Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 79670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
I stare into her eyes when I say the next words. “There is no one else I want to go out with.”
“You want to go out with me?” I don’t know if she’s asking me or telling me.
“Yes,” I answer her simply.
“You never want to go out.” I want to close my eyes and beg her to forgive me, but I’m afraid that answer will kill me. I’m afraid she’ll say she can never forgive me, and I’m not ready for it. “In the whole time we were together, we never went out.” I want to tell her that it’s not true, but it is. I would always make excuses not to go out with her, opting to stay in every single time. It’s not that I didn’t want to go out. It’s that I didn’t want to be plastered all over the tabloids when I did.
“I’ve changed,” I inform her, and her eyes cut to slits. Perhaps I should have used another word. One look at her and I know that I definitely should have used another word.
SEVEN
GABRIELLA
I stare at him or, better yet, I glare at him. My eyes go to slits when I hear the stupid words that men who fucked up overuse. “I’ve changed.”
I clap my hands together and laugh a full-on belly laugh. “The irony.” I can’t help but shake my head. “I’ve changed, too.” I stare him dead in the eyes.
“I look forward to getting to know you, then,” he replies and holds out the flowers again. Don’t take them, my head screams at me as my hand rises and grabs them. “So what do you say? Should we go out or stay in?”
“As if I would allow you to come into my home and tarnish it,” I mumble, turning away from him. “You know what, Romeo?” I watch him take a step into the entrance. “I will go out to dinner with you.” What in the hell are you thinking? my head screams at me. “Then you can be on your merry way back to wherever it is you came from.”
He smiles and not just the fake smile I know he gives, but a full-on megawatt smile. The kind of smile that makes the corners of your eyes crinkle. “I’ll go change,” I say, walking to the stairs. “You can wait right where you are, or you can wait in your car. Either way is good with me.” I hold on to the railing as I walk up the stairs, avoiding looking back at him even though I can feel his eyes on me.
Once I get into the bedroom, I put the flowers on the bed, grab the phone from my back pocket, and dial Abigail. “She better pick up,” I mumble as I head over to the walk-in closet. It rings four times before she answers.
“Well, hello to you,” she says. “Did we calm down and stop drinking the crazy juice?” She laughs at her joke, but all I do is grit my teeth.
“Listen to me and listen to me good,” I say in a whisper. “In thirty minutes, I’m going to need you to call me back and make up an emergency,” I instruct, sticking my head out of my closet to make sure he isn’t lurking.
“Why are you whispering?” she asks, and I close my eyes and hit the palm of my hand on my forehead.
“Can we focus on what I just asked you?” My voice comes out as a whisper but still stays low. “Thirty minutes, you call me back and make up an emergency.”
“Like what?” she huffs.
“I don’t know.” I hold the phone to my ear with my shoulder as I grab a pair of black jeans off the hanger. “You’re a nurse. Make something up.”
“Um, no,” she states, and I stop in my tracks. “That is bad luck.”
“Oh my God,” I grumble. “It is not. Just, would you do me a favor and make something up?”
“It’s bad karma,” she states in a huff. “The last time I did this for you, our fish died.”
“It was a beta fish, and he lived for nine years.” My voice goes up. “Good news is, no one has a fish, so you don’t have to worry about anything dying.”
“I don’t know,” she draws out, and I can tell she’s on the fence about this.
“You’re the fucking worst,” I hiss. “Just call me in thirty minutes, and I’ll make up something myself. Do you think you can do that, Mother Teresa?”
I hang up on her as she laughs into the phone. “The next time she asks something, I’m going to be like, I don’t know, is the sky blue?” I walk over and go through my tops until I spot one that I know will make him eat his tongue.
I undress before I slip on the black corset and mesh bodysuit. I snap the button together between my legs and look at myself in the mirror. Two black triangles hide my boobs, but then five stripes go down between the mesh, showing off my abs. I slide on the black jeans that mold to my every single curve. Turning around, I see the bodysuit goes down in the back, showing you that I’m not wearing a bra. I walk over to the rack of shoes, grabbing the highest pair I can find and wincing as soon as I put my feet in them. “It hurts to be beautiful,” I declare as I rush into the bathroom. Taking down my hair, I brush it through before shaking it at the roots with my hands.