Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 82265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“What was what?” I keep my gaze straight ahead. I’m grabbing us nachos first.
“With Alyssa.”
“The chair? We hang out so much I thought I’d be nice and buy her one too.” I chance a look at my brother, and he rolls his eyes.
“Come on, Sterling. What’s up?”
“Honestly, I don’t know.” It’s the truth, well, for the most part. I do know that I’m in love with her, but I don’t know what to do about it. I don't feel like getting into it with him, and definitely not here with all the ears of Willow River in attendance. All I need is Maureen, Kennedy’s grandma, to hear. She’ll take the information and run with it, and I’m not ready for that yet. I’m still processing. Right now, she’s mine, in my heart, and my best friend for the world to see. Making a move could change things. Yeah, it could go in my favor, but there’s that fifty percent chance that it won’t. The fear of that other fifty percent is holding me back. That and I don’t know if I can trust my judgment because I want her to want me more than anything.
“I—” Archer starts, but I shake my head, stopping him.
“Not here. Please.”
He nods, pressing his lips together.
“Next,” the teenager working the booth calls up.
I step up to the window. “Hi, I’d like an order of nachos and a soft pretzel with cheese.”
“When have you ever passed up nachos for a soft pretzel?” Archer asks, his brow raised.
“I’m not. She’s going to find out there were pretzels and wish she would have gotten that instead. This way, she can have both.”
“You’re sunk, brother.” Archer slaps a hand on my shoulder as I shove my change into my pocket and step to the side for him to order.
I don’t comment. Not that he expects me to. We both know he’s right. I just need to figure out what to do about it. I’ve stepped up my flirting game, and I touch her every chance I get, but I still need to decide if the risk of losing her is worth it.
Once Archer has his food, we head to the lemonade stand. They also have sweet tea, so I grab one of each while Archer orders a sweet tea, and we head back to our area.
“Aww, man, I didn’t know they had pretzels,” Alyssa says when she stands from her chair to help me with the drinks and food.
“I know. That’s why I ordered you one.” I hand her the lemonade, and then the pretzel and the side order of cheese that I almost dropped three times on the way back to our seats.
“Really?” She peers up at me. Her big brown eyes are swirling with something that I can’t name, but whatever it is, it makes me want to kiss her. Who am I kidding? Everything makes me want to kiss her these days.
“Thank you, Tank.” She steps into me and gives me a one-armed hug.
I swallow thickly. “Anything for you, Tink.”
She quickly pulls back and clears her throat. “I set your chair up for you.” She points to the chair on the opposite side of hers.
“Thanks.” I step behind her chair and grab mine, moving it closer to hers. It’s so close our arms could touch when we’re sitting. It’s the closest I’ll be able to get without pulling her onto my lap, and I won’t do that here. Not because we’ve never done that in front of my family, but because now it means more, and they’ll see through me.
“Are we staying for the next one?” Alyssa asks.
“You okay with that?”
“Definitely. I just need to use the restroom.” She puts her chair back into the sitting position and leans forward to get the others’ attention. “I’m taking a restroom break. Anyone need to go?”
“Yes,” Palmer, Jade, and Kennedy all say at once.
“Piper and Heath are on their way here,” Palmer says as she takes the hand that Rushton offers her to help her stand from her chair. She smiles at him in thanks, and he nods before sitting back in his seat.
“Good. I’m glad they’re going to make it,” Jade says.
“Yeah, they should be here at the same time as Brooks.”
“How many times has he texted you?” I hear Kennedy ask as the four of them head for the row of portable restrooms, which I know they all hate to use.
“I’m going to run to my truck, then grab some more snacks. Anyone need anything?” I glance around at my remaining family.
“A candy bar,” Merrick says. “Surprise me,” he adds before I can ask him what kind.
I rush to my truck. The sun is going down, and it’s going to start to cool off. Not enough that we need a hoodie, but I know Alyssa, and she likes to be snuggled when she’s watching a movie. I tossed one of the many throw blankets I’ve bought for my place specifically for her over the years into the truck before I left. I grab it and make my way back to the concession stands. This time I order us both a pulled pork sandwich, a bucket of fries to split, and two bottles of water in addition to Merrick’s candy bar. My hands are once again filled, but I cheat by stacking the sandwiches on top of the fries and shove the bottles of water into the pockets of my cargo shorts, along with the candy bar.