Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
“Okay, you don’t have to hear anything from me,” he replies, putting his hands up. “I just want to show you something. Something that will fix all of this.”
“Fix all of this?” I scoff as we drive. “If you have a time machine to where you and I could just never meet maybe…”
Surprisingly, Cal doesn’t respond to that, and we end up sitting in silence for just shy of ten minutes before pulling up to an enormous mansion at the top of a hill. Like at Cal’s house, a gate opens for us, and we pull down a long driveway to the enormous front door.
Without hesitation, Cal steps out of the car as though I’m meant to follow after him. Not wanting to be left sitting in the back seat, I push open the door and call after him. “Whose house is this, Cal?” He just glances back over his shoulder at me and grins. “Cal? Whose house is this?”
He reaches the door and motions for me to come join him as he thumbs the doorbell. I’m getting nervous for some reason. I don’t like being left in the dark, and this is the definition of that. The huge house, the strange new town, no clues from Cal about what is even going on…
“You should go up there and join him,” the driver says out of nowhere, causing me to jump. I glance down and see him smiling at me via the rearview mirror.
“I…should?” I ask.
He nods, still smiling. “Go on.”
It’s a strange interaction. Everything about this is strange, but the driver seems honest, so I nod back to him and start walking toward the house. I’m only about halfway there when the front door opens, and I realize why we’re here.
Jenni Hinderman steps out with her hair up, wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt.
“Oh my God…” I was not expecting this.
“Holy shit, Cal, I’m glad you’re here.” She’s not talking that loudly, but I can hear her from where I’m standing. “Have you seen? Okay, you must have seen.”
“Yup, I’ve seen all right,” he replies.
“So it clearly wasn’t you who planted the story?” she asks.
I’m stuck in place. Frozen right where I’m standing, watching their conversation play out. This is not where I saw my day going when I woke up this morning, and here I am, caught up in the middle of publicity drama with two of the biggest stars in the world.
And who am I? A few days ago, I was just a waitress at a run of the mill restaurant. How is this happening to me?
“Reese, would you come here, babe?” Cal asks. Without thinking, I obey him. It’s like his wish is my command, and my feet are moving one after the other, and the next thing I know, I’m standing right beside him and Jenni. “Jenni, this is Reese,” Cal says politely. “Reese, this is Jenni.”
“Hi,” I say softly. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you.” She smiles. “Cal just asked me if I could reassure you about this whole mess.”
“Reassure me?” My voice is barely a squeak. God, I’m making a fool out of myself. “In what way?”
“Well,” Jenni says with a smile. She really does have a great smile. “This whole thing about Cal and me being together. It’s just not true.”
“It’s not?” Please don’t let her be lying to me. But what reason does she have to lie to me? Is she on Cal’s side for some reason? I guess he could have paid her off like he did the driver…but could he really? Jenni has to be just as rich as Cal is, so that wouldn’t make sense.
I guess they could be really old friends, and she could be doing him a solid and lying for him so I stick around and am his girl on the side or something…
But that doesn’t make any sense to me either.
No, I can’t figure out why she would lie for him about this.
“No, it’s not true, Reese.” Jenni smiles with a deep huff. “And it’s fucking with my life just as much. Cal’s not the only one with a relationship here, you know?”
Jenni pulls open the door and motions for us to come in. I hesitate a moment but follow Cal after he heads inside. Jenni leads us through an amazing foyer into a living room, from which I already hear the loud sounds of explosions and gunfire.
On the couch, there’s a good-looking guy lying back playing video games with a bag of chips by his side. Jenni glances at us and sort of smiles and frowns at the same time. “Meet Jacob, my high school sweetheart. Jacob? Say hello, babe.”
“Hey, babe,” Jacob replies with a grin.
Jenni sighs and pulls us from the room back into the foyer. “None of this bothers him,” she says. “He’s learned not to care a long time ago. But it bothers me. Makes me wonder what I’m going to do when I want to get married. Have kids. All that jazz.”