Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 77415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Upon seeing the old man and his half an arm, my son, embarrassing the shit out of me, walked up to the man, pointed at his mangled stump and said, “That’s a pretty nasty looking arm.”
My hand had moved to cover my face as I’d tried to think of an apology that would make the guy realize that my kid was just being a kid and that he wasn’t normally that rude. At least not intentionally.
But the old man had waved off my apology before it could even leave my lips.
“Kids are kids,” the old man had said. “They don’t know better yet. I’d rather him ask than to be scared of it.”
Right now, though, my kid was sixteen-years-old and could clearly read the tension in the air surrounding us.
Did that stop my kid from continuing to put his foot further into it? Hell no.
“It was obvious to me that she knew you and that you know her,” he continued. “She watched you the entire night, and when she was looking away, you took your turn. It was kind of nauseating, really.”
I glared at my son.
“How about you go home and get your homework done for tomorrow so you don’t fail your test,” I snapped.
Linc held up his hands. “I would, but I’m pretty sure my car’s blocked in.”
I handed him the keys to my motorcycle. “Go.”
He took them, not turning back, knowing that I’d just handed him my trust.
He had a motorcycle, of course. One that he and I had been fixing up since last year, when I’d bought it for him for Christmas. Technically, he wasn't allowed to drive it yet. He had to be 18 to legally ride the motorcycle, but none of the cops in this town would pull my kid over unless he was being a dumbass.
Then he deserved to be pulled over.
“So…” Sean said. “I kind of knew you had a thing for her, but I didn’t know you knew her.”
I was saved from answering by the ring of my phone, and I’d never been happier to be called in to work than I was at that moment.
“Yeah, I’ll be there in ten,” I grunted.
I waved apologetically at Sean, finishing the rest of my Dr. Pepper as I headed out.
Only to realize that I’d given my kid the keys to my bike not five minutes before.
“Shit,” I sighed, looking at Linc’s car, where it was being blocked by a red Nissan Maxima.
A red Maxima that had a distinctive form in the front seat.
One that was huddled into herself as she cried.
My heart stuttered, and my feet started moving before I could tell them not to.
I knocked on the window, and the moment she heard it, she startled as she looked up at me.
The tears in her eyes, being confirmed now that I could see her face, were enough to make me check my bad mood.
However, the moment she saw me, she started her car and reversed out of the parking spot as fast as she could.
With one final look at me out of her tear-filled eyes, she accelerated down the street, freeing up Linc’s car.
I gritted my teeth at the urge to follow her, instead driving to work and submersing myself in my job.
The moment I was finished, four hours later, I realized that I’d only held off the inevitable.
I was going to have to talk to her. I was going to have to discuss with her what had happened—not necessarily to smooth things over between us or to start our relationship back up where we’d left off, but to give her the closure she so obviously needed.
Chapter 5
Yoga…because boys like bendy.
-Fact of life
Ellen
Two months later
I smiled at Sean and his new woman, so freakin’ happy for him I could cry.
I thought that I’d broken something in him, but he’d gone and proved to me, and everyone else, that he could find someone who made him happy.
Though they were still in the early stages, I had no doubt in my mind that this relationship would be getting serious quickly.
It hurt a little bit that she looked at me like I was a rude cow who’d hurt Sean just to see him bleed.
I hadn’t.
But I wasn’t fooling myself, and I wouldn’t have fooled him. If he really looked closely at our relationship, he would’ve seen that I wasn’t giving it my all.
Though, now I could tell that he knew I had the hots for a man who didn’t have the hots for me.
I raised only my eyelashes to watch Jessie from my perch across the room.
It physically hurt to have him within reaching distance.
I looked away, studying the baseboards and wondering how long it would be acceptable to stay at a club event when my brother wasn’t even there.
He’d called me, about twenty minutes ago, to inform me that he was called into work, but I should go to the party anyway.