Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 22710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
I’m expecting her to be appalled Mom did that, but instead, she claps her hands. "Your mother and my father would have a field day. Then you throw in my grandfather, who would literally just go behind both of them and buy it in her name and be like, ‘Oh, I bought you this’ like if he picked up a pair of shoes and not a million-dollar business loan."
"I’m almost scared to have them meet." I see the guys start to put away their stuff.
"You ready?" Jake asks, and I want to shake my head. I look over at Harlow, who is looking at the girls following the guys as they put their things in their bags.
"I guess we should pack it up," she says, and I want to ask her to stay with me for a bit, but she picks up her bag and starts to fill it up.
I pack my own bag, and when she stands, I’m right behind her. The six of them start to walk toward the door, leaving us by ourselves. "Thank you," I say, putting my bag across my chest. She looks at me, confused. "For the talk."
"Thank you," she counters. "For sharing your family with me." She smiles. "Today was rough for me. I really missed my family, so hearing about yours made me miss mine just a touch less."
"I had a really great time," I say, walking with her toward the door. We both walk slowly, as if we don’t want the night to end. Her hand grazes mine, and I have the need to slip my hand into hers, but the door opens, and one of her roommates comes in.
"Are you coming?" she asks Harlow, who just smiles and nods, looking back at me.
"See you tomorrow, Travis," she says and looks down shyly.
"See you tomorrow, Harlow," I say. She walks out of the coffee shop, and I watch her walk away from us with her friends and in the opposite direction of our place.
"Hey," Chris says, opening the door. "You coming?"
"Yeah." I walk out, turning my head toward where I know Harlow is. She takes one more look down the street, and when she sees me watching, she raises her hand and waves before disappearing around the corner.
five
Harlow
"Okay, ladies," I say, walking out of my bedroom toward the kitchen. Music is playing from the speaker, and the orange and black lights are blinking around the little window. "Guys?" I say, turning to look toward the closed bedroom door. "Why am I always the one who is ready first?"
I shout down the hall, and Rachel pulls open her bedroom door. "Because you barely have to do anything to yourself," she huffs, and I laugh. "Like, look at you." She lifts her hand to point at me. "Where are the shorts?" I shake my head and walk into the kitchen and take out four shot glasses.
"The shorts have been replaced." I look down at the costume I decided to wear for Halloween. "With leggings." To be honest, the booty shorts were more like a thong, and there was no way in hell I was going out dressed like that. So I opted for my tightest pair of leggings, and even this is a little bit more exposed than I like.
She huffs, looking down at her own slutty nurse costume. The top button looks like it’s going to pop open, and when it does, you better move out of the way or you might lose your eyeball. "Then that doesn’t make you a slutty referee."
I move my hair to the back of my neck. The front of the shirt goes down into a deep vee, and it’s two sizes too small. So my boobs look like they are trying to escape. "These puppies trying to escape means slutty to me. And it’s so small"—I point at my vagina—"that the bodysuit is a full thong in the back." I point at my ass. "And the front at this point, I think it’s just dental floss." She throws her head back and laughs. "It might have to be surgically removed at the end of the night."
"Well, I’m sure Travis will volunteer as tribute." She winks at me, and I just shake my head. It’s been a full two months of us skating around each other, and I haven’t been more confused about a situation in my life. It’s like every time I flirt with him, he flirts back, but then the next day, it’s like it never happened. I want to say it’s just him, but I’m just as guilty, so I’m not sure if I want to go there. We’ve attended at least one study group a week, and we always end up sitting next to each other and studying together. The touches are the worst, and sometimes, I think it’s all in my head, but then I catch him staring at me, making me second-guess everything.