. You’re an asshole.”
I nodded. “What I did was a dick move.”
“Oh, it was more than a dick move, Cade.”
“I know. And I’ve always owned it. I was drunk. My asshole father drugged me, and yes, I fucked someone else. But I thought she was you. It never once entered into my head that it wasn’t you in bed with me—”