Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
(Cut to photo of fifteen-year-old me with my dad, his arm around my shoulders, a wide grin on his face.)
SPORTSCASTER VOICEOVER: They were close. It had to be hard on Shaw when his father died. I always wondered if that was what caused the problem, even though it happened several years earlier. I don’t know, I guess we were all just searching for any reason this guy lost his arm.
FORMER MINOR LEAGUE COACH: I thought maybe he had a blister. I hoped he did. A blister would heal. (A heavy sigh. A shake of his head.) But he didn’t. Poor bastard.
Angry, I switched the TV off, hurled the remote to the floor, and crossed my arms over my bare chest. If I heard one more person refer to me as that poor bastard, I was going to put my fucking fist through the wall.
I sat there scowling in the dark for a while, long enough for the thumping in the next room to start up again, as if to remind me that not only was I a washed-up has-been, I was a washed-up has-been who wasn’t having sex. Either way, more sleep was not happening.
Tossing the finger at the couple on the other side of the wall, I got out of bed. After throwing on some sweats, I yanked a ball cap onto my head, grabbed my wallet and keys, and stormed out of the room, letting the door slam shut behind me.
I did seven miles on the high school track. I dropped to the ground for push-ups, crunches, mountain climbers, planks. I ran the bleachers.
When I’d first arrived, it had been dark and cool, but now the sun was rising and the air had lost its chill—I was sweating hard, and it felt good to distract myself with physical exertion, to take out all my pent-up aggression on my muscles. But eventually my stomach started to growl, and I decided to call it quits. Maybe there was a diner open early, and I could sit unnoticed and grab some breakfast before cleaning up and heading out for that haircut my sister wanted me to get. Surely there was a barber somewhere in town who wouldn’t recognize me, right? I was jogging down from the stands, thinking maybe I’d have to drive a couple towns over, when I saw that I wasn’t alone.
A woman was power walking around the track. She wore black leggings and a white zip-up jacket, sunglasses and a ponytail. Her hair was long and reddish-brown, swinging from side to side as she moved. It reminded me of—
Wait a minute.
I stopped and stared as she looped around the near end of the track and started walking toward me—and that’s when I knew.
“April!” I shouted.
She looked up at me and stumbled a second later, going down hard on her hands and knees.
I jumped to the ground and sprinted toward her, reaching her side just as she was getting to her feet again.
“Hey,” I said, taking her by the elbow to help her up. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Just embarrassed.” She adjusted her sunglasses and looked up at me. “Tyler?”
I nodded, letting go of her arm.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m in town for Sadie’s wedding.” My heart was thumping uncomfortably hard in my chest—I’d yelled her name without being prepared to actually come face to face with her.
“Oh. Right.” She shook her head. “I knew that.”
I couldn’t read her expression. Christ, this was awkward.
“Well . . .” April fidgeted for a second or two, then surprised me by laughing. “This really is not how I thought this reunion would go.”
The sound of her laughter took me back to a different time. I relaxed slightly, widening my stance and folding my arms over my chest. I wished my shirt wasn’t so sweaty. “No?”
“No,” she said. “I thought it would be at Sadie’s wedding. I had planned to wash my hair, put on a dress or at least some real pants, maybe wear lipstick. At the very least, I was going to remain upright.”
I grinned. “I’m sorry if I scared you. You’re sure you’re all right?”
“I’m fine. A little startled was all.” Then she opened her arms and gave me a smile, the one with the dimples that rolled time back even further. “So . . . hi.”
At first I was too shocked to react, but eventually I recovered my senses enough to put my arms around her. “Hi.”
She had to rise up on her toes to embrace me—I was a full foot taller than she was—and I leaned forward at the waist so she wouldn’t be pressed against my damp shirt, but damn, it felt good. So good I didn’t want to let her go right away. She even smelled nice—not exactly the same as she used to, but it reminded me of something warm and sweet, and it made me even hungrier. I allowed myself to hold her for a moment before stepping back.