Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 138683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
I’d learned the hard way that money didn’t matter.
“I will protect this baby with my life, Milo. We’ll sell it when this is through. I mean, I’m kind of notorious for losing things, and I pretty much only buy really inexpensive jewelry because hello…Tessa. But this?” Each word left her with escalating intensity. “No way. It’s on this finger until the end.”
She waved her hand in my face.
“It’s yours, Tessa. Keep it. Sell it. Give it away. Whatever you want.”
“Milo—”
“Mean it. I want you to have it, as a thank you.”
“You are really stacking this generosity against me. How am I supposed to compete?” She tried to play it off as fun.
“There’s no competing in friendship, Tessa. We just take care of each other where we can.”
Something shifted in her features. “Okay.”
Our gazes locked there, tangled with the twilight that seeped away, darkness pulling at the edges of the earth and preparing to take the day in its grasp.
Had the urge to loop my arm around her waist and pull her close, rest her head back against my chest so we could watch the rest of the sun melt away and the stars blink to life in the sky.
The music soft. A love song that’d just begun.
Nothing but a fool’s game.
Clearing my throat, I hopped to my feet. “I should probably get going.”
Tessa seemed shocked out of the trance, too, momentarily disoriented, blinking and searching for lost breath, before she pinned on one of those smiles that I wondered if anyone else could tell was fake.
“Okay, great. Have a good night. I’ll just be over here nursing this.”
She dug out the wine bottle and emptied it out into her glass.
“Are you gonna be okay here by yourself, Little Dove?”
Her smile changed, real this time, edged in sadness. “Don’t worry about me, Milo. I’ve been alone for a long, long time.”
THIRTEEN
TESSA
“You sit that cute little butt down right there and spill.”
Salem pointed at the chair across from her as I sashayed my way into our favorite Mexican restaurant.
The vibe was casual, the margaritas were epic, and the owners were awesome.
I made no apologies for frequenting the place.
But this evening, I wasn’t sure if it was excitement or dread that would be the winning emotion that crawled over me in a slick sheen of sweat as I stepped through the door.
All I knew was my nerves had gone haywire.
A breaker tripped.
Circuits crossed.
I gave my friends a giant grin as I approached our table. “Um, I know how much you missed me and all, and my presence is required, but can’t a girl get a drink before you tear into her?”
“Hello, and no.” Aster rolled her dark brown eyes, though the action was riddled with affection. Her hair was in a high ponytail, and she sat back in her chair because her baby belly took up her lap. “I don’t think you’ve ever done anyone else that favor in your life, and I’ve basically been waiting for this for all of mine, so let’s hear it.”
Pride filled her voice.
“Hugs first. Have you no manners?” I let the feigned atrocity wind into my response.
Salem, Eden, and Aster all jumped up, and I came clomping over on my five-inch heels because hello, mama got her shoes back, and I threw my arms out and pulled my besties into an awkward hug. We were all swaying and squealing and clinging to each other and probably garnering the attention of every person in the restaurant.
I had this thing about hugs.
They weren’t frivolous to me. They were a connection. A direct link of spirits.
Whenever I hugged someone, I got a sense.
A wash of warmth. A roll of rightness.
Or a slow slide of cold callousness.
Some people masked it better than others, but it was always there.
Bobby had called me a weirdo, but I swore I could tell. I tried not to use it like a tool, but it’d gotten to the point where it was like radar.
Intuition.
I guess I should have listened to it the first time I’d hugged Karl.
Hugging my girls?
It was pure joy.
Murmurings of their love filled my ears. “So proud of you. This is a brand-new start. Good things are waiting for you.”
Crap.
Were my eyes stinging?
The truth was, I’d been dealing with so many conflicting emotions, I was having a hard time processing up from down.
Being at Milo’s had twisted me inside out. Made me want things I wasn’t supposed to want. Question my direction. My intentions. What the heck Milo and I actually thought we were doing and how it was going to affect our friendship in the end.
Salem was the first to pull away, and she straightened herself out, tossing her hair over her shoulder as she pointed at a chair. “Sit.”
“Bossy,” I said around the anarchy wreaking havoc on my spirit.
She scoffed. “Have you even met me?”