Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 84322 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84322 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
My heart tripled its pace in my chest, making me so lightheaded that I had to hold onto the branch of a nearby tree to keep from falling. But Tyler kept his gaze on me, hard and unapologetic.
“And because I’ve spent the last seven years wishing I would have done something to save our friendship, and now that you’re here, now that you’re back?” He shook his head, sniffing and looking away from me before he found my eyes once more. “I can’t not try.”
They were the last words he said before he tore his gaze away, running his hands through his hair on his way back to the car. He flung the driver side door open so wildly, I thought it’d fly off the hinges, and then he slammed it and revved the engine to life.
For a second, I thought he would leave me. I thought he’d peel out of the trailhead and down the road that led back to his house. But he just sat there in the car, his hands white-knuckling the steering wheel, eyes focused somewhere in the distance as he waited for me to get in.
I wasn’t sure how long it took me to find a breath, to find the strength to let go of that tree that was steadying me and hobble my way on shaky legs over to the car. As soon as I was inside it, Tyler threw it into reverse, backing out of where he’d parked and throwing it into drive as soon as he was righted to fly down the hill toward the house.
We didn’t say a word on the ride home.
When we pulled into the drive, Tyler mumbled something about a shower to his family, and then texted his mom an hour later saying he didn’t feel well and he’d be skipping dinner.
He stayed in his room the rest of the night.
And I stayed in my head, replaying every word, every look, every confession.
I still hadn’t made sense of a single one by the time sleep finally found me.
“RIGHT? I have been trying to explain this to her for years, Jacob. I mean, since the girl was fourteen.”
“It’s honestly monstrous,” my charming, traitorous boyfriend said, agreeing with my best friend through the screen of my phone. Morgan had her arm looped through mine as I held the screen up so Jacob could see both of us where we had pulled to the side in the local flower shop.
“No one else has had the guts to call her out on it.” Morgan grinned, pointing at the screen. “I like you even more.”
“Oh, I’ll call her out all day,” Jacob said. “Getting her to listen to reason, on the other hand…”
They both look pointedly at me then, and I rolled my eyes. “You do realize you’re both acting like I’ve committed some crime all my life, like this is a life-or-death situation.”
“It is a crime to microwave your ice cream.” Morgan shuddered. “I mean, seriously, do you hear that statement? How much of an oxymoron that is? If you microwave it, it’s not ice cream anymore. It’s just cream.”
She watched me pitifully, like I was a ten-year-old who she was trying to explain that the Easter Bunny wasn’t real to. And Jacob shook his head, like I was a lost cause, both of them exchanging a knowing look before their eyes were on me again.
“I told you — both of you — I have sensitive teeth. Okay? I can’t just bite into an ice cream cone.”
“But you microwave it.”
“Only if I’m too impatient to let it melt a little on its own.”
They both blinked, looking at each other again before Morgan let out a long sigh. “She’s hopeless.”
I pulled my arm free from her, but she quickly apologized and cooed me while Jacob teased me through the phone, and I laughed because I loved them both just as much as they drove me nuts.
And I could already tell that they’d get along just fine.
“Alright,” Morgan said to Jacob. “We’ve got flower business to attend to. But, I can’t wait to finally meet you in just a little over a week!”
“I can’t wait either. I’m excited to see where this lovely, insane creature who microwaves her ice cream grew up.”
Jacob’s eyes lit up with the tease, and he winked at me, which made my cheeks heat and my heart do a little flip inside my chest. I’d never brought anyone home, not since I left seven years ago, and not just because I’d never considered coming back here period, but because I’d never been that serious with anyone.
With that realization, my stomach dropped.
What does that mean?
That question was still swimming in my mind when we ended the call, along with all the thoughts that had kept me awake through the night.
And none of those thoughts were about Jacob.