Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 141251 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 706(@200wpm)___ 565(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141251 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 706(@200wpm)___ 565(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
“Why don’t you want to come? Do you think you’re going to combust into fire when you walk into the church or something?” Seb asks.
“We probably all will,” Spence mutters sarcastically. “Do you reckon there’re hookers in Hell? Like, are we all just going to be naked, getting our rocks off down there or what?”
"Yeah, drag Queens that are going to fuck you up the ass," Seb retorts as he sips his beer.
Spencer winces as he considers the prospect. “That would be Hellish.” He nods to himself. “Guess it makes sense.”
I roll my eyes. Seriously. The conversations we have. “You two insult my intelligence.”
They exchange looks.
“Of course we are going to be naked and fucking down there,” I add, holding my hand up.
Spencer slaps the table. “Jolly good, then I’m down for hell.”
“Are you coming to the wedding then or not?” Seb asks.
“Not,” I reply. “I hate weddings, you know that. I would rather go to a funeral than a wedding.”
They roll their eyes at me.
“You need to go to a quack,” Seb says. “You’ve got some serious fucking issues.”
“Oh, like you don’t,” I hit back.
“No.” He points at me. “I’m no longer married because my wife is a fucking slut who fucked our gardener.”
“Here, here,” Spencer cheers, holding his beer up. “Fucking slut.”
I chuckle. Spencer hates Seb’s ex-wife with a fiery passion.
“But you…” he shakes his head as he talks, “are walking around broken-hearted like a lovesick puppy, pining for a woman who you love, who your children love, and most importantly, who loves you… all because you’re too fucking gutless to marry her.”
“I’m not gutless,” I snap. “I just don’t want to get married.”
"Whatever," he grumbles. "Are you coming to the wedding or not?"
“Not.” I sip my beer. “Stop pissing me off.”
“When can I have my phone back?” Willow asks me.
I stare at her, expressionless. “When you’re thirty.”
She exhales heavily and sips her hot chocolate. We’re sitting at the kitchen counter. It’s late at night and Samuel has already gone to bed. Willow has been hovering around me since Brielle left last week. It’s like she knows I’m a man on the edge.
“Have you spoken to Brell yet?” she asks.
“No.” I sip my hot chocolate.
“It wasn’t her fault, Dad.”
I nod once. I don’t want to get into this with her.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were in love with her?”
I shrug as I stare at the counter.
“You need to fix this. Call her and ask her to come back.”
“Will, it’s not that simple. I wish it was.”
“Is this because she didn’t tell you about me being gay?”
I frown. “You’re not gay. Stop saying that.” I shake my head, exasperated. “Will, if you were caught in a normal nightclub last week with an eighteen-year-old boy and you told me that you thought you were interested in him, I would have had the same reaction.”
She watches me.
"If you come out and said to me, ‘Dad, I'm a Republican now', I would tell you that you're too young to make that decision. If you came home and said, ‘Dad, I'm an atheist now', I would tell you that you are too young to label yourself."
She frowns in confusion.
“Will,” I sigh. “I’m not going to like the first person you date.”
Her shoulders slump.
"I'm probably not going to like the second person you go out with, either or the third. Maybe not even the fourth."
“Dad…”
“You know why?” I ask.
“Why?”
“Because until you find someone who loves you as much as I do, they will never be good enough.”
She smiles softly.
“You’re one in a million, and so, so special—too special for just anybody. And one day you will meet that person and they will love you. That’s when I will finally be able to relax and you will have my blessing.”
She takes my hand in hers and I kiss it.
“I don’t care if that person is a man or woman, Will.” Tears fill her eyes.
“But I care that you’re sixteen, and these are adult labels that you don’t need to put on yourself yet. Why don’t you just see how it turns out? Stop trying to analyse everything.”
She smiles, and her eyes twinkle under the lights because of her tears.
“Okay?” I whisper.
She nods and I put my arm around her and hug her.
“You should go to bed. It’s late.”
She kisses me on the cheek and begins to walk off, suddenly turning back. “Dad?”
I glance up. “Yes?”
“Brell loves you as much as I do, you know.”
I drop my head and exhale heavily.
“She’s special, Dad. Don’t let her walk away.”
I point to the stairs, and she smiles, quickly turning and disappearing out of sight.
Don’t let her walk away.
Too late. I already did.
Brielle
“Dad’s home!” Sammy calls from his place at the window.
I fake a smile and get up to collect my bag. I have to leave as soon as he walks in so that I don’t start blubbering like a baby and drop to my knees.