Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 98264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
“Catch anything good?”
I had been in town for approximately two minutes and eighteen seconds—or however long it had taken me to jump out of the car before it was in park and sprint directly to the creek. I was sweating and panting and had nearly died stumbling over a pile of fire ants, but when I saw her long, brown ponytail hanging down her back, none of that mattered anymore.
Swallowing hard, I wedged a hand into my pocket only to nervously switch to the other hand for maximum coolness. She hadn’t heard me walk up, so I had the element of surprise. I’d briefly considered scaring the crap out of her, but I’d spent nine long, excruciating months waiting to see her again. I wasn’t chancing that she’d punch me in the first thirty seconds.
Quietly clearing my throat, I smoothed down the front of the collared shirt my dad had forced me to wear. Luckily, I’d well past grown out of the penny loafers from last year, but I didn’t think she was going to like my boat shoes any better. Whatever. Changing clothes would have meant wasting time getting to her.
I sucked in a deep breath and then spoke through the perma-grin I’d been sporting since my parents had agreed to let me come back to Clovert for the summer. “Catch anything good?”
Holding my breath, I waited for her reaction. I was betting on a scream, though there was a strong possibility I might even get a hug out of this reunion.
Grinning, I stared at her back, waiting for her to recognize my voice. It was a little different from the last time she’d heard it though—everything was different, actually. Eighth grade had been good to me. I’d been growing fast, topping out at a mountain of five six. Dad had told me I was even taller than he was at thirteen, so I had high hopes that I wouldn’t be the runt of the family forever. Thanks to the seven-a.m. basketball drills Dad had forced me to do year-round—a small price to pay to avoid his precious football field—I was starting to fill out. Everyone in the school still hated me, so nothing had changed on that front, but Nora had never cared about that anyway.
When she didn’t turn around, I moved closer and repeated, “Catch anything good?”
“I heard you the first time,” she snapped. “What do you want?”
Well, I guessed my voice had changed more than I’d thought. She didn’t recognize it at all. “Nora, hey, it’s me. Camden.”
“Oh, I know exactly who you are.” All at once, she stood up and spun on me.
Or at least I thought it was her.
Gone was the freckle-faced little girl who wore glitter barrettes and tie-dyed shirts. She was taller, though nowhere near as tall as I was, and makeup rimmed her golden-brown eyes. A pair of silver hoops hung from her ears, and it struck me that I didn’t even remember if she’d had her ears pierced the summer before. Her denim skirt was short, but nothing the girls at my school weren’t wearing too.
But the icing on the holy-shit-who-is-this-girl cake was the red tank top hugging curves that I was absolutely one million percent positive had not been there before but still made my mouth dry.
Holy shit, Nora Stewart was gorgeous.
“Wow,” I breathed like a total idiot. But that was all I had. “Wow” was the literal height of my intelligence in that moment.
Her cheeks pinked as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared. “Why are you here?”
“What do you mean why am I here? I came to see you, crazy.”
She barked a laugh and stomped past me, her shoulder clipping mine when I didn’t move out of her way. A wave of honeysuckle lingered behind her.
Damn, she smelled incredible. That was new too.
Roughly folding her towel, she avoided my gaze. “Look, I already have worms for today. I paid for ’em and I’m going to turn ’em in, but if you want to work tomorrow, that’s fine. I’ll stay gone.”
“That’s gonna make hanging out a little difficult, don’t ya think?”
She scoffed. “Hanging out? Could I be so fucking lucky? Must be nice coming and going whenever you want without a care in the world.” Folding her hands in prayer, she brought them to her lips. “Oh, yes. Please, Camden. Hang out with me. I’m so, so desperate.” She rolled her eyes with a skepticism that had never been aimed at me before. “Ha! You wish.”
Confusion slapped me across the face. “What the hell are you talking about? I’m not coming and going whenever I want. I just got back to Clovert, like, three minutes ago and came straight here. If anyone looks desperate, it’s me.” I paused. Given her current attitude, it wasn’t the easiest thing to admit, but it was the absolute truth, so I said it anyway. “I’ve missed you.”