Total pages in book: 215
Estimated words: 217988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1090(@200wpm)___ 872(@250wpm)___ 727(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 217988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1090(@200wpm)___ 872(@250wpm)___ 727(@300wpm)
“He touched you?” Brody yelled.
She stared at him wide-eyed. “Brody, what’s wrong?”
“I . . . I don’t know. I don’t like the idea of him touching you.”
“It . . . he wasn’t trying to hurt me or anything.” She gave him a confused look.
“I know . . . I . . .”
Understanding filled her face. Uh-oh.
“Brody? Are you jealous?”
“What? I . . . how . . . no, of course not.”
Hurt flashed on her face. “Oh, sorry. That was stupid of me. Of course, you wouldn’t be. I don’t know why I said that.” She let out a fake laugh and stood.
No! No, no, no, he had to fix this.
Reaching for his glasses, he pushed them up his nose.
Now she thought he’d rejected her.
But wait . . . was she upset because she’d wanted him to be jealous? Or to want her?
“Autumn, wait.” He stood as well.
“I really think I should just go have a shower and go to bed. Maybe we can do movie night another night? When I’m feeling better.”
She wouldn’t look at him and a lead ball developed in his gut. He’d ruined things. That’s what he was good at. Making a mess of things.
“I’m such a fucking idiot.”
“Don’t call yourself that. You’re not an idiot.”
“I am. Because I made assumptions about what was best for you when I should have just asked you.”
“I’m not following.” She gave him a confused look.
“If my sisters learn about this, they’ll kick my ass.”
Something fierce entered her face. She looked like an adorable kitten about to launch itself into a fight. “They better not or I’ll kick their asses.”
“Autumn?”
“Yes?”
“You were right, I was jealous.”
“You . . . you were? But why? I mean, I hardly know Frank and you’re my best friend.”
He grimaced. “And that’s the problem. I’m always the friend.”
“Brody? I don’t understand,” she whispered.
“I don’t want to be your friend, Autumn.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “O-okay.” She stumbled back. “I get it. I’m a-a lot of work.”
Fuck.
He reached for her, but she shied away and something broke inside him.
“Tutu,” he whispered.
She shook her head. “I think it would be b-best if you l-left.”
His heart breaking, he nodded and turned to the door. If she didn’t want him here . . . if he was just upsetting her, then it was best he left.
That was the right thing to do, wasn’t it?
Then he heard the broken sob from behind him. It was quiet, muffled.
But unmistakable.
And just like that, he knew he was wrong. Horribly wrong. Because anything that made her cry couldn’t be right. Spinning, he spotted her on the floor, almost as though she hadn’t had the strength to hold herself up any longer. As though she couldn’t even make it to the sofa.
What was he doing?
Why would you think walking away is right, idiot?
“Please don’t cry. Please.” He raced over, landing heavily on his knees beside her. He didn’t touch her, remembering the way she’d cringed away from him just before. But as her sobs continued, he couldn’t help himself. Moving onto his butt, he lifted her slowly and carefully onto his lap.
At any sign of resistance, he’d let her go. But to his shock, she curled into him. Her hand grabbed hold of his T-shirt and she pressed her face to his chest.
“I’m so sorry, baby. I didn’t mean any of that the way it sounded.” He huffed out a breath. “I’m such a fuck-up. The truth is, I’m scared.”
He waited to see if she’d say anything. If she’d even heard.
She quieted slightly, but didn’t move her face from his shirt.
Right. So, he was going to do this. Be brave and risk rejection.
“I’m sorry I made you cry, sweetie. That was inexcusable. Especially when I could have just been honest from the beginning. But I was scared you wouldn’t feel the same way. I thought you just saw me as a friend and if I said anything, I would lose you. And I never want that, Tutu. I care about you so much. You’re what I think about all the time, you know. When I have a problem at work or feel uncomfortable or unsure, I think about you. About how brave you are. How beautiful. You amaze me every day, Tutu. I never want to lose you.”
He rubbed his hand up and down her back. Somehow, it had been easier than he’d thought to tell her this.
Brody knew she found it hard to open up, to talk about anything important. So maybe he had to do all the talking first.
“I liked this girl in my senior year. Thought she liked me too. We were good friends. We did everything together. I was getting all ready to ask her out to prom. You should have seen her face when I asked her. It was like she couldn’t work out why I would ask. And then she told me that she liked this other guy. That we were just friends. She wasn’t mean about it . . . but I was devastated. And completely humiliated.”