Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 59690 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59690 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
“You really don’t.” I sighed and bent down to ruffle Bowie’s fur. My ridiculous, horribly trained golden retriever was all energy and wet kisses. “Hey, bud. I know. I’m sorry I was gone all night. Next time, I’ll bring you with me.”
“And why you have blood on your shirt.”
I glanced down at the material. I really did like this shirt. Damn.
“Ran into someone’s fist.”
“On purpose?” Kai asked with a laugh.
“Not exactly.”
I’d known Kai Cruz for years. We’d hit it off together at UT Austin Law and gotten jobs at the same law firm in Houston. When we decided to both move back to Lubbock, I was glad that we were opening the firm together. That his wife, Elsie, was from Clovis, New Mexico, and that they both wanted to make the trip. I hadn’t thought that I’d leave the firm to start working for my father until I actually did it. The fact that Kai didn’t hate me for it made him an even better person.
“This about your girl?” he surmised.
“Harley,” I filled him in.
“Yeah, Elsie mentioned her from the concert.”
I might have confessed my interest in her to Elsie when I was drunk that night. Whoops.
“I figured she might tell you.”
“Elsie tells me everything. So, when do we get to officially meet her?”
“Whenever you want.” I held my hand out. “Thanks for watching Bowie.”
“The dog is cooler than you,” he said as he took my hand.
I laughed. “That’s fair.”
“I’m serious. If I tell Elsie, she’s going to start hounding you.”
“Tell her to pick the day and time.”
Kai nodded, satisfied. “Done. You should put ice on this.”
I swatted him away. “Yeah, yeah.”
Kai left with a chuckle. I fed Bowie, changed into gym clothes, and took the dog for a good, long walk. He needed it after a night without me. I always felt guilty leaving Bowie behind. I’d known that Harley wouldn’t mind, but I’d wanted it to just be us.
When I made it back to the house, a car was parked in the driveway. A car that I recognized.
“Oh boy,” I muttered under my breath.
Annie stepped out of the driver’s side as I walked up to her. Her red hair was down in loose waves. She wore typical Annie attire—short shorts, a tank top, and cowboy boots. I let Bowie loose, and he all but tackled her to the ground with kisses. She laughed and played with him as I strolled up to them.
“Annie,” I said in greeting.
She glanced up at me and shook her head. “Look at you.”
“I assume Jordan told you.”
“You assume right,” she said as she rose to her feet.
She reached forward and put her fingers on my swollen nose. I hissed between my teeth and jerked back.
“That bastard,” she said, though it sounded almost affectionate. “I cannot believe he punched you. Again!”
“Yeah. It wasn’t exactly how I wanted to end my day either.” I gestured to the door. “Come in?”
Annie and I had had our ups and downs over the years. When we’d been in high school, we’d been an item. Then, when I went away to Yale, we made a pact to get married if we weren’t married before we were thirty. She’d married Jordan right before that mark. I’d thought for a long time that we’d work out, but now, I saw how ridiculous that had been.
It had taken someone like Harley to show me how wrong Annie and I really were for each other. She was my best friend. The person who had been there for me. But Harley was the person who completed me. And it wasn’t even a contest. I just hadn’t known until I’d met the other half of my heart.
Annie stopped at the kitchen island, and when I reached her, she punched my shoulder.
“Ouch!” I cried. “What the fuck, Annie?”
“That’s for hiding this from me, you idiot!”
I laughed and rubbed my arm. “Did you have to hit me? I’ve had enough of that for one day.”
“Well, Jordan was out of line, but I’m allowed to be mad that you didn’t feel you could tell me.”
“It’s not about you.”
“No,” she said easily, slipping onto the island barstool. “You thought I’d tell Jordan.”
“Wouldn’t you?”
She bit her lip. “I don’t know. Guess we’ll never know.”
“To be fair, we weren’t official until yesterday.”
“That is not fair because you told Jordan that you’re in love with her.” Annie’s eyes rounded. “You love her?”
“I do,” I told her.
“When did it start?”
I rubbed the back of my head and glanced uneasily up at her. “At your wedding.”
She coughed around a gasp. “Chase Sinclair! That was three years ago.”
“I know.”
“She was nineteen!”
“I actually didn’t know that until after,” I told her, as if that made it okay. “I’d been avoiding Wrights since you and Jordan…”
“Yeah. But, damn…”
“When I found out, I broke it off and told her that it couldn’t happen.”