Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 84871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
He flinches as though I’ve slapped him across his beautiful face. “Fuck all the way off.”
The phone beeps and I realize he’s hung up on me. Wow. That was…intense. I can’t believe I just yelled at him. I feel like a total bitch for it, too, even though he was wrong for putting Gemma’s safety on the line.
Kaden peeks his head in my door. “You okay, Aunt Sloane?”
“Yeah, bud. I’m fine. Just yelling at Dempsey for being stupid.”
He walks over and sits down next to me. “I’m sure it was an accident. Dempsey’s actually really smart. I like him. You’re not going to break up with him, are you?”
His words have me jolting.
Break up with him?
“We,” I choke out in exasperation, “are not together. He’s not my…boyfriend. I went on a date with Oliver, for Pete’s sake.”
Kaden pats my knee and shrugs. “You don’t have to lie. Gemma told me we were tagalongs on a date for you and Dempsey.”
She did what?!
“She was wrong,” I hiss. “So very wrong. I’m fine. Just go to bed.”
He slinks out of my bedroom and I feel horrible once again. I’m always saying and doing the wrong things. I sometimes think I’m an alien in a human world—not like anyone around me. Guilt at pissing Dempsey off has me firing off another text.
Me: I’m sorry I lashed out and said what I said.
Nothing.
He doesn’t even read my message.
My heart sinks. I’ll let him cool off—let us both cool off—and then I’ll apologize in person. He can tell me what really happened without being a smart-ass and I’ll feel better knowing all the facts. Then we can go back to normal.
What exactly is normal?
Hikes, picnic lunches, coffee dates, and late-night conversations?
Maybe normal isn’t normal at all. Maybe this stupid fight is exactly what we need.
Dempsey Park is getting under my skin.
I need to pick him out before he burrows too far.
I’m miserable.
These stuffy, fancy restaurants are so not my thing. They used to not be Jamie’s thing either, but then she went and hitched herself to the richest man in town.
I should have canceled this brunch.
Kaden had the right idea by sleeping in all morning. He’ll roll out of bed eventually and feast on cereal. I’d much rather be doing that.
A white Mercedes pulls into the restaurant parking lot and my best friend climbs out. I’m wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but Jamie looks magazine spread ready with her floral dress, dainty wedges, and perfectly coifed hair.
“Sorry I’m late,” she says, waving at me. “Nathan was being frisky this morning.”
Gross.
I still remember when she admitted to me that she’d been sleeping with her boyfriend’s dad. I was horrified and completely disgusted. Nathan was old. Now he’s really old. I’ve never understood their relationship or why they fell so completely in love.
“Can he still get it up at that age?” I tease, smirking at her.
She smacks my arm. “Jerk. Yes, he’s got excellent stamina if you must know.”
“I mustn’t. Please stop.”
We both giggle and she hugs me. I inhale her familiar scent. Sometimes, when I’m not wound up by work and my own stressful life, we make time to have fun. Sure, brunches aren’t exactly my thing, but being with her is always nice.
“You will never believe what Dempsey came home with last night,” she says as we walk inside and wait to be seated. “A Harley. Nathan had a fit.”
“Why? He’s eighteen.”
She cuts her eyes over to me. “Nathan is protective over the kids. Remember in the hospital when they were born? He wouldn’t let anyone hold them. Not even you.”
I wither inside at the reminder of being present for Dempsey’s birth. If anything can kill an attraction, it’s that.
“I still don’t get what the big deal is. He’s old enough to drive.”
“Ladies,” a man says in greeting. “Just two? Right this way.”
“It’s more than that,” Jamie says as we follow the host. “It’s that he always does something outrageous. His father bought him a car and had restrictions. So what does Dempsey do? He buys his own vehicle just to piss him off. It’s an act of rebellion. I really wish those two could get along.”
I’m surprised Dempsey told them he bought it rather than won it from a pool game. But maybe he thought it was the better of the two options. If Nathan knew he won it in a bet where Gemma was at stake, he might have done a lot more than have a fit.
Jamie pauses to ask our waiter if he’ll bring mimosas. Once he’s gone, she fiddles with her napkin and grins at me. “Enough about my family drama. Tell me about Oliver. Was he good in bed?”
I snort out a laugh that earns us a couple of annoyed looks. “I didn’t sleep with him.”
“Ugh,” she complains, still smiling. “Did you at least kiss him? Come on. Spill the beans, girl. I’m dying to know everything.”