Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 131916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
“I—”
“Come on, Charleigh, it will be fun. I mean, unless you don’t like me?” She feigned a pout and a whine, and I blew out an exasperated sigh before I muttered, “Fine.”
I rattled off my number, and she squealed. “This is going to be amazing.”
Then her eyes narrowed as she studied me from over the top of the counter. “What’s your type?”
Confusion wound around me. I couldn’t keep up with her. “Um…?”
She propped her elbows on the counter with her fingers still poised on her phone screen. “You know, who gets that cute body all hot and bothered?”
She shimmied her shoulders.
A surprised laugh gusted out of me because she was goofy and sweet and kind, and I didn’t think I’d ever felt as welcomed as I did with her. My ribs clamped around my heart, in an instant adoring her without knowing her at all.
At the thought, that piece inside warned not to get close. No one could know me. Not really, anyway.
My head barely shook. “I don’t really…date.”
She made a sound of utter horror before she grinned. “I don’t really, either, since my brother is ridiculously over-protective, but that doesn’t mean we can’t look, right?”
I did my best to keep River’s face from flashing through my mind.
Because it was one guy.
One guy who’d ever had me hot and bothered.
I definitely wasn’t going to tell her that.
“Um…sure?” I said it like a question.
“Get ready for an eyeful because my brother has the hottest group of friends.” She groaned. “Just wait until you meet them…”
She was frantically typing something on her phone as she spoke, while a flare of panic lit in my chest.
“Oh, I meant it when I said I don’t—”
My phone dinged in my bag, cutting me off, and I pulled it out since Raven didn’t seem to be paying any mind to my refusal, anyway.
Raven
This is Raven, your new bestie, you sexy bitch. Text me back.
Choking over a laugh, I peeked between her and my phone as I typed out a response.
Me
You’re kind of insane, do you know that?
Raven
That’s why you love me. Meet me at my booth at 5 on Saturday.
Me
What if I say no?
Raven
Then I can’t be blamed if I have to resort to desperate measures. I’m not above kidnapping.
I lifted my attention from the screen, a smile playing all over my face, a lightness in my chest I hadn’t felt in forever. “Kidnapping, huh?”
“Oh, yeah.” Her dark eyes were wide with the tease.
Air huffed from my nose. “I guess I don’t have much of a choice then,” I relented, though I was feigning the annoyance.
It felt…good. Good talking to someone. Good to be a part of something. Good that I didn’t have to be completely alone.
But I had to remember it could only be surface. A semblance. A façade. Because real could never be real for me.
That vat of loneliness churned, bubbling up from the constant simmer. A burn that scorched my already charred heart. I pasted on a giant grin that I hoped didn’t appear brittle. “It actually sounds really fun. Thank you for inviting me.”
Raven smirked. “Um, of course it’s going to be fun. You’re going to be with me. As if I would ever dream of allowing you to have a bad time.”
Fifteen minutes later, I left her shop with an entire armful of flowers since apparently for Raven’s friends, it was buy one, get thirty free. Amusement still wobbled on my mouth as I climbed the exterior steps to the small stoop at the side of the building.
I turned my key in the lock and swung open the door to the stillness of my apartment.
It was small but cozy. The living area was right up front, and there were French doors that opened to the balcony. A tiny kitchen was off to the right of it, the cabinets whitewashed and the countertops butcher block. The appliances were old enough that it gave it character rather than just appearing dated, and the floors were original hardwood that had been refurbished to a beigy gray.
The bedroom and bathroom were at the back.
It’d come furnished, the couch a soft baby blue and the two overstuffed chairs a matching floral, and I’d accented it with a bunch of pillows. A square dining table sat between the living room and kitchen, sectioning off the two areas.
I went into the kitchen, grabbed a vase, and filled it with water, then I trimmed the stems of the flowers and arranged them the way Raven had suggested.
I set them in the middle of the table, right in the path of the glittering rays of sunlight that streamed in through the French doors.
In the silence, I brushed my fingertips over the soft velvet petal of a pink rose.
I tried to stop it, but a rush of sadness slammed me.
As sharp as fists pummeling me in the gut.