Total pages in book: 210
Estimated words: 203847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1019(@200wpm)___ 815(@250wpm)___ 679(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 203847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1019(@200wpm)___ 815(@250wpm)___ 679(@300wpm)
She squeezes my hand. “He’ll call soon, I’m sure.”
“I don’t need my family to fight anything for me. You forget I run the UK business and very successfully. I deal with my lawyer, not my father, so don’t bring my family into your fuck-up…” Tessa laughs silently into her hand. “Okay… Oh, darling, I’d love to meet you for lunch, but I’m afraid I’m not in London… I’m in Seattle.”
A loud noise comes through the phone before she drops it and laughs loudly.
“Oh boy, that was fun. Surprise, knobhead!” She giggles again and sits on the sofa. “Well, I imagine he won’t be calling again for a while.”
“Sounded…interesting.” Day smirks.
“’It was only once…’ ‘I promise it’ll never happen again…’ ‘Oh, Tessa, baby, come on. We can make this work.’” Tessa imitates a man’s voice. “Once my arse. Never happen again my arse. We can make this work my bloody vagina!”
“I am never getting married.” I grin, hiding behind my wine glass. “There’s more drama in it than anyone needs.”
“Word,” Dayton mutters. “Did you get my truffles?”
“Uh, did you miss the huge box on the kitchen table?” I point to it.
She looks over the back of the sofa and groans. “I should have hired someone to do them for me.”
“It’s not too late,” Tessa says. “You could still hire someone so we can just sit here and drink wine all night.”
“I’m with her.” I point in her direction and pick up a handful of ribbons. “I mean, look at these. How fiddly are they?”
Day studies it for a minute. She opens her mouth to speak, but my phone buzzing interrupts her. I pull it from my pocket and a grin spreads across my face when I see Tyler’s name on the screen.
“Be right back,” I tell the girls, skipping into Aaron’s office. “Hello?” I answer, a deep breath making me sound breathless.
“Hello yourself.” His voice wraps around me like a blanket, and I close my eyes to the sound of it.
“What took you so long to call?”
“My models are bitches. They kept the shoot running two hours over the time slot until they had pictures they were happy with. Naturally, every bad picture was my fault and not the fact they were just shit.”
“I thought you forgot about me,” I say softly.
“Never,” he replies firmly. “How can I forget you when I can’t stop bloody thinking about you?”
My lips twitch. “Touché.”
“I’m sorry, baby girl. I should have texted you earlier.”
“No, you shouldn’t have. I’m just being stupid.” I run my fingers through my hair. “I just… I miss you. That’s all.”
“I miss you, too.” A door shuts on his end.
“No… I mean, I miss you. Really badly.” I swallow and squeeze my eyes shut. “Please tell me you’ll be home in time to see me tomorrow night.”
He says nothing for a long moment. Every second he doesn’t speak, my stomach coils a little tighter.
“Tyler.”
“They canceled my second shoot today because of those two bitches. I have to do it tomorrow. Aaron’s on the phone to Dayton now. We might not make it back until Monday morning.”
I take a deep breath. “What? No.” I can’t wait that long to see him. Not when I need him so badly already.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m missing you, too.”
I swallow and bring my knees up. I drop my forehead to them and take a deep breath through my nose. The tears burn my eyes and I hate this. I hate this fucking weakness.
“Okay,” I say, my voice thick. “I’ll see you Monday, okay?”
“Shit, no, Liv. Don’t you dare hang up!” he shouts down the phone.
I bring it back to my ear. “What? Talking to you is making it worse.” My voice cracks on the last word.
“Don’t cry, baby girl. Please. Shit.” He lets out a quieter string of curses. “Don’t you dare cry when I’m not there to wipe your tears away.”
“I have to go, Ty.”
“I’ll be home tomorrow night, okay? I promise. I don’t care if I’m up all night. I’ll be there tomorrow.”
“Okay,” I whisper. “I’m going.”
“Liv!”
I don’t respond.
Then I hear, “Aaron, fuck your call. Get Day to see her now!”
I hang up then and drop the phone. My arms go around my legs and squeeze tight, and my whole body coils into a ball of aching need. The office door opens and I feel the softness of my best friend’s arms circling me.
She holds me, does nothing but hold me. The tears drop from my eyes onto my sweatpants, dotting the material with salty wetness.
“I hate this,” I whisper. “I fucking hate this. It’s killing me. I shouldn’t be able to need him this badly.”
I turn my face into Dayton and she sits on the sofa next to me. She rocks me gently, side to side, her cheek resting on top of my head.