Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
I was speechless. “Wow. You’re good at this.”
“I’m trying,” he teased.
I sat down on his couch, making myself at home in a major movie star’s house. “I didn’t think I could… I mean, I’m not gonna say I wanted to fall in love or get serious, but sometimes I wondered if I wasn’t cut out for it, like maybe I wasn’t built for romantic emotions. But him…fuck, how could I not love Parker?”
“Damn. You’re better at this than you think.” He chuckled, then shrugged. “So maybe you’re demiromantic. Maybe you’re not. How important is the label to you? Does it change anything? You’re still in love with Parker, and that’s what matters.”
He was right. I didn’t need labels. Demiromantic might fit me, but in the end, whether that was me or not, I loved him.
That wasn’t all that weighed me down, though, and this second point mattered a lot more. “What if he doesn’t feel the same? Parker wants the fairy tale, and I’m not that—or at least, he doesn’t look at me and see that. I’m not an idiot. I know he likes me, but…”
“Parker loves you.”
My gaze snapped to him. “How do you know? Did he tell Declan?”
“Okay, well, I don’t know, but that’s what I think.”
“You suck at this!” I dropped my head against the back of the couch and groaned. “He didn’t even tell me he doesn’t want me, yet I’m freaking the fuck out about losing him. This is the worst feeling ever. I don’t know if I can do this.”
Sebastian clamped a hand on my shoulder. “You can. You told me before that Parker is worth it. You’re worth the risk too.”
“I…” Holy shit, did I not think I was worth it? I wanted to be. I wanted Parker. But the only way to get him was to tell him how I felt, to take a chance and put my heart on the line. I’d never been afraid to go after what I wanted, and I sure as shit wouldn’t start now. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. What’s the plan?”
The plan was to come clean. I’d flirted with Parker, asked to date him, was open with him in all the ways I should be except one. That changed today. “I’m going to tell Parker I love him. He’s mine, and I’m not willing to walk away without at least telling him how I feel.”
Sebastian’s genuine smile told me he really was happy for me, that he really was my friend. “These Beach Bums…they’re something else, aren’t they? There’s something addicting about them.”
“There is…holy shit…I’m in love for the first time in my life.” It hit me again, what all this meant. I’d never fallen in love before, but I’d never had Parker before, and now I did, and he was my whole damn heart.
“No big deal, right?” Sebastian teased.
“It’s scary as fuck, but that’s okay.”
“What can I do? How can I help?”
“Nothing…not yet, but I appreciate your offer.”
Suddenly, he wasn’t Sebastian Cole anymore. He was just Sebastian, my friend, and now I was going to get my man.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Parker
I went to the door the second I heard the knock. As soon as I pulled it open, my family was there, my best friends, my brothers.
Declan hugged me, and then the four of us talked nonstop. About Elliott, about me…well, I’d been talking. Rambling and losing my mind more like, but they were listening.
“You plan on giving us a turn to speak, or are we just supposed to listen to you the whole time?” Marcus quirked a dark brow.
I paced the room, unable to sit still. “You’re not allowed to be mean to me today. I’m in love…really in love. All those other times I had feelings for other men were nothing like this. I’m very close to having a panic attack, Marcus, because this isn’t what I thought it would be—at all!”
I saw it in Declan first, the way he bit his cheek and tried not to laugh. When my gaze found Corbin, he was doing the same. Once I settled my stare on Marcus again, he smiled at me, a teasing, confident, bossy smile. I couldn’t help chuckling before collapsing onto the couch. “You guys are the worst friends ever.”
“Pretty sure you mean best.” Corbin reached over and placed a hand on my thigh. He was right, of course, because strangely, them laughing at me was exactly what I needed. It always was. “So…you’ve fallen in love with your husband…”
“Yes.”
Corbin covered his mouth and spoke very quickly. “Pretty sure we told you that would happen.”
Like we were all so good at doing, I ignored him.
Dec added, “And you took him on an overnight trip to the mountains, which is a place he loves. It was really romantic, and then he fucked you like you’ve never been fucked before, and you realized you’re in love with him.”