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)
Ripping the door open, I groaned when I saw Angie standing there.
“For fuck’s sake, Angie, why are you pounding on my front door?”
“Because you’ve been holed up in this apartment for a week now, Wes. Finn called me and said he’s worried. You haven’t even been to work. What in the hell is going on?”
Turning, I walked to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and grabbed a beer.
“Why don’t you go take a shower, change into some clothes, and let’s go get something to eat. You look like you haven’t had a decent meal in days. Have you lost weight?”
“Leave me alone, Angie.”
I dropped onto the sofa and unmuted the TV. Angie walked up next to me and laughed.
“You’re watching the Hallmark Channel? Holy shit, it’s worse than Finn thought,” she said as she picked up the remote and muted the show. “What happened, Wes?”
I took a long drink of my beer, set it on the table, and looked directly at my younger sister. “What happened?”
“Yes, what happened? And I should go ahead and warn you, Mom said she is going to come over if you don’t answer her phone calls soon.”
My hand scrubbed down my face as I cursed.
“Exactly. Let’s get it all out in the open so your baby sister can help you fix it. I’m going to assume you fucked up with Clare. Rory said Clare has been avoiding her like the plague.”
“She doesn’t want to risk seeing me. She won’t take any of my phone calls, won’t answer my texts, and I even tried to go to her job, and the fucking security guys wouldn’t even let me past the lobby.”
I looked at Angie “Did you know Clare worked for the Boston Red Sox?”
She nodded. “I did know that.”
Frowning, I said, “I didn’t for the past year. I never took the fucking time to get to know her in the right way.”
Angie moved the beer out of the way and sat on the coffee table. “So, you and Clare were an item? Rory said you were pretend dating to make Mandy jealous. My biggest question is, why in the hell would you ever want that woman back? None of us could stand her, Wes. She treated you like shit, broke your heart, and then used you.”
I blew out a frustrated breath. “I don’t know, Angie. I was confused. I think a part of me never wanted her back, but maybe I wanted her to want me so I could push her away like she did me. I don’t know. All I know is what started out as fake dating turned to me wanting to spend my time with Clare. Her smile and her laughter make me feel all fucking warm inside. I like talking to her, being with her. I was going to tell her that morning that I didn’t want to try and win Mandy back. That I wanted to date her. For real. I was going to tell her I wanted her. Then Mandy showed up and started talking about wanting me back. Clare went into my bedroom, but I know she heard all the things Mandy was saying. She insulted Clare.”
Autumn sat up straight. “How?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, said some bullshit about how Clare wasn’t good enough for me or something like that. Then Mandy threw herself at me and kissed me. Clare saw the kiss and assumed it was two-sided. I tried to go after her, but she was so angry she wouldn’t listen. Then she told me she wanted me to leave her alone.”
My sister’s mouth dropped open. “And you did?”
“No! I called her every day. Even when I knew she was dealing with her parents, I called her when I woke up, at lunchtime, dinner, before I went to bed. I texted her. Nothing. She doesn’t want to see or talk to me.”
Angie hit me on the side of the head.
“What the fuck, Angie! Why did you hit me?”
“Because you’re an idiot, Wes! Obviously. Do you have feelings for Mandy?”
“No, and I told her as much. After Clare left, I came back and told Mandy she needed to leave, that I didn’t have any feelings for her and never would. That it was Clare I wanted, not her. And to enjoy her life with Ron and her jazz music.”
“Okay, well, at least you took care of that problem. Now we have to get you and Clare together.”
“How? I already told you, she won’t talk to me.”
Angie stood and started to pace back and forth. “We need a plan.”
“No, I’m done with plans.”
“Not a deceiving kind of plan. One that gets you talking to Clare. You need to sit down and tell her how you feel, Wes.”
She paused and tilted her head as she regarded me. “How do you feel? I mean, you said you want her, but is it more than sexual?”