Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 153268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 766(@200wpm)___ 613(@250wpm)___ 511(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 153268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 766(@200wpm)___ 613(@250wpm)___ 511(@300wpm)
So much for giving me a break because I’m newly fatherless.
I turned around, coming face-to-face with my former best friend.
Her face alone made me want to cry again. She was so…Dylan. Her skin smooth to the point she looked like an AI figure. Every feature perfectly proportioned and Apollo-like. With a wide, dimpled Julia Roberts smile and the long, spidery legs of a runway model. She had that Eva Mendes glow that made her look sexy doing anything, including staring me down like I had just battered a baby panda with its own bamboo stick.
My gut pretzeled into itself a hundred times over.
I missed her.
I missed her, and I still wanted her forgiveness. Her love, acceptance, and quirky jokes.
“Not a problem. Mistakes happen.” My eyes twitched four, five, six times. Not even ten seconds had passed, and I already had a tic. I extended a hand for her to shake. “Thank you for coming.”
Row was standing next to her, but I had yet to muster up the courage to look directly at him. Dylan rolled her eyes, not taking my hand. “Ugh.” She looked disgusted with herself for even looking at me. “Come here, you annoying…piece…of…Cal.”
Using my outstretched hand, she tugged me forward. I crashed against her belly. She gave me a crush-your-bones hug full of reassurance. It felt like she’d put an oxygen mask to my face, breathing life into me.
“I’m still mad, but I’m also in pieces for you,” she mumbled into my hair, stroking it softly, the touch achingly familiar and comforting. “Artem was our bestie. Remember when he let us practice our makeup skills on him?”
“Yes,” I choked out, the memories flooding me like a river. “We weren’t even that young anymore. Thirteen, right? Totally past the cute stage.”
“The man could rock a blue winged eyeliner like nobody’s business.”
“So true.” My chin wobbled. “It really made his eyes pop.”
The waterworks officially began. I’m talking Bellagio fountain show. My eyeballs were leaking as she rubbed circles on my back. She smelled like old Dylan: Libre by YSL, bubblegum, and that scent that always lingered at the Casablancas’ household of hearty Italian food.
“Dylan,” I gasped, melting into her hug, breaking into a million pieces and knowing somehow, she’d hold me together. “It hurts so bad.”
“I know.” She kissed my ear, wet with salty tears. “I lost my dad three years ago.”
Doug Casablancas had died? And I hadn’t been there to comfort her?
I pulled away, wiping my face quickly. “What? I’m so sorry. I had no idea. Mom and Dad…no one said a thing to me. I would’ve dropped everythin—”
“It’s me.” She stepped back, and it seemed like we both sobered up from that hug. “I asked them not to. It fell on your second semester finals.”
“Who cares?” I asked, horrified. “I’d have dropped everything to be there for you. No questions asked.”
“I cared. One of us had to do something productive with her life. Even though…” Her eyes swept over me. “Looks like neither of us did. What happened to your fancy degree?”
Ouch. I chewed my inner cheek. “Working on a game plan right now.”
“You always needed a little push in the right direction.” A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “Admit it, Dot, my pep talks were your fuel.”
“Yeah, well, I was short on those in the past five years.” My nose twitched. There was an awkward pause. My mother drifted to a nearby group of people to give us some privacy.
“Whatever, you know?” Dylan blew out air. “I mean, you were a shitbag for screwing my brother. But…maybe the timing was convenient for me too.”
“How do you mean?” I frowned.
“It was a great excuse to cut ties with you before you cut ties with me.” Dylan stared down at her Adidas Superstars, biting hard on her lower lip. “Once you realized the big city was full of supercool people you could hang out with. I didn’t want to deal with the rejection. Didn’t want to feel like I wasn’t good enough for you anymore.”
She was crazy if she thought anyone I’d met in NYC could rival the awesomeness of her, but I could tell she didn’t want to talk about us. I grabbed her hands. They were limp against my own. It was time to change the subject.
“You’re pregnant!” I announced.
She looked up, her face awash with mockery. “Whoa. What gave it away?”
I chewed on the side of my lip. “Tucker’s?”
She nodded sheepishly before awarding me with her signature eye roll. “It’s lobster season, so he’s away on the boat for three to four weeks. Depending on the catch.”
“Tucker is a fisherman?” My eyebrows jumped to my hairline. I was so far out of the loop.
“Well, NASA reached out for the aerospace surgeon position, but he said the Texas weather didn’t agree with him.” She waved her hand to her face, fighting her pregnancy sweat. Dammit, I’d missed her sense of humor. “I mean, he’s a hunk, but not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. I’m pretty sure half the lobsters he catches are smarter than him.”