Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
As much as I tried to clear my head, all I could do was think about Chase…about his dad…about Griff…Griff and Chase, and me and Chase, and stupid fucking Chase Hawthorne. “Get out of my head!” I grumbled into the empty bathroom.
Which he did, for the moment at least, but then I was obsessing about Ava’s brother and Buck and his asshole dad. Maybe it would be better for me to get out of Havenwood. I could always come back.
Realizing nothing was going to happen besides me sitting there obsessing about things, I let the water out, dried off, and got dressed.
It was early in the day, but I went over to Nat’s because talking with her always helped. “Hey, you,” she said when I went inside.
“Hi. I’m miserable.” I plopped down on her couch. “And don’t call me dramatic.”
Natalie laughed. “I wouldn’t think of it.” She curled up beside me and set her head on my shoulder. “Chase Hawthorne?”
“Yeah. I tried to blow him again.” It wasn’t something I’d planned to admit, but obviously that shit had needed to come out.
“Oh my God. Are you serious?”
“Ugh! Yes. I know it was stupid, but it’s not just him. I really do love sucking dick.”
“Nope. You’re right. It has nothing to do with this being Chase.”
“I think I need to get him out of my system somehow, ya know? He was this unachievable goal, and then I had him once and he bailed, so maybe I need him again and to be the one to walk away…or the one to show I don’t need him. I’m sure that makes no sense.”
“No,” Natalie replied. “In a strange way it does, but I still think there’s more to it than that, and I believe it’s a bad idea.”
She was right. Of course she was right.
“Maybe you and Josh should go to Richmond tonight?”
“But then we’d have to leave you, and I can’t bear to be away from you.”
She laughed, seeing my reply for exactly what it was—a lie because I didn’t want another guy; I wanted Chase. Maybe I really did need to prove that I could have him and walk away.
Her phone buzzed on the coffee table, and she leaned forward and grabbed it. “It’s Josh. He wants to know what we’re doing.”
“Tell him to come over. We can get started drinking a little early tonight, before the three musketeers go take over Griff’s stupid straight bar.”
“Hey, I might need that straight bar if I’m ever going to find a man myself.”
I kissed her cheek. No one deserved to be happy more than Natalie. “You’re not the kind of girl to meet the love of her life from a random hookup at a bar.”
“Hey! I could be. You don’t know.” She sighed. “But you’re probably right. Do you know where I’ll meet him, though? I’m ready.”
“You’re the best, Nat. Boys are dumb.”
“That they are…besides you and Josh, of course. Straight ones, bi guys, gay guys. They all suck.”
“I mean, we do that too.”
Natalie laughed, and I laughed too, which I really needed. It wasn’t long before Josh showed up, and the three of us had a couple drinks to get ready for our night out. With them there with me, Chase Hawthorne didn’t matter so much. I had my best friends who loved me, and I’d made more of a life for myself than I’d ever really thought I would. That was enough. If Chase didn’t see how fucking fabulous I was, it was his loss.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Chase
Griff’s was busy as shit, which I guess shouldn’t surprise me as it was a Friday night. It wasn’t as if there were a lot of other things to do.
My friend was working his ass off behind the counter, along with another bartender—a woman named Kerry—and a waitress working the floor. His friends Knox and Lawson sat at the far end. It was where they had been the last time I’d seen them, almost as if Griff reserved it as their spot. A stool was set behind the bar, and I wondered if Griff had held it back there for me.
It was strange seeing new people in Havenwood. There were many faces I didn’t recognize. It felt like the town had stayed the same the whole time I grew up, with all the same people, and now there were people like Knox, whose past I didn’t know and who had no idea about mine, unless someone ran their mouth. Law grew up around here, but we hadn’t been friends. Still, I knew who he was.
“Hey, man. What’s up?” Knox said when I approached. He had this black, shaggy hair that he continuously pushed behind his ears so it didn’t fall into his face. He was a big guy, tall and muscular, reminding me of a lumberjack. Gorgeous as fuck, though not my usual type.