Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 39424 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 197(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39424 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 197(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
She lays her arms on the table between us. “Are you interested in him?”
I shrug. “Am I interested in knowing if he’s okay? Yes, I am.”
“Uh, yeah, he’s okay. I mean, I only really talk to him when the guys are all around or something. He’s quiet and doesn’t say a lot. Davis said he’s always been that way but even more so since the bomb.”
I nod, wanting her to keep talking, and she doesn’t disappoint me. “He was there when Davis hurt his leg, Kanan hurt his arm, and Jason lost his sight. Their friend Randall died.”
My stomach turns thinking that it could have been Elias. What if something had happened to him? Obviously something tragic did, but it could have been worse. What if he never came back to Whiskey Run?
Abby shakes her head, and I realize now that all of this makes her think about her husband and everything he went through. “Anyway,” she says with a big breath. “Elias is a good guy. I just don’t think he’s someone you should get too attached to, that’s all.”
I shift in my seat, and there’s no way I’m not asking. “Why not?”
She looks around the room and back at me. “Well, I just don’t think it would be a good idea, and I don’t want to see you hurt, that’s all.”
I tense up. “But why?”
She shrugs. “I really don’t know all the details, but I’ve asked Davis about him before. I guess there’s a woman. Or there was, I’m not really sure. He has a picture in his wallet, and Davis said any time they had down time on missions, he was looking at the picture. Davis said no one knows anything, and Elias has never talked about it, but obviously there’s a woman that he’s in love with. That’s the only thing I can figure.”
She starts to ramble on about how she doesn’t want me hurt, but all I can do is think about Elias and wonder if there really is a woman he loves out there.
Emerson and Olivia make their way back to the table, and book club continues. I’m still sipping on the same glass of white wine when I feel the shift in the room. My whole body starts to tingle, the hair on the back of my neck rises, and the dead giveaway is that my nipples pebble. Yep, even if he’s not here to see me, my body knows that Elias is in the building.
I force a laugh out at something Olivia said and then take a peek around the room. Almost instantly, I see Elias seated at a table with his back against the wall. His eyes are glued to me, and I can’t look away from him.
All these times he’s followed me and not said a word, I’ve tried to figure him out. But after my talk with Abby, I’m wondering if I could have been looking at it wrong. I put my chin on the palm of my hand and really look at him. Could I be the woman in the picture that he carries in his wallet? There’s only one way to find out.
CHAPTER 6
ELIAS
I really tried to stay away.
I was trying to get my nerve up to talk to her while also respecting the fact that she asked me to stay away from her. I tried, but knowing she was going to be here tonight, I had to come see her. My plan was to just watch her from afar, like I have in the past.
But the way she’s looking at me, I’m not sure I’m that strong. The temptation to go to her, talk to her, and touch her is too strong.
I lock my arms over my chest and stare back at her.
She looks beautiful with her blond hair in curls down her back. She has on some kind of strapless shirt that shows off her toned shoulders. She’s done something with her makeup because even from here, her eyes look larger. Too beautiful to be in here without me by her side to ward off the men that think they may have a chance with her.
A shrill scream comes from her table followed by laughter, and I know what that means. Their husbands are here. I hate it when I see my friends walking in the door. Davis and Kanan are guiding Jason into the bar, leading him to the girls’ table.
Every book club is the same. The girls meet, have a good time, and then their husbands show up and take them home. I just got here and already, the night is ending.
I’m filled with jealousy as I watch my friends and their wives embrace. I would give anything to be able to walk over there and pull Chloe into my arms. But yet, here I sit, filled with longing, knowing I’ll never have what my friends have.