Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 29029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 145(@200wpm)___ 116(@250wpm)___ 97(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 145(@200wpm)___ 116(@250wpm)___ 97(@300wpm)
“To tell you to your face that you’re an ass.”
“You could’ve told me that when we broke up.”
She huffs. “You blindsided me, Max. I didn’t know which end was up. I didn’t know what to say, how to say it. But what I want now is closure.”
“How can I give you closure?”
“You tell me what’s really going on here. Why we can’t be together.”
“I told you.”
“Yes, that your long-lost love suddenly reappeared.” She shakes her head. “I’m trying not to be resentful. What your friend must’ve gone through… I can’t even imagine.”
“Neither can I.”
“She hasn’t told you?” She raises an eyebrow.
There goes Mimi again, looking for a train wreck. I sigh. “No, she hasn’t told me.”
“Why are we here, Max? I want closure, but what do you want?”
“I don’t know, Mimi. Because… Because you’re comforting to me.” I sink my head into my hands.
“Seriously? You asked me to have coffee so I could give you comfort? When I should be the one getting comfort? Let me guess… Jenna doesn’t feel the same way about you as you feel about her, does she?”
I raise my head and meet Mimi’s blue gaze. “No. She does not.”
“Now you want me back?”
“No. That wouldn’t be fair to either of us, Mimi.” I look down into my cup of black coffee. So dark, kind of like the abyss that is my life.
“Then what’s this about?” Mimi pulls out her phone. “Because I have better things to do than to offer comfort to the ass who broke my heart.”
Damn. I am an ass. But no longer.
“You said you want closure, Mimi. What can I do for you?”
“You can never call me again. How’s that?” She slams her hand on the table but then looks around at the eyes staring at us in the coffee house. “Because here’s the thing, Max.” Her voice softens, and she chokes up a little. “I still have feelings for you. For me it was all real. Very real, and I knew it was a mistake to agree to have coffee with you when you called. But I couldn’t help myself because I still feel love for you. I shouldn’t, but I do. That will take time. So please, do me a favor. Don’t ever get in touch with me again.”
She rises, throws some bills on the table, and stalks out of the coffee shop.
Yeah, I had that coming. Not my finest moment. I owe Mimi a lot, and if all she wants is to never hear from me again, I can grant that wish.
I head back to work, and I try to erase Jenna Holland from my mind.
And I feel terrible. Because if Mimi feels for me what I feel for Jenna? She’s suffering, and I’m the cause of it.
As if I couldn’t feel worse than I already do.
16
JENNA
“You said if I had someone I trust, I could try having sex,” I tell my therapist, Dr. Michaels, after describing the flashback I endured in Max’s bathroom.
“I did, and you chose your friend.”
“Yes. And now I just feel…”
“How? How do you feel?”
“Empty.”
“Are you saying you didn’t enjoy it?”
“Not at all. I did enjoy it. I… I had a climax.” My cheeks warm.
Dr. Michaels grins. “That’s wonderful.”
“It was. I never even imagined what it could be like. I wasn’t expecting it. It crept up on me. And you were right. When you said I’d know if it happened. I definitely knew.”
“Your first orgasm after being through so much physical abuse. That’s something to celebrate, Jenna. Why are you feeling empty?”
“The problem wasn’t the act itself. I enjoyed it so much, and Max was amazing, as I knew he would be.” I squirm at the tickle between my legs that the memory rouses in me. “So caring, so willing to do exactly what I needed. I thought everything would be okay, until I looked into the mirror.”
“And that’s when you had the flashback.”
I nod, gulping.
“What happened after that?”
“I must’ve fainted or fallen. I’m not exactly sure. But Max came to me of course. He tried to help, but all I could do was run. Just run.
“I think, Jenna, it may be time to stop running.”
“You’re right. But all we did on the island was run.” My heart races. “That’s what we were told to do. It was a hunting ground, and the men wanted us to run, so they could catch us.”
“So your first instinct was to run. But perhaps this time you want to get caught.”
I widen my eyes. “Why would you say that? None of us ever wanted to get caught.”
“You’re not on the island any longer, Jenna. What exactly do you feel for this man?”
“He’s my best friend. Since we were four years old. I love him.”
“You love him. Are you in love with him?”
Again my jaw drops. “I… I never thought I was in love with him.”