Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 95264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
“So, you’re saying you’re on Todd’s side? That selling to a developer was a good thing?” There’s a challenge in my voice.
“Relax. I’m saying that building’s seen better days. Remember that call we got a few years back?” He looks at Dean. “The man we had to carry down those stairs?”
Dean grunts in answer.
“That apartment was a dive. Nothing’s been updated in decades. They’re barely up to code, and Todd hasn’t invested anything. How many renters does he have up there now?”
“Just one. Death Metal Dawn.” She plays rage music at all hours of the day and night.
And Garrett, if I am to believe his lie about moving in, which I don’t. Though I don’t understand the whole refrigerator act. That’s rather elaborate if he’s lying.
“See? Three apartments sitting empty, because they need work that Todd doesn’t want to bother with. And, for as many people that you think don’t want change, there are five times as many who’ve been pushing to revitalize for years. That end of town needs it.”
“Revitalize, fine. Bulldoze, though?”
“It’s like they’re completely erasing everything this place was,” Dean says.
“Yeah. Exactly.” I smack him across the shoulder. “See? He gets it. It’s like …” I search for an example I can relate to. “Sam’s Pastry. I’ve been going there my entire life with my family. It’s tradition. I can’t imagine if it was suddenly gone.”
Shane shrugs. “It’ll happen eventually.”
I glare at him.
“We know you’re loyal to Ned, but you have to admit, Polson Falls could use a few cute little shops and cafés on Main Street,” Scarlet says gently. “It’s kind of pathetic right now.”
“I know. I just feel so bad for him. He lost his wife last year, his business is in the shitter, and now he gets to watch the demolition of his best friend’s building.” I slump. It’s not just my loyalty to Ned that’s bothering me. My anger with Garrett is a splinter under my skin I can’t ignore. And, if I’m being honest, I’m embarrassed. There I was, fawning and flirting, oblivious. I should have seen through his act. I’m smarter than that.
But on that day, I was a brainless housefly, buzzing straight into a strip of yellow tape.
Scarlet taps her fingers on the table’s surface. “I was driving through Dover the other day, and did you know they have a bubble tea shop now?”
A grin splits my face despite my mood. “You hear that, Dean? Balls on your tongue. Your fave.”
He shakes his head. “She is relentless.”
“Speaking of relentless, my bladder is about to burst. I need to pee.” Instead of waiting for Dean to shift his massive body out of the booth, I take advantage of my size and climb over his lap.
“Here, let me help you.” He seizes my hips and gives a little squeeze before sliding me across. I’m no fool. The move isn’t necessarily inappropriate—given I’ve climbed onto him—but it burns a distinctive feeling into my brain of what it would feel like to have Dean gripping me like that from behind.
Say, in my bedroom.
Undressed.
The sly look on his face when I glance back at him confirms he knew what he was doing.
“Well played. One point goes to the sexy big lug.” I hold up a finger. “But fair warning, I never lose at this game. Ask Scarlet.”
“She does not.” She punctuates that by toasting the air with her drink. “And she doesn’t play nice.”
Dean holds his arms out to either side, palms in those giant hands upraised. “Bring it, tiny tiger.”
“Wait. I’m coming with you.” Scarlet sets down her glass and stares at Shane, waiting.
He’s the picture of relaxation, his one hand wrapped around his beer and his other arm slung over Scarlet’s shoulders. There was a period where they hid their relationship, given Scarlet is Shane’s son’s teacher, but the secret’s long past out. “Did you want to just …” He gestures at his lap.
She glares at him for even suggesting she repeat my move. While people may know they’re dating, I’m sure there are parents here tonight, and if Scarlet cares about anything, it’s her reputation.
I, on the other hand, couldn’t care less what people think of me. Scarlet calls it my superpower.
With a teasing grin, Shane acquiesces, sliding out and standing, stretching his arms over his head in the act, attracting more than one female gaze in the vicinity. I have no problem admitting my best friend’s boyfriend is gorgeous.
What makes him even more so is that he only has eyes for her.
Together, Scarlet and I weave through the waitresses and tables, heading toward the back where the band plays and a crowd loiters by the bar. “It seems busier than usual, doesn’t it?” Route 66 is always lively on Fridays, but tonight it feels like it’s bursting at the seams.
“Nobody wants to travel all the way to Philly in January for a night out.”