Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 92070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
My heart races. Val is checking on me. Val misses me. Val needs me. "She did?"
"Yeah. She's worried about you."
"What did you tell her?" It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that she hurts now, that she misses me, that she wants the best for me. This is still what's best for her. This is still what I have to do.
"That you're an idiot," Luna says. "And you're obviously miserable."
"You shouldn't have said that," I say.
"Those aren't secrets." She looks to Tricky for support. She whispers something to him. He whispers back. "We told her you haven't been with anyone else."
"How do you know that's true?" I ask.
"A thousand bucks says it is," Tricky says.
"You don't have a thousand bucks," I say.
"I will, if you take the bet," he says.
"Whatever," I say.
"It's just like high school," Brian laughs. "Any challenge to Darren ends with 'whatever.'"
"He hasn't matured at all?" Luna asks.
"Some," he says. "Mostly because of Val."
"She didn't say why you ended things," Luna says. "Actually, she said you didn't really explain."
"And?" I ask.
"Why did you end things?" she asks.
"How is it your business?" I ask.
"You're stuck in the car until we get to her place either way," she says. "If you'd rather pass it in silence, we can do that."
"No, we're going to talk about our double date," Patrick says.
"Oh, right," Luna says. "Can you believe I talked Oliver into dancing?"
"Why wouldn't he go dancing?" Patrick asks. "He gets to grind against you for three hours straight."
"He hates this kinda thing," she says. "And hates inviting us more."
"What kinda thing?" I ask.
"What was that?" Luna asks. "Sounds like someone who specifically doesn't want to be part of the conversation."
Patrick nods. "A shame for him."
"Whatever," I say.
Brian laughs. "See."
"We're going to a sober dance party," Luna says. "It's a thing Oliver's sponsor runs. All the fun of the clubs with none of the alcohol."
"Sounds like torture," I say.
"Like you aren't imagining Val in your arms right now," Luna says.
No comment.
"What happened?" she asks. "Why did you end things? They were good, weren't they?"
"In Spain, yeah," I say.
"Did something happen in Paris?" she asks.
"No," I say. "When we got back here."
"When you got back here…" She motions go on.
"I saw it. I'm not part of her world. I'll never be part of her world. And I'm not going to demand she's a part of mine. I'm not going to be an anchor dragging her down."
She and Patrick trade a look. "You want to take this?"
"No, I think this is one for Brian," Patrick says.
"Me?" my brother asks. "You think I can talk sense into my older brother?"
"You know them the best," Luna says.
"Okay." Brian takes his eyes off the road. "You're a fucking idiot."
"That's where I'd start too," Luna says.
"Do you even remember what Valeria was like when we moved in? How much she kept things to herself? How lonely she was? She blossomed around you. Why the fuck do you think she got the poppy tattoo on her forearm?"
"She loves California."
"'Cause that was what she felt, with you. She opened up. She unfurled. She learned how to have fun, how to access this whole other side of life, beyond books and keeping shit together for her parents and her kid sister."
"She did?" I ask.
"Don't pretend like you didn't notice," he says. "And that semester she almost dropped out of school… who talked her into staying?"
"It wasn't that simple," I say. "She was pissed at how I handled it. She barely talked to me for months." How much does he know? Does he know everything?
"But she got over it," he says. "And she spent the whole summer with you."
"That's the problem," I say. "Her life revolves around me."
"Where did the two of you go on your trip?" he asks.
"You know the answer to that," I say.
"Where?"
"Barcelona and Paris."
"Whose idea was that?" he asks.
"Hers."
"Who loved those places?" I ask.
"Her?"
"Which of you adores the beach?" I ask.
"Her," I say.
"And what do you do every Saturday night, when she's in town?" he asks.
"Watch movies."
"And who's the one with the film degree, who adores cinema?"
"I get your point," I say.
"I'm not sure you do." He motions to Patrick can you take it from here.
Patrick nods. "She invited you into her life and you came. You don't share nearly as much as she does."
"I gave her three tattoos," I say.
"So?" Patrick asks.
"She hangs out with you assholes," I say.
"We're great," Luna says.
"And watches the dumb movies I pick," I say.
"You pick from the Criterion Collection," Brian says.
"Damn, Imogen is going to be jealous," Patrick says. "Might be the first time I've been emasculated this way."
"I thought she likes dumb guys," Luna says.
I frown.
Luna and Patrick notice.
"Is that it?" Patrick asks. "You don't think you're smart enough for her?"
"I'm not," I say.
"You're not book smart, maybe," Luna says. "But book smart guys are the worst."