Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 126589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Fuck, this hadn’t been his intention. She always seemed so sure of herself but he’d hurt her. Cat had always insisted that Lizzy was shy, but Gideon had never seen it. Now he understood that this was how she’d hidden that part of herself…beneath this cloak of knowledge that she considered useful to her friends. It had been her way of fitting in. He saw that now. Her place in the group, the helpful one. And he had stripped it from her with a few careless words.
“Nah, it’s just me. Everyone else hangs onto your every word. And shit, when you’re not there, it’s always Beth says we should do it this way. Or Beth told me blah blah… it’s tiresome. I can’t escape you even when you’re not physically there. They think you’re a fucking genius.” He was exaggerating, but it was worth it to see the spark return to her eyes.
“They do?”
“Don’t let that shit go to your head, Lizzy. It’s still irritating as fuck.”
“To you?” she asked, still seeking assurance.
“Yeah, to me. But I matter too, don’t I?”
“Not to me.” Her retort was so tart it practically made his eyes sting. That was more like it.
“Ouch, Lizzy. Why must you always wound me so?”
“I don’t really, do I?” she asked, seeming genuinely interested and, yes, a little concerned.
“What? Wound me?” She nodded. And he grinned. “Not even close. Being in your presence is more like having a thousand papercuts inflicted simultaneously. Annoying but tolerable.”
“That sounds unpleasant.”
“Oh, but it is.”
“I feel the same way,” she said, after a moment’s silence.
“It’s how we do.”
“Yes.”
More silence…
“I should get that gutter sorted out. You can call in the professionals to have it properly fixed once the wind settles. Thanks for the juice.”
He turned to leave, but she stopped him with a hesitant utterance of his name.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “You didn’t have to do this. Especially not for me.”
“Oh, don’t worry, Lizzy. I’m doing it for that cake. And for our neighbors. I would hate to see one of them get hurt because of your shitty gutters.”
“Still…thanks. On behalf of the neighbors. What’s your favorite cake?”
“Chocolate,” he replied without hesitation.
“I’ll get that to you soon.”
“Cool.” His teeth worried the inside of his cheek before he swallowed and, against his better judgment, muttered, “I was sorry to hear about your bird. I didn’t know.”
“What would you have done if you’d known?” she asked, her voice subdued, her eyes downcast. He didn’t like that. Lizzy always met a challenge head on. She never deprived him of her eyes. And no matter how venomous her glares, he always relished them.
“I don’t know…temporary truce maybe? I would have been nicer.”
“You gave me exactly what I needed, Gideon.”
“Yeah? What was that?”
“You know what,” she whispered.
“My cock.” It was a statement of fact. Delivered in a flat, no-nonsense voice but the words still made Beth shudder at the recollection of exactly how the appendage in question had looked, felt…and tasted.
“Yes.”
“Glad I could be of some assistance then.”
She nodded, taking his words at face value, and ignoring the scathing disdain in his tone.
“Anyway…” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “I wanted you to know I was sorry.”
“He was just a bird.” She forced the words past the lump in her throat, but kept her gaze directed downward, not wanting him to see the tears that threatened to spill over at any second.
“Aah, Lizzy. Don’t do that. Don’t minimize what he meant to you. You loved him. And you’re entitled to mourn his loss however you see fit.”
“He really hated me, you know? He was Granny June’s bird. And he never really got over her loss. He was poorly for a couple of weeks and none of the medicines and tonics the avian vet prescribed worked. I found him at the bottom of his cage the day before Cam’s party.” The memory made her shudder and tears gathered in her eyes.
Why was she telling him this? When she hadn’t spoken of it to anyone else? It made no sense. Cat, Lucy, even Cam, had pressed her to talk about it, and yet here she was offloading onto the one person who didn’t truly give a crap about her or how she felt. Perhaps that’s why she was doing it. Because she hoped he would tell her to snap out of it. He wouldn’t be all soft and sympathetic. Soft and sympathetic would break her.
“He was an African grey, aye?” Gideon asked and she nodded. “Did he talk?”
“All the time.”
“Who did he learn from?”
“My g-grandmother.”
“I’ve read that African greys can mimic human voices.”
“Yes.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“He sounded like your grandmother, didn’t he?” His voice was quiet and gentle. His words hesitant. Beth hated that. She hated how insightful he was being. How quickly he’d stripped her fresh grief down to the very root and found the old festering wound beneath.