Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 78249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
“You’re setting yourself up for heartbreak, Em.”
“I know. But that ship sailed weeks ago. And lately, he has seemed so different. More open. Like I'm starting to understand why he pushes himself and everyone else so hard. There's this whole other side to him that he keeps hidden, and sometimes when it slips out..." I groaned and buried my face in my hands. "God, I'm in so much trouble."
"Breathe," Kora commanded. "You're spiraling."
"I'm allowed to spiral! I'm sleeping with my boss while hiding the fact that I originally took the job to spy on him, all while my psycho ex is potentially using information I gave him to steal a huge contract, and oh yeah—I think I might be in love with said boss who will definitely hate me when he finds out everything!"
An elderly woman who'd been quietly changing nearby gave me a sympathetic look. "Men," she said, shaking her head. "I knew a man like that once. Turned out he was running a pyramid scheme with my inheritance money. He was also very into some... unconventional bedroom activities. Butt stuff,” she added with a stage wink.
"See?" I told Kora. "Even random strangers think I'm screwed."
"Actually," the woman said, "I was going to say I married him anyway. Been together forty years now." She winked. "Sometimes the complicated ones are worth it, dear. And sometimes their... quirks... grow on you. Besides, you get used to the feeling of a butt plug. Now I won’t even leave home without one in.” She finished changing, smiled, and walked out without waiting for comment.
I turned to Kora. "Did that really just happen?"
"I think we'll both be better off if we pretend it didn't. But you heard her point, right?”
“The one about butt plugs?”
“The other one,” Kora said, smirking. “About how you should stop making things so messy and just go for it.”
"I'm not sure I want to take life advice from someone who—you know what? Never mind."
As we walked to get smoothies, my phone buzzed.
Cole: I need back in your cloud account. None of your old passwords are working. I need to see what you have been working on so I can wow Davenport. I’m meeting him one last time today. Come on, Em. Don't let me down. And hey, pull this off, and I might think about letting us start things back up again.
I deleted it without responding, but my hands were shaking. I still couldn’t believe I had been dumb enough not to change all my passwords after the breakup. I changed the important ones, like my streaming TV passwords and bank passwords. But somehow, I hadn’t thought Cole would bother to get into my boring old Google Docs files.
Every time I thought about how my stupid careless comment about Davenport started this whole stressful mess, I wanted to bury my face in my hands.
"You okay?" Kora asked.
"No," I admitted. "But I think it's time. I don't care if Orion doesn't want to know. I need Cole to know I'm not helping him and I'm never getting back with him. I just... need all this off my chest. I'm going to come clean, and if Orion hates me for it, then so be it. But I'm going to explode if I don't just get this out."
"If it goes nuclear," Kora said, "we can always come back to hot yoga. Nothing cures heartbreak like heatstroke."
I laughed despite myself. Maybe she was right. Maybe everything would be okay.
Or maybe I was about to lose the best thing that had ever happened to me.
Only one way to find out.
36
ORION
"You invited her to dinner again, didn't you?" I asked, watching my mother bustle around her kitchen with suspicious energy. Eating dinner with my mom and sister was a weekly ritual of great importance to me, even if I wouldn't admit such a thing aloud to any living soul.
"Of course I did." Mom didn't even try to look guilty. "That girl lights up this whole house. And you smile more when she's here."
"I do not."
"You're smiling right now," Remmy called from the living room. "Just thinking about her."
I quickly schooled my expression. "I was not."
"Were too." Remmy appeared in the doorway, phone in hand, her face wearing that look that usually preceded uncomfortable questions. "So... when are you going to admit you're dating her?"
"We're not—"
"Oh please," Mom cut in, batting my hand away from the sauce she was stirring. "The way you two look at each other? I wasn't born yesterday."
I loosened my tie, suddenly feeling warm. "It's complicated."
"Because you're making it," Remmy said. "You know what is actually complicated? Trying to convince an up-and-coming artist that the ten-foot-tall beef sculpture doesn't violate his vegan principles. He's saying he won't let me show his art while that beef stands. Can you believe it? The beef isn't even real. It's made out of scrap metal."