Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 113934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
“I mean, not on a date…just as friends. I’ll follow you there in your car. You don’t have to ride with me or anything.”
He knows everything. Oh God, he knows everything.
I wanted to crawl in a hole and die. My brain clearly wasn’t thinking tonight. Before I knew it, I was agreeing to meet him at the coffee shop even though I hated the fact that he knew everything about what had happened with Charlie.
As we walked out of the pizza shop, I noticed strangers staring at us. I looked around and saw two girls walking into the pizza shop whispering something to one another as one glared at me like I was a piece of trash.
“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” I said once we got outside.
“Skylar, you can’t let what other people say about you run your life. Please come have coffee with me. Please.”
I chewed on the corner of my lip as I glanced back at the two girls.
“Don’t let their stupid, petty jealous ways keep you from one delicious cup of coffee.”
I smiled as I nodded my head. “I’ll meet you there in five minutes.”
Wyatt fist-pumped as he took a few steps back. “I’ll see you there, angel.”
Once I was in my car, I called my mom. “Hey, Mom. Um…is it okay if I meet a friend for coffee for just a bit?”
Silence.
“Mom?”
“A friend? A girl friend or a guy friend?”
I sucked in a deep breath of air and slowly let it out. “A guy, Mom, but he’s new. He’s offering to help me in calculus, so it’s nothing. Besides, Jenny has her sights on him.”
My mother laughed. “Well, it’s nice of him to ask you and to offer to help.”
I heard the excitement in her voice.
My parents knew I was teased at school, but I never let them know the full scope of how bad it really was. They would be filled with guilt if they knew they’d been forcing me to stay at a school where I was treated like a common whore. I’d made Mitch swear that he wouldn’t tell them. My father had had a heart attack not long after he’d found out I was raped, so he didn’t need the added stress, and neither did my mother.
As I pulled up and parked at the coffee shop, I looked into the window. Wyatt was already there, and the waitress was flirting with him.
I leaned my head on the steering wheel. “What in the hell am I doing?”
I looked back up and stared at him. He was breathtaking with his dark brown hair and the greenest of green eyes. He had the kind of hair that Michelle called just-fucked hair—all messy but hot as hell. If I had to guess, I would say he was about five feet ten inches. He was built, really built—more so than Skip. I’d overheard him asking Mitch if he wanted to work out before school. I could only imagine what his body looked like underneath his clothes.
He looked out the window and saw me sitting in my car. He frowned for just a second before smiling and waving for me to come in.
Pulling in a deep breath, I reached over and grabbed my purse. “Here we go. Let’s see how this turns out.”
CHAPTER SIX
* * *
Wyatt
THE DOOR TO the coffee shopped opened, and Skylar walked in. She seemed really nervous, and I wasn’t sure if it was just from meeting me or from the idea of what people might think of us sitting and having coffee together. I couldn’t care less what people thought, and I needed to make her feel the same.
With an adorable smile, Skylar slid into the booth. I’d never in my life met anyone like her. She was beautiful and funny, and she had the most positive outlook on life, even after everything she’d been through.
“For a second, I thought you were going to drive off and stand me up.”
Scrunching up her nose, she giggled and said, “No. Sorry, it’s just been so long since I’ve had any kind of normal.”
I frowned at that thought.
The waitress walked up and asked for Skylar’s order. “It’s really good to see you in here, Sky. It’s been a long time.”
Skylar smiled, but I could see the shock on her face. It was as if she was used to people treating her as an outcast.
“So, what are your dreams after high school?” I asked Skylar after the waitress left.
She smiled. “To leave Marble Falls…and never look back. I’d like to go to Baylor University and get my degree in history. I love history.”
“Teacher?”
“Nah, probably law.” She slowly looked away.
“Why law?”
Her head snapped over as she looked at me with probing eyes. “How much do you know about the whole Charlie incident?”
With a shrug of my shoulders, I took a sip of my coffee. “I know that some people are eager to talk shit about what happened. Some tell the story, but I can see in their eyes that they know what they are spitting out is bullshit.”