Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 124971 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124971 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
“First of all, it was a shart. Somewhere in between. And it was a Portuguese buffet, Duffy. I needed to make sure I had a taste of everything.” He scrubbed his stubble. “Ah, fuck. I do have bad news, though.”
“What happened?” I demanded.
His eyes—purple like mine—were swimming with trepidation.
“So . . . it’s about BJ.”
I pressed my lips together, waiting for more. Kieran blinked rapidly. He was trying to find the right words, and I knew then and there that there weren’t any.
“Duffy, he’s an eejit.”
“What did he do?” For an unexplained reason, I was feeling much better knowing this wasn’t about Kieran running into trouble.
“—literally the dumbest bloke I’ve ever met in my life.”
“Kieran.” My voice was tinged with edge.
“—almost think it’s a crime to mix our prime DNA with his if you ever get married.”
“Kieran!” I snapped.
“Okay, okay.” He raised his hands in the air. “So, last night before I logged off for the day, I checked my laptop to see if maybe Shelby answered.” He was studying me very carefully, as if I was about to burst into flames. “She didn’t, by the way, which is a whole other story. Did I tell you I spoke to Riggs about her? He rang the day after you and I had the conversation. Thought I should ask her out next time I see her at the newsagents’. But how would I know when she—”
“Holy ADHD, Kieran, just finish your story.”
“Right, right, right. Where were we?”
“You operating a laptop,” I groaned.
“Yes! So, there were eight emails from BJ.”
“Eight?” My jaw dropped. BJ was a one-syllable texter.
“Weird, innit?” He nodded. “They were all on the same thread.”
“Well . . . what did they say?”
“I’ll just forward them to you.”
My mobile pinged with an incoming email. I opened it.
—————Forwarded message————-
From: Brendan Abbott
Date: Wed, September 28
Subject: WHERE ART THOU
To: Kieran Markham
Kane, my dude, where u @? I’m so drnk.
Kane, u still here? did u catch a cab bck?
Fuckkkkkkkk. I fucked up. lol. I totally screwed blondie. The girl from Finland? Hahahahaha. U were right. tits nt real.
Duffy can nvr find out.
Im legit gonna pass out im so drunk. Not sre how I even managed to get it up. call me
Bile gathered in my throat, and my heartbeat escalated to a perilous speed. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Couldn’t believe this was the person I’d spent so many years of my life with. Planned to live the rest of my years with.
The next email had a different time stamp, six hours later.
Hey, Kieran, it’s BJ. I’m really sorry for the chain of emails from yesterday. That was . . . less than a good representation of me. A friend of mine, Kane, hacked my email and started pranking people. Please don’t take this seriously. Obviously, I would never do any of those things in the email (drink excessively, cheat on Daphne, etcetera).
I’ll try to call you in a bit.
BJ
Hey, Kieran, it’s BJ again. Upon reflection, I’d like to come clean about something. I don’t want to make this even worse by lying to you, and I know I messed up really bad. I’ve been vomiting all morning and I can’t stop thinking about what I did. I’m hoping we could keep this between us. I know it’s a big ask, but please hear me out.
I’m currently in Thailand, not Nepal, with a friend. That’s why I asked you about opening a restaurant the other day. My friend, Kane, is wanting to open one in Koh Samui.
As you probably figured out, I got you and Kane mixed up because your name starts with a K and you were the last person I emailed.
We were at a party on the beach last night. Things got a little out of hand. I got really drunk. This was the FIRST and ONLY time I’ve been unfaithful to Duffy. And technically not even unfaithful because she kinda dumped me before we said goodbye in New York. I know this means little right now, considering all the lies I told her about this trip. The destination, who I was going with, and why. But please don’t let this mishap taint your view of me. I’ve been with your sister for almost a decade and I love her. This is supposed to be my last hurrah before I ask her to marry me. It’s ALWAYS been just about that. Getting some fun out of my system before we both settle down.
Look, I’m sure if we hop on the phone and talk, I can explain myself better. Can you please pick up?
BJ.
Kieran? You there? I tried calling a few times . . .
My eyes slammed shut, and I focused on my breathing. Somehow, in a span of a few weeks, my life had completely fallen apart. I lost my job. I lost my boyfriend. I managed to somehow marry a manwhore with commitment issues, and BJ cheated and lied to me.