Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 131789 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131789 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
This girl knows how to lay it on thick. The way she describes Fenn, I feel like I kicked a puppy.
If I’m honest, I do get where he’s coming from. I never thought I was missing out not having any family to speak of beyond my mom. I wasn’t lonely in the slightest. Figured that was a character weakness I’d taught myself to overcome. Then he smothered me with friendship and a little of it rubbed off. More than I’ve been willing to admit to myself.
“Just give it some thought. You can’t forgive one without the other,” she points out with a tiny smirk.
“Who says I’m forgiving either of them?” I challenge.
“Come on, RJ. At least give them another chance to apologize. Especially my sister. She has real feelings for you, and that’s huge. I don’t know what she tells you, but I’ve never seen her be all giddy about a guy. She doesn’t do the cutesy hearts and butterflies stuff.”
That makes me smile. Yeah. Sloane’s always been a tough one to read. Playing her cards close because God forbid anyone get a hint of genuine emotion out of her. A team of archeologists could excavate miles of sarcasm and never hit bedrock.
“I don’t think either of us were pretending,” I admit.
“So then you know she cares.” Casey shrugs. “We don’t know each other, I get that. So I can’t give you many reasons to listen to me. Except for this: if any part of you would rather be talking to her right now, you should be. That feeling’s only going to get stronger. Don’t let it be too late when it does.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. Everything she’d just said, a voice had already been shouting in my head for days. Telling me to call her. To swallow my pride and accept her apology. To offer an apology in return for the way I’d spoken to her.
I’d spent as many hours convincing myself that apologizing meant admitting defeat. But who the hell cares about defeat if I’m the only one in the fight? What’s the use in being right and alone? Like good job, you showed them, sitting by yourself in the dark while everyone else has moved on with their lives. What’s more pitiful than being the last one who even remembers what the feud was about?
I lean in and give Casey a kiss on the cheek, which she bashfully accepts with a laugh. “You’re a good person,” I tell her sincerely. “Do yourself a favor and stay far away from assholes like me.”
“If you’re wondering,” she says over her shoulder as the dogs coax her home, “Sloane’s on the track.”
Chapter 51
Sloane
In nearly all other aspects of my life, repetition gives me a migraine. I never had the patience for piano lessons or French class. I grind my teeth when Dad wants to subject us to the same Christmas movies we’ve endured countless times.
Except running. On the track, the endless loops are like meditation. White noise. The way babies fall asleep in a car. When I run, I set my brain to autopilot and practically fall asleep to the gentle repetition of my shoes slapping the rubberized surface.
So there’s no telling how long he’s been there when I pull up on my final lap at the sight of a mirage waiting on the bleachers. I’m not out of breath until I stop running. Then it’s like my lungs are collapsing and I can’t get a clear answer from my brain whether I should entertain this intrusion or ignore him entirely.
Curiosity wins out.
“What are you doing here?” I ask RJ, forcing myself not to get my hopes up. For all I know, he’s here to yell at me again.
“There’s one thing I need to know,” RJ says with his elbows propped on his knees. “Did you use protection?”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I’m already starting to walk away.
“I am, yeah.” He smiles to himself. “I needed an icebreaker and that’s the best I could come up with on the walk over here.”
“You know, you’re not a tenth as funny as you think you are.”
His lips are still twitching. “Even so. Still pretty funny.”
Insufferable, more like it. But I can’t deny my pulse is racing at the sight of him.
“If that’s all…”
“No, it isn’t. Hey.” He hops down the bleachers, chasing me down the length of the fence. “Your sister basically cornered me and said I better come talk to you or else. She had a brute squad with her. And some guy with an eyepatch? It was intense.”
Casey. Of course. My sister can never leave well enough alone.
I cross my arms and pin him with an icy look. “Get on with it, then. Talk. Or are you still unsubscribed?”
He has the decency to appear repentant. “Yeah…that text might have been out of line.”