Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
I pushed my hand through my hair. “I’m going home. Let me walk you to your car.”
“Wes, please don’t shut me out. We were going to talk about a plan.”
Shaking my head, I exhaled and felt my entire body sag in defeat. “No more plans, Angie. A fucking plan is what got me into this damn mess. I’m tired. Let’s get you to your car.”
We walked in silence to my sister’s car, which was parked a block away from my place.
“Wes, call her again.”
Smiling, I nodded and held her door open. “Be careful driving home.”
Once she was in, I leaned in and kissed her cheek. “I love you, Angie. Text me when you get home.”
“Are you sure you want to be alone? I can stay.”
“I’m fine. Do me a favor, tell Mom you saw me and I’m fine. Just tell her I’m busy with work and I’ll call her soon.”
She frowned. “Wes, I don’t feel right leaving you.”
“I’m fine. Don’t forget,” I said as I stepped away from the car. “Text me when you get home.”
I shut the door and quickly started down the block toward the liquor store where I bought enough booze to numb all the emotions swimming around inside of me.
• • •
The sound of my phone alarm going off felt like someone had taken a hammer and started hitting me over the head. I blindly reached for it, only to knock my phone off the side table.
“Fucking hell,” I grumbled as I forced my hungover ass to get out of bed so I could turn the damn buzzing sound off.
Once it was quiet again, I went to lie back down, only to have my phone ring. When I saw it was Finn’s name, I nearly sent it to voicemail. Instead, I answered.
“What do you want, Finn?”
“Dude, we’ve been trying to get a hold of you for the last two days. Mom was about to come into town when Angie told her she’d had dinner with you last night. What in the hell is going on?”
I scrubbed my hand down my face and laughed. “What’s going on? You want to know what’s going on, little brother? I fucked up. There, does that make you happy to hear?”
“Wes,” Finn said, but I cut him off.
“No, I thought I wanted Mandy while completely ignoring how I really felt about Clare. I used Clare to make Mandy jealous, and the whole fucking time I was falling in love with Clare, but too stupid to see it until it was too late. And the best part, or actually is it the worst part? Fuckin’ hell, I don’t even know, but Mandy wants to get back together.”
“But you don’t want her back, right?”
“No. Hell, I don’t know, maybe I should take her back. Looks like Clare’s moved on.”
“What do you mean, Clare’s moved on?” Finn asked. It was then I heard Rory in the background saying something.
“I saw her out on a date, Finn. She’s fine…not the least bit bothered, so I guess it’s time for me to do the same.”
“That’s not true, Wes,” Rory said. “She’s been avoiding me, and Autumn said she went on the blind date, but after she saw you at the restaurant, she excused herself and went home. Wes, you need to sober your ass up, and if you truly, honest to God, have feelings for Clare…go after her. Tell her.”
I laughed, then instantly regretted it when the pain in my temples zipped through my head. “I’ve been trying to call her, Rory. I’ve texted, I’ve left voicemails, she won’t talk to me.”
Rory sighed. “This is what Angie was trying to do, help you figure out a way to get Clare to listen to you.”
“Dude, you need to do like a grand gesture,” Finn stated.
“It doesn’t have to be grand,” Rory said. “Wes, you just have to be honest with her. Tell her how you feel. If you like her, and want to see where things go, tell her.”
I dropped back onto the bed. “I think I love her. No, no, I don’t think, I do; I know I do. I might have loved her the first moment she opened that spitfire mouth of hers.”
The line went silent, and for a second, I thought they had hung up.
“Hello?”
“We’re here. Just processing what you said,” Finn said. “Wes, get in the shower, make some coffee and sober up.”
“Why? What reason do I have? It’s almost Christmas, and if I want to get drunk, I can and will.”
“Two reasons, Christmas is in two days, and if you miss it, Mom’s going to be taking things into her own hands. The second reason, you don’t really want to wait another minute before you tell Clare how you feel. Get your head out of your ass and it will come to you what you need to do to show her how you feel.”