Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 93699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 468(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 468(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
He looks as if he’s about to pull me close and kiss me senseless, but a young couple suddenly steps onto the car with us.
Dressed in matching grey fight club gear, their eyes widen at the sight of Travis.
“Oh, my god!” the woman screams. “You’re Travis Carter!”
“The Punisher.” The guy smiles. “Can we get a few photos with you, please? I mean, if it’s okay with your wife.”
“Is it okay with you, Mrs. Carter?” Travis asks.
“Yes…” I can barely hear my own voice as the guy thrusts his cell phone toward me.
I snap a few shots, and then they pepper him with questions as the elevator rises.
While he puts on the perfect performance, the words he uttered moments ago play centerstage in my mind.
“We can easily return to acting like we never knew each other. Again.”
As much as I’ve tried to convince myself that this man hasn’t left an unerasable mark on my heart, the truth is undeniable.
Once upon a time, we were friends to lovers to strangers to…whatever the hell we are now.
Ding!
The car jerks to a halt on the fiftieth floor, and the couple shoots one more smile and a “Thank you” toward Travis before stepping off.
I keep my gaze forward as the doors glide shut, watching Travis stare at me through the mirrored glass.
“Are we going up to my place or down to the garage?” he asks.
I don’t answer.
“Tatiana,” he says, his voice low. “Where are we going?”
“I’m leaving you.”
“Not for the next fifty days.” He narrows his eyes at me. “Until then, up or down?”
“I already took everything I own out of your condo.”
“My staff will happily help you put it back.”
“Okay, look.” I try to keep my voice firm. “I’m saying this in the nicest way possible. I’m not the slightest bit attracted to you anymore, and it pains me to be near you.”
“So if I were to slide my hand under your dress right now, your pussy wouldn’t be wet for me?”
My jaw drops and I immediately look away from him. “We’re going up…”
“I thought so.” He enters the penthouse code, and we ride the rest of the way without saying a word. Without having the conversation we should’ve had on day one of this deal.
Maybe if we’d been honest, I wouldn’t be here, and our secret history would still be a bittersweet memory. We wouldn’t have to lie to everyone in our lives about never knowing each other until recently.
Then again, even if we weren’t locked in this twisted game, there are two facts that make our marriage ten times harder on me.
You see, Travis Carter is not just my fake husband, not just some blast from the past I’ve struggled to forget.
He was my first everything.
And he’s also my best friend’s older brother…
SEVERAL WEEKS AGO
No, wait.
Don’t make me go there right now.
I’m not ready to face this part of the story yet.
SEVERAL *YEARS* AGO
Yes, much better.
Allow me to break down my terrible decisions with this man from here…
ACT ONE
BOY MEETS GIRL
TRAVIS
Back Then
Reno, Nevada
“Ugh! I hate Tatiana Brave,” my younger sister Penelope groans via a rambling voicemail. “I don’t understand why she had to switch from pairs to singles, or why she has it out for me. Call me back when you get this. Stat!”
Beep!
I check the time and weigh my options. She’s left seventeen other voicemails, all within the last hour, and I doubt that any of them are an actual emergency.
I could’ve sworn we just talked about this…
Against my better judgment, I hit play on the next one.
“I had to watch her win last week and listen to everyone talk about how ‘stunningly beautiful’ she is when she’s beyond basic. Her skating is mediocre at best. At. Best.”
Beep!
“Before you say I’m overreacting or emotionally unstable because you abandoned me here in Seattle with your terrible tech-bro of a best friend, she called me an ‘overrated bitch’ when we were in line at—”
I end the message, unable to listen anymore. Then I delete the other ones because I don’t have to hear them to know what they say.
Despite being ranked as the number one figure skater in the world, Penelope always hyper-focuses on her biggest opponent—whoever that may be—for a few weeks at a time. But for some strange reason, this “Tatiana Brave” woman is an entirely different story. She’s lived in Penelope’s head rent-free for almost a year, and I’ve given up on attempting to serve an eviction notice.
As annoying as her messages can be, a part of me is grateful that we’re not holding the phone in silence anymore. That neither of us is struggling to find the right words to fill the gaping hole our parents’ recent death has left.
Memories of their fiery car accident still fill my nightmares whenever I shut my eyes, and I can’t bring myself to forgive the drunk teenager who ravaged our lives in a split second.