Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
I grimaced at the endearment. He couldn’t have made it sound more awkward if he tried.
Once nearly everyone was out of the kitchen, Wes turned back to me and smiled softly, and I could see it on his face. He was sorry we had gotten caught, but I wasn’t so sure he was sorry about the kiss.
Once he walked out, I dropped down onto the stool, and closed my eyes.
Picking up the fork Wes had placed in the cheesecake, I picked it up and took a huge piece of the cheesecake. Shoving it into my mouth, I slowly chewed until the taste of Wes Ward was finally out of my mouth.
My head then dropped to the table. “What have you gotten yourself into, Clare?”
Wes
Strangely Enough, No Regrets
The second I walked out of the kitchen, Finn grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “What is going on?”
“With?”
Narrowing his eyes, he looked past me to the retreating women. “Clare? What the fuck are you doing, Wes? And don’t tell me you’re dating her because you like her. A couple months ago you could hardly stand to be in the same room with her.”
“That’s not true.”
He stared at me. “Really? The bickering?”
I shrugged.
“And what about Mandy?”
Clearing the instant frog in my throat, I asked, “What do you mean?”
“Look me in the eyes and tell me you’re over her, Wes.”
When I looked everywhere but at my brother, he cursed under his breath. I wasn’t sure how to answer him. I was confused, and even more so before the kiss in the kitchen. I knew one thing: I didn’t regret kissing Clare.
Finn growled under his breath. “If you’re only dating Clare to make Mindy jealous, and you end up hurting Rory’s best friend, I’m going to have to kill you.”
I laughed. “I think you’re overreacting a tad bit, don’t you, Finn?”
He lowered his voice. “Tell me you’re not using Clare in some weird ass way to win Mindy back or make her jealous.”
I swallowed hard. “It’s not what you think, Finn.”
Finn dropped his head back. “Jesus. What the fuck, Wes. I’ll tell you what I’m thinking. My brother is wanting to get back with his ex, who is getting married, by using his sister-in-law’s best friend to make said ex jealous. Clare is going to be devastated when the truth comes out, which means Rory is going to be pissed, and do you know who is going to get shit about this? Me!”
I rolled my eyes and started to walk into the dining room where everyone was gathering around. “Wes.”
Spinning back around, I glared at my brother. “Drop it, will you, Finn? Clare isn’t going to get hurt because she already knows I want Mandy back.”
A look of horror and confusion washed over his face. “Wh-what?”
“Can we talk about this later, please?” I asked in a hushed voice.
“What do you mean, Claire knows?”
Sighing, I turned and faced my brother. “Clare has agreed to help me make Mandy jealous.”
His eyes went wide. “What? Then what the hell was going on with that kiss? Was it a practice round because it sure didn’t look like you were fake kissing.”
Winking at my younger brother, I said, “Please, Finn. The kiss didn’t mean anything. Just playing a role.”
One of his eyes narrowed. “For whom, though? You were both alone in the kitchen?”
I saw Clare coming out of the kitchen and turned away from my brother and focused on my parents who were standing at the table, a knife in my father’s hand ready to cut the dessert. When he sliced into the cake, everyone cheered, and I took that moment to glance over to Clare. She was smiling as she watched my parents, and I couldn’t help but notice the room seemed to be a bit brighter since she walked in. Or how my palms suddenly felt sweaty, and all I wanted to do was be back in the kitchen with my mouth covering Clare’s.
The lie I told Finn only moments ago felt like lead on my tongue. The kiss had meant something, I just wasn’t sure what.
I shook away the feelings and fought the urge to rub at my temples to ease the sudden headache starting to come on.
Clare quickly jumped into action and started to cut pieces of the cake for everyone, insisting that Harmony and Rory go relax and enjoy the cake with our parents. Once everyone had gotten a piece, I made my way up and took one of the plates that had a cut piece of cake on it.
Doing her best to ignore me, Clare kept a smile on her face as she nodded her head in agreement to whatever the older woman standing next to her was saying.
“Clare, we need to talk.”
With the smile still plastered on her face, she shook her head. “Not here. We can talk later.”