Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 60940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
He didn’t answer me with words. Only his eyes talked to me. His stare held mine, and I noticed a slight headshake with an internal battle suddenly clear across his face.
Needing to have him hear it, I vowed, “I’ll always be here for you.”
That was enough to break his silence.
In one rigid breath, he ordered, “Go home, Hazel. You need to go back home.”
My eyebrows pinched together, caught off guard. “I am home.”
“No.” He backed away from me. “You’re not. Your home isn’t here anymore. Not in this town. Not in this bedroom with me.”
I stepped back, needing more space between us. “Why are you saying this?”
He didn’t hesitate in repeating, “Go home, Hazel. Go home to your New York. That’s your home now. Stop worrying about me. I’m not your concern, and I never was. I don’t need you here for me, so go home.”
I sucked in a deep breath, trying to steady my mind.
My heart.
My emotions.
I wanted to fight with him. I wanted to tell him that it wasn’t true. That this would always be my home. I knew he was just mourning and needed someone to take his anger out on, which caused a domino effect of my love and hate for him.
For what he did and didn’t do.
For what he said and didn’t say.
For how he made me feel like I was nothing more than an acquaintance. Nothing more than a stranger.
Instead of his close friend.
“Please don’t do this,” I shamelessly begged, fearing that it truly was the end of us. “I know you’re in unimaginable pain, but pushing me away won’t change how you feel.” I paused, allowing my words to sink in. “I could take time off school and move back to town to help you through this. Please…” I caressed the side of his face. “Just let me in. I lov—”
“Hey, babe.” A brunette I’d never seen before walked into his bedroom, making the space seem much smaller than a second ago.
“There you are,” she exclaimed, standing beside him and wrapping her arm around his. “I’ve been looking all over for you. This house is so big. There are so many rooms, and I didn’t know which one was yours.” Her stare went back and forth between us before it landed on him. “Who’s this?”
I answered, “I’m Hazel.” Waiting for her recollection of who I was to him.
Nothing.
Not an ounce of what I was hoping for.
He never talks about me?
In a moment’s notice, Ledger spewed, “She’s just Chance’s sister.”
I wanted to yell at him.
Hurt him as much as he’d hurt me.
With my words.
My actions.
With everything inside me.
I didn’t do any of those things. I just stood there like a deer in headlights, suffocating in the reality that we’d never make it back to a place where we were close friends again.
He didn’t want me in his life, and that was the hardest pill to swallow.
“Oh!” She extended her hand for me to shake. “I’m Valerie, Ledger’s girlfriend.”
I shook it, trying to hide the shock of her announcement.
He’d never had a girlfriend before.
Not once.
I swallowed hard, feeling the weight of her statement. I couldn’t believe it. He’d finally settled down with someone. And of course, she was gorgeous, completely his type.
“Do you want to—”
“Valerie.” He interrupted her. “Hazel was just leaving.”
Fucking asshole.
I couldn’t bring myself to say it, so I just turned around…
And flew home to New York City.
Six
Ledger
Now: Ten years later
By the time I made it to the bar in downtown New York City, it was after eleven. The place was packed to the brim with people. I was only in town for the night, meeting with some potential meat buyers for our ranch. My father was near retirement. Soon, he’d hand everything down to me.
I was exhausted. Spending the entire day talking about one thing or another with clients was never my strong suit. I didn’t care much for people. The ranch consumed my life. Always had. Except now, I’d be the boss, and I had no fucking problem with that. If anything, I couldn’t wait to be in charge.
That was why I lined up buyers in the first place. I hated the bullshit of having to play nice to win people over, but it came with the territory. My routine was the same every day. I was up by four o’clock every morning and home way after dark every night.
Day in and day out, my time was spent on the ranch.
Nodding to the bartender, I ordered a beer and sat down on the barstool, trying to unwind from the day’s busy events before returning to my hotel room.
A woman sat down beside me, greeting, “Hey there, cowboy.” She tapped my cowboy hat. “You in the wrong city?”
I grinned, swigging a pull off my beer.
“A man of few words, I see.”
“Something like that.”