Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
The entire country had their mind made up about me at the current moment, which was fine. I didn’t care. But I also didn’t want to hear their assessment of me screamed loud enough for the whole arena to hear. It was bad enough reading the headlines.
So, I sat on Vince’s couch with my parents and Maven, watching numbly and counting down the minutes to when it would all be over. I didn’t know what had happened, but my brother and Jaxson were both sporting fresh cuts and bruises on their faces and knuckles, and Jaxson had reached me earlier by calling Maven’s phone.
He’d assured me things were okay, and asked if he could see me tonight.
As if that was a fucking question.
Now, I was wishing I could fast-forward time to when I was in his arms.
Maven sat curled up next to me on the couch, and she squeezed my wrist when the first period ended. “Want to take a walk on the beach?”
I looked over to my parents, as if they might tell me no, but Mom smiled and nodded. Dad still looked a bit green from the events of the past few days, which was understandable provided the things being said about his little girl, but even he managed a slight tilt of his lips.
“You’re not in prison,” he said. “Just be careful and call us if there are any lowlifes with cameras out there.”
My eyes filled with tears — which had been a common theme for the last thirty-something hours. I was pretty sure my parents had seen me cry more in that time than in my entire life.
But this time, I cried because I was thankful, because in a situation where my parents could have been nightmares — they’d surprised me. Mom had held me and soothed me and assured me more times than I could count that nothing was my fault, and that I hadn’t done anything wrong. And Dad, though I knew the things being said about his little girl were driving him mad, was just as supportive. He had held me as I sobbed and told me he was there, that I wasn’t alone.
Neither of them had said a single bad word about Jaxson.
Then again — Vince had done enough of that for all of us.
I flung my arms around them both, hugging them tight as Mom let out a surprised, “Oh!” and Dad stiffened before hugging me in return.
“I love you,” I whispered.
They softened, leaning into me. “We love you, too, sweetheart,” Mom said.
When I pulled back, I held her hand in mine. “I want to talk to you guys and Vince,” I said. “When all the dust has settled.”
“Any time, whenever you’re ready to speak, we’ll be here to listen,” Mom promised.
I squeezed her hand, and then Maven and I ambled out into the humid Florida air.
I sighed when my toes hit the sand, finding comfort in that and the soft waves rolling in the distance. Maven threaded her arm through mine and led the way.
“I’m proud of you.”
I laughed. “For being stupid enough to leave my phone in the bathroom?”
“For handling this whole situation with grace. See what I did there?”
She winked and I nudged her, both of us toppling a bit in the sand before we found a straight line again.
“I mean it,” she said. “What happened to you… it’s completely fucked. I know very well how nasty people on the Internet can be, and I know this can’t be easy for you. But you’ve held your head high. You’ve faced your parents and your brother, and I know that had to be hard to do.”
“Especially when Vince essentially turned into a dragon.”
Maven chuckled. “I think it’s kind of hot when he’s ragey,” she confessed. “But not toward you.”
“I wonder what happened between them today.”
“Judging by their faces, they fought it out,” Maven guessed. “But, if Vince’s texts earlier, and the fact that Jaxson felt bold enough to call you through my phone is any indicator… my guess is that after they fought, they talked.”
My chest filled with hope. “Why do I still feel like I’m going to be sick?”
“Well,” Maven said. “You had your privacy violated, which never feels nice. And even though things are smoothing out, you’re still in very choppy water. The media isn’t going to quit.” She sighed with that. “And I imagine you and Jaxson have a lot to talk about.”
I swallowed. “Yeah.”
“What are you most nervous about?”
“I would have said my brother before all this,” I said. “But now… I don’t know. I guess just everything we’ve been hiding behind up until now, all the ways we don’t make sense.”
“Why, because he’s older?”
I nodded. “That’s part of it.”
“And because you want to travel the world and he’s stuck in Tampa?”
I chuckled. “That’s been part of it, too. Except…”