Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 107667 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107667 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
“Did you see that Amy was saying she might meet up with us?” Josie asks, and I roll my eyes.
Great.
“Why would she? She doesn’t even like Tennie! It’s her night,” Lindy asks, visibly confused.
I have to hold back from asking if they really even like me.
“That’s what I said. I was like, um, we’re good,” Josie agrees before finishing her hair.
Lindy takes the curling iron from me. “Let me do it. We are celebrating you.”
I allow her to curl my hair as Josie asks, “Have you told your parents you took the out-of-town job?”
“Not yet,” I admit. “Don’t be telling y’all’s mommas.”
“We won’t,” they promise, and I hope they don’t. I really do want to tell my parents myself, but I made the mistake of being drunk when I got the email that I had been hired, and I blurted it out to them.
“They’re gonna be proud, Tennie. Even if they don’t want you to leave, you’re going to be so involved with all kinds of sports, which is what they wanted,” Lindy reminds me.
Too bad I’m not doing it for them.
I’ve always found the way the body moves during sports fascinating. I used to watch my dad play football, and my mom softball. I played softball my whole life, and I even had the chance to play for UT. It’s always amazed me how our bodies can do what they do when it comes to sports. I wanted to know everything, and I wanted to help people when they had goals that felt unattainable.
When I got my master’s degree in kinesiology with a concentration in biomechanics, I had every intention of working for the University of Tennessee in their sports programs, but I also knew I needed to get the hell out of here.
I almost feel like I don’t know who I am. Like, I love who I am, but I haven’t had time to discover me because I’m constantly under the influence of Lindy and Josie. Just looking at us three, it’s obvious the only difference is I’m the bigger one. We wear our makeup the same, we wear our hair the same, all three of us are bleach blondes, but I’m the darkest of us three. Oh, I have two different-colored eyes, but Lindy has blue eyes, and Josie has green. Our parents have always said that half of them made me, and I have always hated it. I struggle with how I feel because these girls are my sisters in every sense of the word, but I don’t care for them much anymore.
It makes me feel fake. It makes me feel like my whole life is a lie.
And I’ve got to go. I’ve got to get the hell out of here.
I know it will be hard for my parents, my grandparents, and even my great-grandparents. No one from our families has ever left Tennessee. Some may have moved from Knoxville, but for the most part, everyone is still there. I’ll be the first to leave, and while the fear has me on edge and the unknown makes it hard to breathe, I know I’ve gotta go. And I have to go alone.
“Did you by chance check social media for him?” Lindy asks, yanking me from my thoughts. Josie picks up her phone then as Lindy pulls my hair up halfway, putting it in a hair tie before tying a bright-orange ribbon around it. Just like hers and Josie’s. Our UT pride is on full display. I don’t doubt they have UT pride, but sometimes I think they do it because it draws in guys. For me, I just love the team.
“I did. Couldn’t find anything.” Which is a lie. I didn’t look for him at all. I didn’t want to fawn over someone I’ll probably never see again. I kind of like the idea of leaving it to fate. While I can’t get his lips or his eyes out of my mind, I know this way is for the best. I’m on my way out, and he isn’t even from here. So, what’s the point? A night of passion may sound like a damn good idea, but I’m sure when we walked away, I’d have a hard time filling the void he’d leave.
“Yeah. I can’t find anything for Dart. Who names their kid Dart?” Josie asks, her face all scrunched up.
I meet her gaze. “Hi, my name is Tennessee.”
She snorts. “Which is badass,” she says, smacking my arm. “Maybe he was a drug dealer, and that’s why he had tattoos along his neck.”
I almost feel embarrassed for how easy it was for me to describe him. The moment he walked up, I was taken by how attractive he was. Dark-blondish hair in a heap of a mess, falling into his eyes, and blondish-brown hair along his jaw and lip. He had full-sleeved arms, and even his hands were tattooed. Along his neck was the word sunshine, and his grin was so easy and blinding. He had hard lines to his jaw, but full lips and even fuller cheeks. Even in his tee and shorts, I could see the lines of muscles, and I was curious as to what he did for a living.