Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Both their phones rang and he knew their women were calling them. They glanced at him and waited, eyebrows up. He waved them on, not wanting to interrupt any more of their time with family. Especially with it being the lull between Christmas and New Year’s.
He had no use for relationships now, but he was thrilled for his friends. It hadn’t escaped his notice that the women they had fallen for were nothing like The Viper he’d married. The woman his mom had pushed him toward. Had approved of.
Shawnee had been the perfect WAG. Wore the perfect clothing, never a hair out of place. A size double zero. She’d loved the power that came with being married to one of the hottest players in the NBA. He snorted. The only reason she’d stayed with him when they’d first gotten together was because she could see his potential. And he was fairly certain she would have dumped him with remarkable swiftness if he’d not rocketed up the fame ladder.
It wasn’t a world he wanted part of anymore. She’d sucked the joy out of it for him.
All he wanted to do was run his company, Inicio, and develop video games. Play the occasional pickup game and help out at his buddy Linc’s community center. Somewhere down the road, perhaps he’d take the risk and put his heart on the line again. Maybe.
“Go,” he instructed. “Go home to your families.” He took their dishes and put them in the dishwasher. “I need a change of scenery.”
He really did. Snow fell from the sky, fast and heavy. It didn’t matter, he needed to get away.
“I’m heading out. You two keep an eye on the place for me.”
They stood in front of him, expressions serious.
“You going to be okay, man?”
Forcing a smile he didn’t feel, Mitchell nodded. “I will be. First, I’m going to get myself a goddamn cookie. Then I’m going to get out of town for a while. Avoid my mother and, well, take a breather. I’m going to be gone for a few weeks. At least.”
They nodded in understanding. After hugging both, he walked them out to the front porch.
“You call us if you need anything.” Tully walked backward until he hit the bumper of his fiancée Dawson’s Acadia. “Don’t be a prat like that one and go it alone purely because you think you need to.”
Linc flipped Tully off but didn’t disagree. Mitchell waited on the porch until they both drove off, Tully in the SUV and Linc in his jacked-up truck.
Back inside, he packed for a few weeks away. After tossing two bags in the back of his SUV, Mitchell jogged back inside. He started the engine from the kitchen as he made sure the house was good to leave, even though for a year or so now it had been in a state of reconstruction.
His mother, Vera, called as he got in his vehicle. He declined her call and drove away from Rock Falls. He knew the reason she was calling. She had reached out with tears and a fake simper which had gotten his mother on her side. Not that it truly mattered. His mother had always thought Shawnee was perfect. He was the fuckup, not his cheating, money-hungry ex.
…
Two weeks, four days and numerous ignored calls from both his mother and his ex-wife later, he was on his way home from a vacation in Canada. He’d gone to visit a friend, an ex-NBA player who was now one of the stars of the Canadian Elite Basketball League—the CEBL. It had been great to play the game with friends and enjoy himself, his phone shut off and ignored other than when he’d checked in with Linc and Tully.
The mountains were damn near impassable. The narrow two-lane roads were covered by heavy, wet snow and smart people weren’t out. Explained why he was on the road. He snorted and shook his head. The driving was slow so he was taking his time. The trip had been worth it, even given the current conditions.
All those years in California and he still considered himself a New Englander and there were some things that were a given. Driving in shitty snow was one. Part of the reason he had climbed into this vehicle when he left Rock Falls instead of his sports car.
Slowing around another curve, he tapped the brakes as he saw a car upside down, headlights pointing into the woods, angled unsteadily as it hovered off the road, ready to slide out of sight.
He touched his call button and dialed emergency services. When they answered, he didn’t waste time. “I’m on Route 5 heading toward Darnell, about twenty-five miles from Wiltshire, and there’s an overturned car. Off the road, but you’re going to want to send a tow when you can.”