Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 126840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
At that juncture, the door opened and Bree came out.
She had her mouth open to speak as she rounded Bryan and saw me, then she, too, went pale and still.
“Go inside,” Bryan ordered Bree.
She didn’t even twitch, just stood there gaping at me.
And there was guilt there too. And shame and love and regret.
Fucking hell.
I hated it when Core was right.
“Go inside!” he snapped.
She jolted, shaking her head. Slowly it swung toward Bryan, but he was on the move again.
To me.
“Okay, okay, Hellen,” he started, coming forward, and I was again going back. “It’s not what it seems.”
I peeked around him to see Bree staring at his back like he’d plunged a knife in her chest.
It was what Bree thought it seemed to be.
Oh my God.
Could this get worse?
“She reached out after we had that issue at Fortnum’s. It just happened. It’s not a thing.”
Bree made a choking noise from behind him.
She reached out after Fortnum’s.
She, that being my friend of six years, my once roommate, my sometimes partner in crime, one of my four ride or dies (Li being the OG), Bree reached out to Bryan, my ex.
That was weeks ago.
Was it before or after she gave me shit about downgrading to Core?
I stopped retreating.
Bryan stopped too.
“It’s just…God…fuck!” he exploded, tearing his hand through his hair.
I took a step away from his emotion.
He lifted a hand to me. “No. I wouldn’t hurt you. That isn’t me. I wouldn’t touch you like that again, Hellen. This is just dicked up. This isn’t what it seems. You…to me, what you are to me…”—he sucked in a huge breath—“This is just dicked up.”
“It is that,” I agreed quietly.
“God, can we…” He looked back to Bree, then to me and got minutely closer as he made his choice. “Can we go somewhere and talk?”
There it was.
It could get worse.
“You fucker,” I heard Bree whisper.
He turned to her.
“We’ll talk too.”
“Oh yeah? We will?” she demanded, beginning to lose it.
I wanted nothing to do with this.
Sure, at the time they got together, things were over for Bryan and me.
However, maybe one of my best friends could wait until he finished all his laundry and washed away my perfume before she jumped at her chance.
I dug in my purse, took out the money and extended it to Bryan.
“Here, it’s what Christos stole from her. It’s been retrieved.”
Mutely, he took it.
I leaned to the side to catch her eyes. “Like I said when I tried to get ahold of you, I also have some earrings and necklaces, and yours might be among them.” I flapped a hand between them. “But I’m gonna let you two work this out. I’ll give them to Kyra. You can contact her to make a time to look at them and see.”
I turned to walk away and Bryan called urgently, “Hellen!”
I turned back. “You know, you…you were free.” His face fell. “But still, going there with my friend that close to our breakup, uncool.” I leaned to the side and jabbed a finger at Bree. “But you, you know what you did.”
She knew.
I knew it when she got so defensive, she shrieked, “You were with another guy!”
I shook my head and said, “You know.”
And then I left them both to be dicks to each other and not to me, got in my car and drove away.
“What’d I tell you?”
God, he could be so annoying.
“I said I didn’t like it,” he reminded me.
We were in Core’s truck even though I wanted to be on his bike, but he didn’t want us to be on his bike because he couldn’t say I told you so if we were on his bike (which was why I wanted to be on his bike, incidentally, that and I loved being on the back of his bike with him, (that part of Archie and Jagger’s weeks-long sojourn totally made sense to me)).
“You’re done with her, yeah?” he asked.
“Of course,” I answered.
“Him?” he pushed.
I looked to him and saw how he was scowling at the street.
“We’re over, honey.”
“I know you’re over. You sucked my dick this morning like you wanted to swallow it. I might have to put a bit in your mouth when you go down on me to slow you down so I don’t lose it. Woman gives a man head like that, she’s not into her ex.”
God!
He could be so annoying!
“I could stop giving you head,” I suggested fake sweetly.
He made a scoffing noise.
That made me mad.
“I can live without your cock, Cutler.”
“You can, baby?” he taunted.
Okay, maybe I couldn’t.
I turned to Nanook who was snuffling at the open window in the back.
Since we took the truck, I insisted on Nanook coming with.
“At least you’re never annoying,” I cooed.
He knew my cooing voice, loved my cooing voice, stopped snuffling and woofed, “I love you,” at me.
“I love you too.”