Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 107667 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107667 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
I feel a pair of arms move around me, and I freeze at his touch. I smell the spearmint before he even speaks. “I love when you wear shorts.”
I roll my eyes, moving out of his arms. He looks hurt that I did so, but surely he didn’t think I’d let him hold me when I haven’t spoken to him in months. “What are you doing?” I find myself asking, and he shrugs, leaning his hip on the railing.
“Figured it was fate that I was here tonight when you’re celebrating the new job.”
I shake my head, hoping like hell this isn’t the fate Dart was speaking of. “Absolutely not.”
“Come on. You know it’s true.”
“Denis, no. My feelings haven’t changed.”
He laughs. “Tennie, don’t say that. We belong together.”
Now I’m laughing. “We certainly do not,” I tell him, holding his gaze. “You do absolutely nothing for me.”
His eyes darken as he leans in. “That’s a really messed-up thing for you to say. We’ve been doing this almost ten years.”
“Exactly,” I say, looking at him. “And it doesn’t work. We make it work for show, or maybe out of loneliness, but this isn’t what I want.”
“We’re good together, Ten.”
“We aren’t,” I stress, pulling my hand back when he tries to hold it. “I mean, we get along because you’re nice and I care for you, but that’s it.”
“But I love you.”
Oh, come on. “Denis, yes, there is love. But it’s not a burning love. There is no heat between us.”
“I feel heat,” he tries, but he must be able to hear in his own voice that there isn’t any.
“I don’t. I never have. You’re familiar, you’re safe, but I need more. I need fire, which is why I’m leaving.”
“What do you mean, leaving?”
“I took an out-of-state job.”
“What? Where?”
“It doesn’t matter. I need a fresh start.”
He just stands there, staring down at me. I don’t understand the look on his face. It seems as if I’ve betrayed him, but how? We haven’t even spoken or been together in three months. “I always thought we’d get married once you finished school.”
I gawk at him. “I don’t know why. I never told you I would.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“Thank God, because I would have said no,” I tell him, and anger fills his features. “There is someone out there who is going to be perfect for you, but that’s not me.”
He doesn’t say anything for a moment, and then he clears his throat. “I’m gonna go.”
“Okay.”
“You’re not going to stop me?”
“No,” I say, holding his gaze. “I need more.”
He’s visibly upset, but he doesn’t say anything else. His throat works with emotion, but thankfully, he walks off. The relief that runs through me is welcome and needed. I’m on a mission to cut ties and tie up loose ends. I have to start a life that is mine. Not Lindy’s, not Josie’s, and not my momma’s. I head to where the girls are, and when Lindy looks at me, she grins, already a bit tipsy.
She hands me a shot, and I take it eagerly before she asks, “Where is Denis?”
“Gone.”
“Over, over?”
“Over, for sure.”
She hands me a beer, and we tap the necks before Josie is pulling us onto the dance floor. The drinks flow, and the men are in abundance in Nashville tonight. I dance with a lot of guys, do shots, and dance—oh, I dance so much. With Lindy and Josie, and then by myself. It’s a damn good night, one I know I needed, even if I was hesitant about it. The girls find men left and right, and while I’ve had some interest, we’d promised we wouldn’t go home with anyone since our mommas had all thrown in for the hotel as a gift and we are sharing a room. When all three of us are good and drunk, we jump into an Uber and head back to the hotel.
We are laughing about nothing really when we get out and head inside. Lindy is leaning on me since she’s about to pass out, while Josie is Snapping a couple of guys she had exchanged her Snap with while we were out. When she looks up at me, I smile as I move Lindy’s hair out of her eyes.
“Where’s Denis?”
I laugh. “Jo, I got rid of him early.”
She scrunches up her face. “Why?”
“What? You know why!”
“But he’s nice.”
“Then you date him,” I throw at her, and she shakes her head. She’s drunk, one eye open and the other looking everywhere but me.
“You know he loves you right?”
I stare at her blankly. “And you know he didn’t do it for me.”
She shrugs. “But you can teach him how to fuck, Ten. It’s not like you have a line of guys trying to lock you down.”
And there it is. I knew I was having too much fun. “Wow, Josie.”