Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 113837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
Shaking my head, I dropped to my knees to collect more pieces of glass. We went through the motions of cleaning up the destruction, then she grabbed the meat from the fridge and pushed up on her toes to kiss my cheek before she moved to the stove. “I love you, Bellamy.”
“And I love you, too.” What else was I supposed to say to her?
I helped her with dinner, then sat down beside her to eat. After I’d washed up the dishes, I sent Drew a text: Can’t make it. Sorry. Because like hell would I leave Mom here alone. And when she went in for her shift at eleven, I grabbed Dad’s bottle of half-drunk whiskey from the coffee table, and I went outside to look at the stars because, at times, those little white dots were the only thing that reminded me that some things are born from destruction.
And sometimes, that was the only fucking hope I had to cling to.
25
Drew
I sat on the tailgate of some pickup truck, staring at the people dancing by the bonfire. Alone. I’d tried to talk to Nora about Max on the drive through the woods to this hillbilly party, but of course, she didn’t listen. By the time I had parked my car amongst the other rundown SUVs and trucks, she was annoyed. The second I’d stopped the car, she got out and stormed off.
I’d spent the last thirty minutes sitting here, scanning the crowd of drunk kids for Bellamy. He was nowhere to be seen. I checked my phone and there were no texts from him. Half an hour passed before I spotted Nora stumbling across the field with a bottle of vodka dangling from her grip. She collapsed onto the tailgate beside me, swiping dark curls away from her face.
“You okay?” I asked.
She tipped up the bottle, taking a heavy gulp before offering it to me.
“I’m driving.” Because I didn’t want to get drunk and lose all inhibitions around Bellamy. Not like I had many to begin with. “Nora.” I grabbed her arm when I noticed her eyes were glassy. “What’s wrong?”
“Monroe came and spoke to me.”
“Oh.”
“Yep.” Another gulp. She was going to get sick.
“Look, you’re better than those Barrington pricks anyway.”
She gave me a hopeless look. “You’re Barrington, Drew.”
I laughed. “Yeah, and I’m a prick.”
“You are not.”
She stared down at the bottle in her lap, picking at the label. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you about Max... It’s just Bellamy…”
“I know.” Since day one, Nora had warned me off Bellamy. I understood why she wouldn’t take his word but on something so serious? “Can I ask why you hate him so much?”
She exhaled, then took another swig of vodka. “It’s not hard to hate him, Drew. He’s awful.” No, it wasn’t, but at the same time, it really wasn’t hard to want him. “He’s not awful to you, though, so you don’t see it.”
I stared across at the crackling fire, watching the way it danced over the field, casting shadows over the tree trunks. “I’m sorry about Max.”
“I thought he liked me.” She tipped her bottle up, the liquid glugging against the glass. “Why do we end up liking guys we shouldn’t?”
If only I knew the answer to that. “It’s some ingrained part of female DNA to go for guys who will inevitably screw us over.”
I checked my phone again before typing out a message to Bellamy.
Me: Where are you?
Another pickup pulled into the clearing, and I strained to see if it was Wolf’s.
“Why do you keep checking your phone?”
“I’m not.”
Her eyes narrowed then widened. “You’re waiting for him? Oh, no. No, no.” She pointed the bottle at me. “I know that look. Don’t be falling for that asshole, Drew.”
“Calm down, Nora.”
My phone vibrated.
Dickhead: Can’t make it. Sorry
My stomach clenched as something that felt a lot like disappointment settled over me.
Nora leaned over my shoulder, then glanced at me. “And now you look like a kicked puppy. I do not get it.”
I put my phone away and shoved the vodka against her chest. “Just get drunk, would you?”
And Nora didn’t just get drunk. She got shitfaced.
It was almost midnight when I helped her into my passenger seat while she giggled and hiccupped. “Max is a dick,” she slurred.
“Yep.”
I fastened her belt while she tried to push me away. “I’m fine.”
When I got in the car, I realized I had no idea how to get out of here or where I’d come in. All I saw around me was a wall of trees. I picked a random track, figuring it would come out somewhere. It didn’t.
We ended up in the middle of thick woods, my headlights shining out over the edge of a cliff.
“Shit,” I mumbled, putting the car in reverse. “How do we get out of here?”
The electric glow from a phone screen lit up the inside of my car. Nora swiped her fingers over the screen, squinting against the light. “If I use that app, I can find my house.” She squinted harder. “Wait. Dickhead?” She tossed the phone at me. “That’s your phone.” Then she fumbled in the door pocket for her own.