Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 106159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“If I can get over insensitive words and basic contact, so the hell can you.” Taylor digs through my closet for barely a second before tossing a sequined minidress onto my now-stripped bed. “Put that on, then meet me in the bathroom. Raccoon eyes went out of fashion over a decade ago.”
“Woman crushes on real-life people are legit, right?” Maria asks, her voice as erratic as the rise and fall of her chest. “They don’t have to be on celebrities. If so, I have a total lady boner for Taylor right now. She’s been on fire today.”
Her cocked brow drops back to above her eye when I ask, “What did I miss?”
“Nothing.”
Maria is a shit liar.
“Maria…”
After checking with Millie that it’s okay to spill the beans, and getting a halfhearted shrug as an answer, she plops her backside onto my bed. “When I arrived this afternoon, Saka was here. Things seemed heated.”
“Sexually heated?” I ask, hopeful.
She slaps my arm as if she’s a devoted Christian. “No, silly. Heated as in angry.” She nudges her head to the bathroom door just outside my room. “I think that’s why she agreed to come out tonight. She has some steam to let go of.”
Hating that I’ve been so caught up in my woes that I left my friend without a shoulder to cry on, I scoot out of bed, then rush into the bathroom.
The vanity is covered with every item in Taylor’s makeup kit, including the lipstick she only wears when she wants to be fucked.
Her eyes meet mine in the vanity mirror when I ask, “Are you okay?”
She issues me a fake smile. “Perfectly fine.”
“And as bad of a liar as Maria.”
She rolls her eyes before dragging me into the bathroom and plonking my backside onto the edge of the tub. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
She appears as if she wants to stab me in the eye with her eyeliner pen when I ask, “Because it hurts to think about, much less discuss?”
“Because I’m over talking. Words don’t fix shit.”
The groove between her brows softens when I say, “But they can sometimes lessen the pain.” When she remains quiet, I plea, “Talk to me, Tay. I’ve never seen you so quiet.”
It takes her attacking me with makeup for over five minutes before she finally cracks. “He won’t admit his mistakes.” I won’t need blush for how hard she blends in my foundation. “He’s adamant that he didn’t install the cameras in my room and that I’m acting like a two-year-old for not believing him.” My heart breaks for her when she murmurs, “I told him to go home. That there’s nothing left for him in Kronstadt anymore.” After throwing down the blending brush, she sucks in a big breath. “Alexa announced a flight had been added to his schedule an hour ago. He leaves tomorrow morning.”
My heartache for both of us is heard in my words. “So is the fuck-me-lipstick for him or to get over him?”
Her lower lip drops into a pout. “Will you call me a whore if I say I don’t know?”
“No. Not at all. I save those comments for real whores.” That gets a laugh out of her. It isn’t genuine, but it’s better than no response. “But I think you should take a moment to work out if you’re acting on impulses or fear.”
I cuss her big brain to hell when she murmurs, “Are you really giving me the advice I gave you only nights ago?”
“It was good advice.”
She laughs again. This time it’s closer to real. “It was, but I prefer giving it than receiving it.”
I roll my eyes and say with a scoff, “Don’t we all?”
After adding some sparkle to my cheeks and nose, she says, “I still want to come out with you tonight. I’ve missed our girls-only nights.”
“I have too, but let’s pinkie promise that the only people we go home with are each other. No men.”
Nodding, she curls her finger around mine before pledging, “No men.”
“You guys are insane. I can’t go in there.” I step back until I crash into Taylor, who stands three to four inches taller than me even without heels.
“We chose this place for a reason,” Taylor assures me before she uses her ample chest to push me through the doors of Tappers.
“To taunt me. That is the only reason we could possibly be here.” I choke on my last word when the crowd parts enough for me to spot who’s operating the bar.
Tyler is back.
What the hell? “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
Millie lifts a sulky shoulder like she is as lost as me before trying to ease my confusion. “He turned up earlier today. He looked a little rattled and has a nasty black eye, but he’s alive, which is more than most people anticipated.”
I project my voice over the ruckus of the crowd to ensure she can hear me. “Has he said where he’s been?”