Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 107944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
“Aren’t you happy you came out tonight?” Kate urged after she drunkenly won me a stuffed tiger from a carnival game. She was leaning on me because her steps were zigzagging, and I leaned back on her because mine were doing the same. “We didn’t even run into—oh shit,” she muttered as we turned the corner, and without looking, I ran straight into a person, spilling my pink slushy all over them.
“Oh, my goodness, I’m so sorry I…” My words faded as I looked up to meet the person’s stare.
Not just any person.
My person.
Correction: my ex-person.
Aiden.
There he was, right in front of me, looking at me square in the eyes. Those blue eyes that seemed to match the deepest parts of the ocean. Those blue eyes that I’d loved since I was a little girl. Those blue eyes that made my heart shatter into a million pieces right then and there.
A white cotton T-shirt hugged his body, showcasing his toned arms, a T-shirt that was now stained pink.
“Oh gosh, I’m sorry, I, um… I…” I’d played the situation of us meeting face-to-face in my head a million times before. I’d had played almost every outcome out in my head, but shockingly, spilling my booze-filled slushy all over his chest was not one that crossed my mind.
Without thought, I started rubbing at his shirt with my hands, smearing the mess even more, feeling his rock-hard abs beneath the fabric. “I’m so sorry, Aiden, I didn’t mean to—” My stomach flipped as my nerves bubbled up. Now for another round of was it gas or anxiety?
Answer: it was neither. It was nausea.
I pulled back for a beat to try to push the rising sensation away, but as I parted my lips to apologize, vomit flew out of my mouth and landed onto Aiden’s shoes.
Oh goodness. I threw up on my famous ex-best-boyfriend.
I covered my mouth with my hand from shock as I looked up at Aiden wide-eyed. I was humiliated. If I could go hide under a rock, I would.
“Aiden—” I started, but my words stopped as he released a low growl.
Yup.
That was right.
He growled at me.
He took a step back. “Don’t,” he whisper-shouted, his voice low, rough, and controlled.
I looked up at him and saw those blue eyes that I once loved, and they seemed so different. Filled with… hatred? Was that hatred that flashed across his face?
He stepped out of his vomit shoes and slid off his socks, leaving them there in front of me.
He then turned his back toward me and wandered off completely barefoot, leaving me there drunk and embarrassed, and with a dash of heartbreak, too. I didn’t know what to expect from our first interaction, but it wasn’t that.
It was at that moment of him saying one word to me that reality set in for me.
Don’t.
One word was enough to break my heart. Even though I’d played out a million scenarios in my mind, it was clear that I’d secretly only wanted one. I wanted him to hug me. To hold me. To tell me he missed me. To tell me he’d thought about me every single day for the past few years. I wanted him to still long for me in the same way I secretly dreamed of him.
Don’t.
It was cold, harsh, and truthful. He didn’t want anything to do with me. That crushed my soul a little bit more than I was prepared for it to do.
“Holy crap. I didn’t know Aiden Walters could look pissed off. Did America’s puppy dog just give you the evil eye?!” Kate murmured, stunned by the cold, harsh look Aiden shot my way when we made eye contact.
“I think so,” I said, a bit shaken up by the expression delivered my way. Chills raced up and down my spine as I tried to push away the odd feeling.
“You didn’t tell me you two had a bad break-up to the point that he hated you.”
“I didn’t know it was to the point that he hated me.”
“Don’t cry.”
“I’m not gonna cry.” I shrugged, rolling my eyes.
“Then why are your eyes leaking?”
Because I’m so deeply sad.
I brushed at the falling tears and choked out my words. “I’m drunk and lost my slushy. That’s why I’m crying.”
“Hailee,” she said so softly. She must’ve sobered up from my painfully awkward situation. “You still love him.”
“What? No. No. We were a thing such a long time ago,” I muttered, starting to walk ahead. I waved my hands around in a dismissive way. “Ancient history. Nothing to see here,” I blabbered. “Anything I felt for him is long, long gone!” I declared. I stood as straight as I could. “I feel great! The tears are happy tears. I didn’t even like that slushy.”
Kate gave me a concerned look. “You’re lying, aren’t you?”
Through my clenched teeth.
I held my hand out to her. “Can I go home now and read romance books?”