Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 103918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 520(@200wpm)___ 416(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 520(@200wpm)___ 416(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
I told myself it was a good thing as I made the drive back to my house. If being friends with Lex was anything like the roller coaster of emotions that it had been today, no thanks. I thought back to the panic attack he’d had outside the store. It had been heartbreaking to watch him fall apart like he had. I couldn't even imagine what he was going through when it came to the highs and lows of his condition. The smallest things would've been successes, but then just as easily, the simplest of tasks could be complete failures for him.
By the time I was pulling into my driveway, I was beyond frustrated. At Lex and at myself. He'd given me every reason to just dismiss him from my thoughts, but nothing I did accomplished that. I had no fucking clue how to get him out of my mind.
I got out of the truck and slammed the door shut. As I walked to the house, I called for Brewer, but the dog didn't appear at my side like he normally did. I looked over my shoulder and saw that he was still sitting in the bed of the truck. He was staring in the direction we’d just come from.
"Brewer!" I called, but the husky mix only turned his head for a moment to look at me, and then he was staring at the driveway again. He whined a few times and then he started howling.
"Brewer!" I yelled. My dog completely ignored me and continued with his sad calls. I tried one more time to get Brewer's attention but gave up when the animal refused to even acknowledge me. It was yet another rejection and I was full up on being rejected.
"Fine!" I snapped before heading to the house. Brewer's incessant howling followed me inside. I yanked off my coat and ended up throwing it in the direction of the wall where I usually hung it. I busied myself with looking through my cabinets to figure out what I wanted to make for dinner. Thankfully, Brewer's mournful howls came to an end after about five minutes. I settled on making some spaghetti. I had just gotten the water boiling for the pasta when my phone rang.
"What?" I bit out as I put the thing on speaker.
"Gideon?"
I hated that my heart leapt into my throat at the sound of Lex's voice. In that moment, I kind of hated Lex too. I hated him for what he'd done to me, what he’d turned me into. Logically, I knew it wasn't his fault, but I needed to vent my frustration somehow.
"What?" I asked again. I suspected my tone had startled Lex because he didn't respond right away. But I wasn't about to apologize to the man who was driving me crazy. I was sexually frustrated, but worse, he was making me question everything about myself. I’d envisioned spending the rest of my days in Fisher Cove in quiet solitude, but now that I finally had it, all I could think about was Lex.
"Are you here?" he asked finally. He definitely sounded nervous. I tried to tell myself I didn't care if I was the one who was making him nervous with my attitude. He was the one who’d started this whole thing by accepting me one minute and then pushing me away the next.
"Am I where?"
"Here. At the cabin."
"No."
"Well, Brewer is."
"What?" I asked in disbelief. I stepped over to the window and checked my truck. Sure enough, the bed was empty. I let out a streak of curses as I went back to the stove and turned off the burner. "I'll be right there," I barked and then I hung up on Lex.
I was in a pretty decent snit by the time I pulled my truck into Lex's driveway. Lex was sitting on his porch with Brewer pressed up against his legs, happily enjoying his attention. I wanted to strangle the dog and the man.
"Brewer, come!" I called as I got out of the truck.
The husky mix ignored me.
"Get your ass over here right now!" I yelled.
My dog didn't move toward me. But he did lie down. I instantly felt guilty for my harsh tone. I’d found Brewer on the side of the road a few months after I'd returned to Fisher Cove. The dog had been emaciated and scared to death, but he'd still come to me when I'd offered him some food. In addition to the obvious neglect, there had been signs that the dog had been abused at some point in his life, so it had taken me quite a while to fully earn his trust. Once I had, I'd been rewarded greatly.
I was about to crouch down and call Brewer to me in a more gentle manner when Lex climbed to his feet and said, "You don't need to be a dick, Gideon! You're obviously scaring him!"