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)
“Pleasure to meet you, Romeo,” Gabriella says as I look her in her eyes.
“Pleasure was all mine,” I tell her as she turns and walks away. I stupidly watch her walk away, my stomach sinking. As I listen to the talk going on around me, I try to excuse myself to get over to her, but she’s with her uncle, who has his arm around her and brings her head to his lips. Something I would kill to do.
A little girl comes up to Abigail and asks something, and she just nods. “That’s Tristan’s daughter,” she informs me, and I smile as the girl goes over to Christopher. He picks her up, making her squeal as he walks with her, Abigail following them.
I’m about to take a step toward her, but then I’m stopped when Max comes over and talks to me. I’m dragged from one conversation to the next, and the only thing I can think of is her family is so freaking cool.
Max brings me over to the stools as we watch a bit of the game, my body on alert to where she is as I try to keep her in my eyesight the whole time. Max gets up to go and help Franny with her little girl, and I see Abigail is alone. I get up, walking over to the seat next to her, and sit down, hoping that Gabriella comes back.
“So what brings you to Dallas?” Abigail asks, and I look over at her.
“Well…” I start as I look around, searching for Gabriella, but I don’t see her anywhere. I also see that it’s just the two of us, so I’m going to lay my heart out for her. “I’m sorry I hurt her.”
She looks at me, confused and shocked. “I’m sorry, what?”
My heart starts to pound. “I was dating her,” I finally tell her, and she just looks at me like I have two heads. “Gabriella.”
“You were what?” she shrieks and then looks around to make sure no one is listening to our conversation. “You and Gabriella?” I nod.
“I fucked up, and I hurt her,” I admit to her. “I was a selfish asshole, and I lost the best thing I’ve ever had. You didn’t know?”
She shakes her head. “She probably thought I had bigger things to think about,” she says, putting her hand on her stomach. “So you’re here to win her back.”
I look around now and don’t see her anywhere, and I know deep inside she has left the building. I look back at Abigail and stare her in the eyes while I say the words, “I’m here to win her back or die trying.”
ELEVEN
GABRIELLA
I slam the front door behind me and dump my bag on the side as I slip off my jacket, letting it fall right on top of my bag. The soft light comes from the family room, so I don’t even bother turning the light on in the kitchen. I just walk over to the cabinet that holds the tequila. Grabbing the tequila bottle and then a shot glass, I walk into the living room.
I plop myself on the couch, putting the bottle and the glass on the square wooden coffee table in the middle. The top of the tequila bottle comes off with a plop before I pour a shot in the glass. I don’t even think twice about it before I down it. The warm liquid makes my lips burn before it goes down, warming my stomach. Only when I put the glass down do I let my shoulders slump. I pour another shot, taking it just as quickly as the first one before I fall back onto the couch. I exhale the deep breath I was holding since he walked in to the suite. My head was fucking spinning as I watched him being introduced to my family. The whole time I tried to ignore him, but my eyes would roam the room to see where he was, knowing that sooner or later, it would be my turn to be introduced to him.
I knew the minute the girls got up that I had to follow. I knew each step was one step closer to him. I knew I was getting closer and closer to him because my heart beat faster and faster. I didn’t know how he was going to play it. I didn’t know how I would play it until I looked at him and realized there would be questions if I said I knew him. And right now, there was not one question I wanted to answer about us or what we were. So I pretended I didn’t know who he was. I pretended I didn’t know what it was like to be touched by him. I pretended he didn’t break my heart. I pretended he was just another guy. I pretended until I couldn’t pretend anymore. Until the pain in my chest got so big that it was hard to breathe. I slipped out as soon as I got a chance, secretly hoping he would follow me but then praying he wouldn’t.