Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 81520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
As everyone raises their glasses, I notice my mom is smirking, her gaze darting back and forth between Camden and me. Dammit. She totally knows.
“So I heard you’re taking dance lessons?” Camden asks Felix, coming over and sitting next to him. Lunch is over, and everyone is relaxing before dessert since we all just pigged out on way too much food.
Felix looks up from his iPad, where he’s probably bulldozing some crops or building a house out of blocks. “Yeah,” he says softly. “Mommy signed me up.”
“That’s cool. I took dance lessons when I was younger too.”
Felix’s eyes light up. “You did? Daddy said it’s only for girls, but Mommy and I went there, and the lady said there will be other boys too.”
Camden’s jaw ticks in anger, and I hold my breath, waiting for him to say something rude about David. Instead, he says, “Well, I’m a boy, and I can dance better than a lot of girls. As a matter of fact, I was in a music video once.”
Felix gasps. “Really? Was it Justin Bieber’s?”
Camden laughs. “No, it was my sister Kendall’s, but she’s big like Justin. Want to see the video?”
“Yeah!” Felix yells, practically bouncing in his seat.
Camden hooks his phone up to the television, and a minute later, an older music video of Kendall’s pops up. I smile as we watch it, and Camden points out where he is, remembering this music video like it was yesterday. Camden was a fill-in for a dancer who got food poisoning, and they wanted a certain number of dancers. Since he had taken dance lessons growing up, he had no problem filling in. I spent the day watching the production and fell even more in love with the music industry, cementing that I wanted to do that one day.
“That’s so cool!” Felix says, jumping up at the part when they break into a hip-hop type of dance. “Can you show me how to do that?”
“Sure,” Camden says, standing. He does the move, and Felix watches, his eyes wide with excitement. “Need me to show you again?” Camden asks when he’s done.
“Nope. I got it!” Felix busts into the same moves Camden just did, mimicking move for move. Granted, they’re not as fluid since he’s only four, but he gets every one right. When he finishes, he looks at Camden nervously, waiting for him to tell him how he did.
“Holy shit, little man,” Braxton says from the couch. “You can bust some moves.”
“Yeah, you can,” Camden adds, raising his hand for a high five.
With the biggest grin on his face, Felix slaps his hand, soaking up the praise.
“Maybe one day you’ll be dancing in a music video,” Camden says.
“Yeah,” Felix says. “And my mommy is going to make it.”
Camden smiles at me. “I have no doubt, bud. And I bet it will be one awesome video.”
“What’s with the frown?” Mom asks, coming up behind me. I was in the kitchen helping with the dessert dishes, but when my phone went off with a text from David, letting me know he’s running late, I excused myself outside to call him. Of course, he didn’t answer. Instead, he texted me that he had to run into the office for an emergency.
“David won’t be picking up Felix until later.” I glance up and force a smile. “I think we’re going to head home. I’m pretty sure more cake ended up on Felix’s clothes than in his mouth.”
Mom nods. “I know this is hard on you, but you’re handling it all very well. I’m proud of you.”
“Yeah?” I laugh humorlessly. “Because it feels like my entire life has completely spun out of control.”
“Oh, Layla…” Mom sits next to me and pats my thigh. “It’s just a bad moment. It will pass.”
“A bad moment?” I scoff. “It feels like a bad life.” I lay my head on her shoulder, and she wraps her arms around me.
“Not all bad,” she says. “I saw the way Camden has been looking at you all day. That boy always had a crush on you.”
“Of course you knew,” I mutter. “Because apparently everyone knew but me.”
Mom chuckles. “Any chance of something happening between you two?”
“I don’t know. He wants there to be, but…” I close my eyes and release a harsh breath. “I feel broken. I know I shouldn’t. I know what David did to me wasn’t my fault, and it’s on him. He allowed his anger and jealousy to steer his decisions. I know… I know I didn’t do anything wrong… at least not that warranted to be raped.”
“But?” she prompts.
“But setting the rape aside, he’s been cheating on me with his assistant for God knows how long.” She knew about David raping me, but I haven’t told her about him cheating. “And it wasn’t the first time. I don’t even care that he cheated. We’re over, and after what he did, I lost every ounce of love and respect I had for him. It’s just… I can’t help but wonder if it’s me. I keep thinking, why wasn’t I enough? Am I not pretty enough? Sexy enough? Am I not good enough in bed?” I choke out, a ball of emotion clogging my throat.