Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 30692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 153(@200wpm)___ 123(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 153(@200wpm)___ 123(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
I hadn’t been able to think clearly ever since James had said the words that had felt as though each one was a direct hit to my heart. Our relationship had moved quickly, but I never thought—not even once—that things would end just as fast. I didn’t understand what happened to make him do a complete one-eighty. One minute, he treated me as though I was the most important person in his life…and then next, he was breaking up with me.
None of it made sense, no matter how many times I went over what happened. And it kept playing in my head. Over and over again. Day and night since I’d barely been able to sleep.
I was a total wreck, and no amount of ice cream had helped ease the pain of losing the man I had fallen head over heels for.
“I just don’t understand.” I sniffled into the sundae Zoe had made for me. “I thought he wanted to build a future with me. Not end things before we really had the chance to get started.”
Zoe patted my hand. “I’m so sorry, Samantha. I wish I knew what to say, but I’m surprised too since you guys looked so happy together at poker night.”
“Because we were. Or at least I thought so at the time.” My gaze dropped to her belly, and my sniffle turned into a sob as I thought about the babies I imagined we’d have together. Yet another assumption I’d made…but a fair one since James hadn’t used a condom any of the times he’d taken me. Which made our breakup even harder to understand because we’d had sex only hours before he’d dropped the hammer on me. Those weren’t the actions of a guy planning to end things with the woman he was dating.
And now that I considered it, my brother’s reaction to one of his friends breaking my heart didn’t line up either. I thought Zoe would have to stop him from going after James. But while he’d been sympathetic, he’d taken it with surprising calm. Something wasn’t right.
Narrowing my eyes, I called, “Hey, Landon! Your wife needs you.”
Zoe’s brows drew together as she mumbled, “Huh?”
Holding one finger up, I set my half-eaten ice cream on the table next to me while I waited for my brother to come running. It wasn’t long before he hurried into the living room with a panicked expression. “What’s wrong, baby?”
“Nothing. I’m perfectly fine,” Zoe replied.
Landon’s head swung toward me. “Then why did you yell like that?”
“Because I knew it was the fastest way to get you in here”—I stood and crossed my arms over my chest—“and I have a vitally important question for you.”
“Okay,” he replied, his tone wary.
“About James.”
“Shit,” he muttered, taking a step back.
I followed him, pressing my lips together. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
“Okay, I get that something’s going on, but I’m totally missing what it is,” Zoe murmured, her gaze darting back and forth between us.
I didn’t look away from Landon as I answered, “You’ve been doing such a great job consoling me over the breakup that it didn’t hit me until now that my brother has been oddly blasé about the whole thing. He hasn’t threatened to drive down to Chicago and kick James’s butt once. He has warned every guy who’s even thought about asking me out on a date about what would happen if they hurt me, but he hasn’t done a darn thing to back that up when it comes to James. That seems awfully suspicious to me.”
“Oh, wow. That’s an excellent point.” Zoe got up to stand next to Landon as she asked, “What’s going on?”
My brother scrubbed his hands down his face. “I promised James I wouldn’t say anything.”
“Whose side are you on?” I sniffled. “His or mine?”
“Yours. Always yours,” he swore.
“Then you need to tell her what’s going on,” Zoe demanded. “Whatever reason James gave that had you agreeing to keep such a big secret from your sister can’t be worth the misery she’s going through.”
“Shit, baby. I know,” he groaned, pulling her against his side before meeting my gaze. “It’s not my story to share, so all I’m going to say is the situation isn’t what you think. The last thing James ever wanted to do was hurt you.”
I thought about how protective he’d been over my twisted ankle. How he’d treated me like I was easily breakable and he wanted to wrap me in bubble wrap even though I was fine. “That jerk broke my heart for my ‘protection,’ didn’t he?”
“Like I said…he didn’t want to hurt you,” Landon repeated.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. What in the world could I need protecting from that would warrant breaking up with me?” I paced back and forth, raking my fingers through my hair. “I’ve cried over the a-hole for days, and it was supposedly all for my own good? As if I’m a child who needs to be protected from everything and not a grown woman who can make her own decisions?”