Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
I unwrapped two strips and shoved them into my mouth, and I peered out the window again in hopes of concealing my incessant chewing.
Reese and Macklin chatted about the week we had ahead of us.
My reaction wasn’t weird, I told myself. Anybody would’ve felt the same way. Nerves tightening their gut, heart pounding, cold sweat.
Spearmint flooded my taste buds, and I chewed faster.
If things got worse, I would take my meds.
Only Corey had witnessed my meltdown when I’d realized I was into men. Ty sure as hell hadn’t. To him, I was just the tool who’d dumped his daughter after two weeks of dating. I mean, I assumed he thought I’d been an idiot for hurting Marina. That was how dads functioned. Right?
I hadn’t wanted to hurt her. That was why I’d ended things as soon as I’d realized I couldn’t be what she wanted in a boyfriend—and she couldn’t be what I wanted. And I hadn’t broken up with her in a douchebag way or anything. I’d taken her home after school one day, and I’d told her face-to-face that I couldn’t be in a relationship. I’d apologized for doing a 180 on her.
Months later, when I’d come out to enough people that the news reached her, she’d obviously understood that it wasn’t just her I couldn’t be in a relationship with, but all girls.
By the time we reached the road leading to the island where Ty lived, I’d managed to compose myself somewhat. I kept a lid on the chaos that had my heart beating faster. My mind was calmer; I was resigned to just make the best of the situation, but I was nervous as fuck. The patty melt didn’t sit right anymore, and I needed to go to the bathroom.
“Isn’t the road awfully close to the water?” Macklin asked.
I cleared my throat and threw a glance at said road. We had water on both sides, maybe two feet below the road’s surface.
Reese smiled a little. “Shay made the same comment earlier. He was downright horrified about the lack of drainage ditches too—or whatever term he used.”
For some reason, that made Macklin smile as well. “Maybe a week down here in the Ten Thousand Islands will inspire him to go back to school.” He glanced at me next. “Shay wants to be a coastal engineer.”
“Ah.” I nodded once. Fucking engineers all over the place.
After a while, it seemed we found civilization again. I spotted a marina farther away, and the untamed mangrove forest and grassland turned into manicured lawns and neat rows of palm trees.
A marble dolphin statue with a great sign greeted us to “The Mallow Vista” as the residential neighborhoods took over. I saw a few signs for a town center, the marina, and scenic points too. Not to mention the senior citizens riding golf carts…
Welcome to Florida.
When Reese eventually said we were almost there, we’d reached the water on the other side of the island. I literally saw the water between the houses we passed; the people who lived here didn’t have backyards. They had front yards and the ocean. They had what I guesstimated was about a six-foot-wide deck that separated them from hurricanes.
“This might sound insensitive, but why do Floridians keep building houses right on the water?” I had to ask. “Have they learned nothing?”
“Probably not.” Macklin chuckled and scratched his nose.
“It’s a valid question, but they’re pretty protected here,” Reese said. “Wait till you see the back of Ty’s house. Mangrove islands all over the place. Plus, the water’s shallow.”
Still. That may keep the stormy seas at bay, but we’d driven past a few signs about who you gonna call during a flood. It wasn’t Ghostbusters.
“All right, this is it.” Reese drove around the cul-de-sac at the end of the road before he stopped outside the third house on this side.
A freaking golf cart was parked next to a truck in the driveway.
My nervousness made a swift return and tightened around my stomach.
I was seconds away from possibly running into my past.
No breath was deep enough to alleviate the anxiety.
We all got out of the truck, and the Florida heat wrapped itself around me like a suffocating blanket.
Deep breaths.
For the love of all that was holy, I needed this Ty to be someone else. But the coincidences were just too much. Too many. There was his sexuality too. Marina’s dad was primarily into men. As both Corey and Marina had informed me back then.
“You okay, hon?”
I found Mack watching me as I shouldered my backpack, and I nodded with a dip of my chin.
“A little tired, I guess,” I lied.
So much for being the boyfriend of the year.
“Maybe we can get some rest once we’re settled,” he said.
Maybe.
“The bedrooms are taken by us older folks,” Reese told us. “You kids will sleep on Ty’s boat. Where nobody can hear you go at it all night.”