Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 124923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
Just as I’m about to walk inside, I spot my dad through the big, glass window. Any hope that he was genuinely interested in having a relationship with me evaporates at the sight of his fiancée and her daughter next to him. He said it would just be the two of us. I watch them from the outside looking in, smiling and conversing like the happy little family that they are. What would it be like to have this version of my dad? And why does his other family get this one?
When the server places their plates in front of them, I huff out a sardonic laugh. They didn’t even wait for me before they ordered. I let my hand fall away from the door and walk right back to my car.
Welp. Can’t say I didn’t try.
I stop short of my bedroom door when I see that it’s slightly ajar. I know I closed it before I left. “Shayne?” I call out. She doesn’t respond, confirming what I already know. She’s not home. She’s been staying with Thayer over the break, and I haven’t seen her since the other morning when she brought me breakfast.
I toe the door open, peeking into my room and immediately feel dumb for being so paranoid. No one’s here. Nothing’s out of place. Tossing my purse onto my bed, I send a text to Shayne to see when she’ll be back before I set my phone on the table next to my bed.
I bend over to pull off my boots, and when I stand up, something shining on my nightstand catches my eye. My earrings. Both of them. I pinch one between my thumb and finger as the little star dangles back and forth. This is the one I lost on New Year’s. The other one is a moon. Shayne must’ve found it lying around somewhere.
“Hey!”
Shayne’s voice makes me jump and drop my earring. I spin around to face her, hand on my chest.
“Jesus, why so jumpy?” She walks toward me and bends over to pluck the earring off the floor. “You found it. Cute,” she says before holding it out and dropping it in my outstretched palm.
“You didn’t leave this on my nightstand?”
“No.” She frowns. “I just got here. Why?”
“I found it on my nightstand.” I shake my head when it occurs to me. Holden. He must have noticed it after I ran off. It’s just like him to sneak into my room to return my earring like nothing happened.
“Hmm.” Shayne shrugs a shoulder. “Maybe it got tangled in your hair and fell out when you were getting into bed or something.”
“Probably,” I agree, even though I know better, dropping the earring inside the drawer of my nightstand before closing it.
“So, how’d it go with your dad?”
With a heavy sigh, I give her a look that tells her exactly how it went.
“That good, huh?”
“His other daughter and his fiancée crashed our dinner.” I walk out of my room, into the kitchen area, and she follows.
“No! Tell me you’re joking.”
“I wish I were. Actually, I take that back. I think I was the one who crashed their dinner.”
“What happened?”
I hand her the doggy bag of dessert I brought home for her. I didn’t eat with my dad, but I did stop at a cute bakery on the way home. “I don’t know.” I shrug, pausing to take a drink from my water bottle, then set it back on the counter. “I never went inside. Saw them through the window and left before he even knew I was there.”
Her face falls and she pulls me in for a hug. “Assholes,” she says, her chin on my shoulder, her arm hooked around my neck. I scrunch my nose to stop the sting of tears threating to form. “If I were there, I’d have kicked all their asses.”
I snort out a laugh at the seriousness of her tone, then shake my head. “This is actually a good thing. I feel better knowing where I stand.”
She pins me with a skeptical look, but she doesn’t call me on it. “He loves you. He just has a shit way of showing it.”
“Either way, it goes without saying that I’m definitely not spending the rest of the break with him.”
“Good. Maybe I should cancel on my sperm donor, too. We can make it a thing. Spend the rest of the break together, just you and me, and bitch about how fucked up the men who impregnated our mothers are.”
“Nice try. You’re going.”
“But I’m nervous.” She pouts. “What if he’s still on drugs? What if he’s a murderer?” She widens her eyes. I reach into the bag of desserts she’s still clutching and pull out a cookie before stuffing it into her mouth to cut off her rambling.
“Yes, but you’ll never stop wondering if you don’t at least try to get to know him. Do it for you. Not for him. If he turns out to be a loser—which, let’s be honest, is entirely possible—well, then you’ll know. And then we can start our fatherless child club.”