Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 122030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
“It’s okay, little one,” I coo as I gently pick it up. “You’re safe now.”
Not quite, though. The chances of this baby surviving are slim to none. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t even touch it. I’d move the nest to a more secure location and hope that its mother would return at some point. But the mother is dead—I’m staring at her bloody, broken body. Which means there’s nobody coming back to feed this defenseless creature.
Which means I have to do it.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you now.” With delicate fingers, I place the tiny rabbit in my pocket, then straighten up and head back to the dogs.
Bo practically glares at me as I gesture for them to follow me. Penny longingly stares back at the abandoned feast.
Although the death of any creature, big or small, makes my entire body clench with pain, I’m also mindful of the circle of life. The age-old dance between predator and prey.
“Let Mr. Fox have them,” I say sadly. “He earned it.”
I reach the porch just as my father is stumbling out the front door, eyes wild with concern. “Casey! Why were you gone so long? Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
“Sorry. I put it on silent.” I meet him in the doorway. “Ran into a little snag in the forest.”
“What happened?”
“A fox got into a rabbit hutch. The dogs scared him off.”
The baby rabbit takes that moment to squeak loudly.
“Casey.” Dad’s tone is thick with suspicion.
“Yes?” I say innocently.
“Is there a rabbit in your pocket?”
“Maybe?” I press my lips together to stop a laugh.
Dad stares at me for one long moment. Then he sighs. “I’ll go find a shoebox.”
CHAPTER 19
SILAS
SLOANE IS BEING MORE STUBBORN THAT USUAL. I HOPED SPACE would give her some perspective on the situation, let her come to her senses. Yet it’s been more than a week now, and she still won’t respond to my texts.
I sent her a whole long message assuring her I’m not trying to get into her pants. I appealed to our friendship, the tight bond we’ve had since freshman year. Don’t get me wrong—there’s a part of me that would take her up on it if she floated the idea of hooking up. But I get it. It’s not happening.
Anyway, I’ve got a girlfriend. And Sloane’s back with RJ. So, whatever. Let’s move on.
I’d always thought of her as a rational person. Prone to anger and poor taste in men, yes, but essentially logical. Well, it seems her self-destructive penchant for dating losers has corrupted her higher brain functions. She needs a detox, except I can’t get close enough to help her see that, goddamn it.
“Like, back me up here,” I tell Amy. “That’s obviously a red flag. She’s become a completely different person. Stopped hanging out with her old friends. All since this new guy basically took over her life.”
“What do you think of this area?” Amy says, moving her laptop closer as we sit on her bed. Her bare legs are draped over mine while she scours the internet for the best neighborhoods to live in London. “I think I like Notting Hill. Remember I made you watch that old rom-com? It was set there.”
“Sure.” I honestly can’t give less of a shit, nor can I remember a single rom-com she’s ever made me watch.
She bookmarks a page and moves on with the dogged determination of a homicide detective.
“I know you think it’s dumb because it’s ages away, but I need to start thinking about this now if I’m going to get my parents on board with me spending my gap year in England. If I show them I’ve done the research, they might feel better about bankrolling the venture, know what I mean?”
“Yeah, sure.” I’m barely listening. And I’m starting to regret sneaking into her dorm tonight.
Amy’s been on my case for days to come visit her at Ballard. Then I get here, and she spends the first hour in the bathroom on some new skincare routine that just makes her face smell like glue. And now she wants to do research the whole time while I’m sitting here counting the seconds of my life slip through my fingers.
“If one of your friends suddenly stopped talking to you because she was seeing someone new, you’d be suspicious, right?”
“People change when they’re in a relationship,” Amy says absently, scrolling through photos. “They want to spend all their time together.” She lifts her eyes from the screen. “That’s normal.”
“Right, but this is extreme. We never used to fight.”
There was a time Sloane appreciated my opinion. But now, whatever brain worm RJ slipped in her ear has fundamentally altered her personality.
“You don’t like the guy, right?”
“He’s just such a step down for Sloane,” I answer with a scowl. Personally, whatever. He’s fine. For her? Please.
Amy frowns. “Sounds like she just wants you to be happy for her. If you won’t do that, maybe it’s better you two take a break for a while.”