Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 37781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
My best friend Lucy likes to hint she has a secret bigger than the one I’m keeping, but there’s no way she knows, right? I have to keep it to myself. It’s just too crazy.
See, I’ve kinda crushed, more like obsessed, over her dad, Bowdie, who is also my dad’s best friend. Talk about a double whammy.
If there was ever a recipe for trouble, it’s a couple of eighteen-year-old girls with deep, dark secrets and one giant man we are trying to keep the secrets from.
What if he did know my secret? What if he felt the same way? It would mean the end of decades of friendship, but could it mean a lifetime of happiness? Which would I choose? Which would you choose?
*MyForbidden Crushis an insta-everything standalone insta-love romance with a HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
CHAPTER ONE
Beth
“Will you keep it secret, though, if I tell you?” Lucy asks me with a knowing look. She’s my best friend, and we’ve been living on top of each other, sharing the same room while her dad’s been working overseas.
I pout when she asks me, pretending to be shocked she’d even have doubts about sharing a secret with her bestie. Though I’m aware of my track record as much as she is, I’m already shifting my fingers to my chest. “Cross my heart,” I promise her, hoping she doesn’t pick up on the gulp of dread that goes along with it.
I can’t keep my mouth shut for five minutes. It’s a bad habit, but Lucy’s news is big. I can see it broadcasting on her features—news so big I know she’s having second thoughts about telling me, let alone anyone else, especially her dad. The dad of hers that I gulp extra hard about every time I hear him mentioned these days, more so now that he’s coming home.
Lucy twists her pursed lips while eyeing me sidelong and humming to herself as she weighs things in her mind.
“Are you gonna tell me or not!?” I finally whine, lifting a pillow from my bed and tossing it at her. She catches it easily, but instead of throwing it straight back or launching into a pillow fight like usual, she hugs it to her chest and chews at her lip. It makes me feel a pang of worry that goes beyond my own little secret I can barely admit to myself. It’s that constant, obsessive habit I have now. That stupid game I play in my mind and lose every time—having a forbidden crush on her dad, but that’s not what’s eating at Lucy. The thought of her dad and I would make anyone laugh out loud because it’s ridiculous. Her dad, Dr. Bowdie Bigg, is a successful doctor twice my age.
Plus, anyone who wants to joke about his name changes their mind when they set eyes on him. He’s not exactly the typical dad-bod, over-forty-type guy. Bowdie looks like a linebacker because he used to be one, so it’s not unusual for people meeting him for the first time to remember their manners, look up when they speak to him, and do as they’re told.
I know Lucy can become unhinged occasionally, losing her temper in a way that most people can’t or probably shouldn’t. Despite all his professional credentials, it’s clear to see which side of the family she gets it from. Lucy’s dad, Bowdie, is also the most handsome, sweet, and caring man alive. So, a man like that and a heavyset, curvy girl young enough to be his daughter isn’t gonna happen. Not in this universe, anyway, but I’ve got rising emotions of a different kind.
“Lucy, what happened?” I venture, not meaning to jump to conclusions. She has a turbulent history with her boyfriend, Josh. It’s been on again, off again, and she’s only known him for a few months. Her secret should be her relationship with him, but I can see something bigger upset her in a way that even her fiery temper can’t handle anymore.
“Did Josh—? Did he hurt you?” I ask, feeling the sting of her expression as she narrows her eyes and looks at me, instantly on the defensive.
“No, Josh did not hurt me,” she says hotly. “I told you that one time he got mad was just one time. It was a mistake,” she says without convincing me, looking more and more like a girl who’s decided not to tell her best friend her secret after all.
I know what I saw that day. I saw it with my own eyes. I still shudder to think what might have happened if I hadn’t walked in. As much as I used to like Josh, I can’t stand being in the same room as him after that day. Something about him gives me the creeps, but Lucy’s smitten, and Josh is perfect in her eyes when he’s not acting psycho, which is often lately.
“Lucy—” I start to say, wanting to apologize but also remind her of a few things, but the muffled knock on my bedroom door interrupts us.
Dad.
“Come in if you’re good-looking!” I chime, and only after Lucy recovers herself. We’re a couple of girls who wanna have the sleepover that never ends, and for the most part, that’s what it’s been until today. No matter what’s going on, we always keep up appearances for my dad. It’s his house, and he’s let Lucy stay with us rent-free for six months, feeding her and putting up with all our nonsense.
Now her dad’s coming back, so she’ll move back home. Worse than that, I’ll have to actually see her dad, which gives me a feeling I know it shouldn’t. It hurts and confuses me because I know he could never feel like I do about him.