Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 102016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
“Anyway, she was such a mean girl. Like, just a grade-A witch. She always told me I was too fat. No one likes a fat girl, she’d say. She called me Miss Piggy.”
“The fuck? You’re absolutely not fat, Dani.” Perhaps it’s petty, but I do like his angry response to Angela’s teasing.
“I’m curvy now, and back then, I was definitely a bigger girl, thanks to awkward teenage hormones. My body was figuring itself out, and after a lot of years of therapy, I understand that. My body’s gotten me through a lot, so I cut it some slack.”
“You’re fucking beautiful.” He’s gritting his teeth, glaring over at me, and I have to swallow hard before I continue.
“Um, thanks? Anyway, I went away to college to get away from her as much as to get away from my dad.”
“I had no idea.”
“It doesn’t matter. I just didn’t know why you chose her, and I’ve always wondered, but now I know.”
I swallow hard and look away, but suddenly, his fingers are on my chin, making me look at him.
His brown eyes narrow.
“One time”—I just can’t stop talking when he makes me nervous—“she was looking over my shoulder, and I didn’t know it. I was reading a text from you. I don’t remember what you said, but I must have had a dopey grin on my face or something, and she saw it, and she—”
I bite my lip, not wanting to say more.
“She what?”
I shake my head, but his grip on my chin firms.
“She fucking what, Dani?”
“She laughed at me,” I whisper and let my eyes close. “Said that I was pathetic, that Bridger Blackwell would never like someone as stupid as me, and you were just being nice to me. And we’d already had the conversation where you said I was way too young for you, and we were just friends, and I knew that. I was a kid. But boy, did she drive it home that someone as hot as you would never—”
I shake my head and clear my throat.
“Anyway, it was a long time ago.”
And I feel so stupid. So ashamed. So foolish.
“I probably shouldn’t tell you all this.”
“You should have told me this years ago.”
I shake my head mournfully. I can still hear my father’s words. Even after so much work with my psychologist, some of his words still creep in. “You’re worthless. You’re nothing. No one gives a shit about you.”
“I had no self-esteem, Bridger. I had no confidence in myself, and I believed her. Of course, you wouldn’t like me back. I was just…me.”
“I did like you.” His voice is still quiet, and my eyes fly to his. Tense. He seems so tense, and it’s scary how handsome he looks, even when he’s broody. “Why do you think that, even though I knew you were too young for me, and if I started something with you I could get into a lot of trouble, I still talked to you?”
He was interested. In me?
“Oh, that’s really sad.” It’s the only thing I can think to say, because it’s the absolute truth. “But then I left. And you met her, and she got pregnant.”
“Yeah, she did, and I knew right away that she was absolutely not the woman I’d want to spend my life with, but she was pregnant, and we did the right thing. Almost immediately after Birdie was born, she started staying out all night, shut me down completely, and hardly paid Birdie any attention. I’ve pretty much been a single father since day one.”
“That really sucks.”
He pulls in a deep breath.
“I’m sorry, Dani. For all of it.” His voice is so quiet, and his words are a balm to my heart that I didn’t know I needed.
I rest my palms on the concrete, grounding myself, and stare up at the stars. “Me, too. I’m glad she’s gone from your life, and I won’t apologize for that. She was horrible, and she would have been a really crappy mom, and Birdie deserves so much more than that.”
“I know.” He turns onto his side, facing me, and links his other hand with mine, lacing our fingers, and now my heart speeds up all over again. “She gave up her rights, and we haven’t heard from her since the day she left. That doesn’t mean she hasn’t come to town; we just don’t hear from her.”
I give his fingers a squeeze. “Birdie’s amazing, you know.”
“I know.” I’m still not facing him, and I don’t look his way because now I’m out of my element, and I don’t know what to do. “Look at me.”
“I’d rather not.”
“Why?”
“Because.”
He chuckles and squeezes my hand. “Because why?”
I press my lips together. Finally, I turn my head and meet his gaze.
“I feel like a piece of shit.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Bridger. Do you still want me to have Birdie’s class changed?”