Series: Torn and Bound Duet Series by K. Webster
Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Mia takes the machine next to Ashton and they fist bump. I take the one next to her. Ashton passes two cups of quarters to us. For the next twenty minutes, while we wait for our pizza to arrive, we play skee-ball. Mia is good, but so are the rest of us. Turns out, we’re all competitive as fuck. It isn’t until the waitress whistles at us that I realize I’ve been laughing and having a good time.
Ben loved skee-ball.
The thought hits me out of nowhere, piling on bricks of guilt faster than I can fling them off. I’m in a cloud as I stumble toward our table, bile rising in my gut. Drew senses my mood immediately. He nods to Ashton and then to Mia.
I don’t even have it in me to argue when Ashton takes my place beside Mia. With my teeth gritted against the pain, I push into the booth, hating how Drew’s concern warms me like a familiar blanket. Ashton watches me for a long moment, and then dives into razzing Mia about her pineapple pizza.
“You okay?” Drew rumbles, his voice low so they don’t hear.
“Yep,” I snap.
He doesn’t flinch at my harsh delivery, but I do. I hate how raw I feel. Rather than facing off with me, his hand covers my thigh and squeezes, providing comfort I didn’t know I needed.
“Breathe,” Drew murmurs. “You’re okay.”
I close my eyes, inhaling through my nose and then exhaling heavily. The chatter across the table continues, and I’m thankful for the reprieve.
“Ben loved skee-ball.” My words come out pained and nothing more than a whisper, but Drew hears them.
“I know, man, I know.”
I go to grab his hand, so I can shove it away, but the moment I touch it, I can’t let go. He twists his hand, capturing mine in his.
“You’re allowed to have fun,” he says gently, squeezing my hand. “You’re allowed to be happy.”
His words have me recoiling. I tug my hand free to grab the glass of beer in front of me. With my eyes closed, I gulp it down. By the time I finish my beer, I’ve locked away my emotions.
Nudging Mia’s foot with mine, I grin at her, though it feels forced this time. I just need to talk about something else. To think about anything other than Ben right now.
“After you eat that weird-ass pizza, we’ll play best of three on skee-ball. Whoever wins chooses where we’ll go for our first real date,” I tell her, ignoring Ashton’s scowl. “And if you win, beautiful, better make it someplace good, because that’ll be where we have our first kiss too.”
Brayden: Be ready in an hour.
I stare at the screen, confused as to how the hell Brayden got my number. I mean, I knew he gave me his number, but I know damn well I haven’t used it.
Just to fuck with him…
Me: New phone, who dis?
Brayden: The guy who’s picking you up for our first official date. You know, the one that’ll end with a kiss that will blow your mind. Now, be ready in an hour, and dress warm.
My heart pitter-patters in my chest at the thought of going on a real date with Brayden. A few days ago, I would’ve rather moved back home to live with my parents than go on a date with him. But then, when he showed up at my place, I saw another side of him, and like fungus he kind of grew on me. Those feelings only deepened when we hung out last night. Surprisingly, there’s more to him than just the smack-talking conceited Brayden he lets everyone see. He’s sweet and funny, and if I’m honest, I’m curious to see how we click when it’s just the two of us, and I’m not drunk or hungover.
When I don’t reply right away, he sends another message.
Brayden: Please, Mia.
That one message says more about him than anything he’s said up until now. It tells me that despite his pushiness, and Ashton’s running joke about his comments sounding rapey, he respects me and wouldn’t do anything I don’t want to do. It’s his way of asking, and if I tell him no, he’ll whine, but in the end, he’ll respect my decision.
I start to type out that I’ll go, when I remember it’s Sunday morning and I’m supposed to have breakfast with Ashton. We have breakfast together every Sunday morning. He didn’t mention it, though, last night when we got home from dinner and went our separate ways. I expected him to ask me to hang out and was bummed when he didn’t. Ever since our kiss we haven’t hung out alone. Ashton was all over me in front of Drew and Brayden, but the second we got in the car, it was as if I had the plague. And we’ve yet to actually discuss our kiss.