Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Trevor allows me to pull it into my mouth. In one swift motion, he cups the back of my neck with one hand and crushes his lips to mine. He savors me and the moist cake that dissolves on my tongue. I lift my arms to wrap them around his neck and melt into him like the dessert in my cavern.
“I’ll never see our cupcake tradition the same again,” he murmurs against my lips.
“I know.” I laugh breathlessly. “We were already obsessed with them. Now they’ve just become positively sacred to me.”
“Well, darlin’, that’s it. Let’s make a pact right here and now. No matter what happens between us, cupcakes will be our way of calling a truce. They’re officially neutral ground. Neither of us can stay mad at each other if there’s a cupcake offered,” he says.
“Are you planning to piss me off?” I tilt my head to the side and smile at him.
Trev wraps his strong arms around me and drags me to sit in his lap. He begins to stroke my thigh with his warm hand. I can’t help but smile wider when he places his forehead against mine.
“We’re not going to pretend we don’t fight like cats and dogs whenever the mood strikes,” he says.
I pout. “That’s only because you never want to admit I’m right.”
He throws his head back as he laughs. God, he’s so damn gorgeous. His blond locks and tanned skin are picture perfect. Those preteen braces gave him a perfect white smile.
When his blue eyes meet mine, they shine with everything I love about him—his honesty, openness, charm, stubbornness, and that loving, protective side. The windows to his soul are his greatest weakness. They give him away to those who know him well enough.
I’m not sure how I ever missed his feelings for me. Right now, they shine through as clear as a sunshiny Texas day. It might be because I’ve always told myself it was my imagination.
However, staring back at him, I couldn’t deny it if I wanted to. I palm his jaw and brush my thumb over his light stubble.
“If that’s what you say, we’ll go with it.”
“What if I can’t get a ticket on y’all’s flight?” I ask.
The question has been playing in the back of my head all day. My sister has tried. Either the tickets have been too expensive, or we miss the sale by seconds.
I mean, the prices have been twice what everyone else paid. I won’t ask my parents for help. They already think I’m too young to follow my sister and her friends across the world.
I’m going with my own money. Trevor’s brows crease and a frown mars his lips. The wheels are turning as he brushes a lock of hair behind my ear.
“Then I’ll be here with you,” he says. “Today has been the best day I’ve had in… it’s been a while, and I still don’t think I’ve ever had one like this. I don’t want it to end.”
“So our age—” My words are cut off as both our phones ring.
Suddenly, my stomach drops and this eerie feeling washes over me. Sensing a need to answer immediately, I get up and rush for my phone. Trevor stands and answers his as well.
From the moment I answer the phone, I feel like I’m going to be sick and I lose focus. The words cried on the other end shatters me into pieces. It takes a second for it all to sink in. As soon as it does, I drop to my knees.
Surely, this dream has turned into a nightmare. Surely, it has.
CHAPTER 5
Still Go
Lynn
“He’s here again, Cakes. I think you should talk to him. Your sister… she… Brooke is… was.” My mama can’t even get the words out.
Brooke was. She no longer is anything to anyone, she has become a past tense. Was.
She was my sister, she was my best friend, she was Trevor’s best friend. I haven’t been able to look at him since that night. He sat beside me at her funeral, holding my hand the entire time.
However, I still couldn’t look at him. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to look at him again. I sit up on my bed, clenching my pillow to my chest.
I don’t even bother to wipe my tears away. I give her a short nod.
“Let him in. I’ll talk to him,” I whisper.
“Good, she would want you to. You two are her… her best friends. She’d want this,” Mama chokes out before turning and rushing from the room.
It’s been a week since we buried my sister and I still can’t stop crying. It’s like a fresh hell every single morning. I wake ready to run into her room and pester her and then it hits me. She’s not there.
My bedroom door creaks open and Trevor steps his big body through the door. He has that Stetson held up over his heart. That’s as far as I’ll let my eyes go.