Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 129986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
It’s not a big room, so there’s not a ton of stuff to look at.
Finally, he walks over and sits on my bed.
His attention returns to me and he pats the mattress beside him. “Come sit.”
“I’m okay,” I say, my voice a little more high-pitched than I’d like it to be.
Dare smirks. “Are you afraid I’ll bite?”
I smile faintly. “Won’t you?”
“Possibly. You can try asking me nicely not to, maybe that’ll work.”
“I like how I have to ask you nicely not to do something you shouldn’t do to begin with.”
He shrugs, leaning back on my bed and gazing at me. “Hey, I don’t make the rules.”
I cock an eyebrow. “No? Then who does?”
He pretends to consider for a moment, then he says, “Actually, I guess I do.”
“What if I ask, but not nicely?” I ask, taking a step closer, but still keeping my distance.
“Then your chances of success drop dramatically.”
“I see how it is. You don’t play fair.”
“That is correct.”
I’m still cautious about joining him on the bed, but I guess I can’t stand here all night. When I sit down, I make sure there’s a little space between us. “I haven’t had a boy in my room since I was 14,” I tell him. “I might be a little rusty.”
His eyebrows rise. “Really? Damn, that’s a while.”
I shrug, criss-crossing my legs on the bed. “Mom’s illness kind of swallowed up all our lives. It was really scary when she was diagnosed. Before that, it never occurred to me I might lose her anytime soon. She’s so young, you know? There’s so much of my life she should still be here for, and now…” I look down, shaking my head. “I don’t know if she will be. Spending all the time I can with her has to take priority. I haven’t really had the time to adequately nurture other relationships.”
“That must be rough.”
This time when I shrug, it’s a little more pronounced. I feel myself getting defensive and try to curb it. “It’s not ideal for anyone, but it’s what you do when bad shit happens, you know? Life can’t always be fun and games, sometimes it’s hard and people have to make sacrifices.”
He nods. “I get it. If my mom got sick, I’d probably drop everything, too.”
“Are you and your mom close? I heard about the split, and I know a little about your dad from just… lore, I guess.” He cracks a smile. “Other than her being a Bolivian beauty queen, I haven’t heard much about your mom.”
Dare lies back on the mattress, his legs still hanging over the edge of the bed. “We’ve always had a pretty good relationship. She moved to Miami after the split. There were some job opportunities for her there, and to be honest, I think she just wanted to get as far away from my father as she could. She wanted me to go with her, but it made the most sense to me to finish out high school here in Baymont.”
“What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Same shit that always happens. They’d been together for a long time, but they didn’t actually spend much quality time together, so the spark went out. I guess my dad didn’t feel special enough, so he found a younger model who wasn’t sick of his shit yet and decided to be with her instead.”
“Oh. Wow, I… wasn’t expecting that.”
He smiles faintly. “Yeah, neither were we. Apparently, it wasn’t the first time it happened, just the first time he left. Mom told me when I was about 7, he had an affair, but they got past it. Guess she shouldn’t have.”
“I don’t think I could ever get past something like that.”
“No?”
I shake my head, then meet his gaze. “Could you?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never been with anyone I liked enough to marry, so it’s hard to imagine. Getting married isn’t something that’s important to me, so if I ever took that step, she’d have to be pretty damn special. If she’s so special, it’s hard to imagine she’s someone who would fuck around on me. But, I guess, assuming I somehow utterly misjudged her character…” He turns his head and looks over at me. “Do I still love her?”
“Yes,” I say, since that makes the decision harder.
He nods, considering his next move. “Well, if I still love her, then I have to keep her. I’m disappointed in her choices, but I’m not going to throw away a toy I’m not done playing with just because some other asshole wants it.”
I grin, lying back against the pillows. “If you liken your hypothetical wife to a toy, I think you’re probably right that you’re never going to get married.”
He smirks. “Hey, she cheated on me. She’s gonna be treated like a toy for a while, whether she likes it or not.”