Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 114211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
“Oh, I love realizing things,” sings Juni with total sincerity.
“I realized my life up there … it isn’t for me. My parents, they do just fine without me. They’re happy. And I’m … I’m just … oh, who am I kidding? I don’t think I’ve been happier in my whole life than when I’m—”
A boom cracks through the car, surprising us all.
The vehicle veers suddenly to the left, then the right, and the left again. Anthony, spooked, turns the wheel and comes to a dead stop at the side of the road, wide-eyed, breathing heavy.
After a second, he sighs. “Lick a dick … think we just got a flat. A fuckin’ flat.”
Pete droops his head, mortified.
Somehow, I don’t think it’s because of the flat.
“Hey, Pete?” I put a hand on his back, giving it a rub.
“I’ll change the tire,” he states, sounding out of breath, before flying out of the car, leaving Juni blinking after him, dazed.
I take a breath. Pete’s spiraling, and I don’t know why. I reach forward to give Anthony a pat on the shoulder—he returns it with a worried smile through the rearview mirror—then I nod at Juni, who still looks like she’s waiting to realize something.
“Sit tight, you two,” I tell them. “I’ll go and help Pete.”
“What was all that about?” Juni asks no one specifically, then turns back around in her seat, sitting forward with a pout.
A minute later, I’m outside by the opened trunk as Pete gets out the spare with a grunt. “Uh, Pete?” He’s totally in his head, looking oddly distressed, almost angry as he works in silence. “Do you need a hand, or—?”
“I got this,” he snaps, getting to work replacing the back tire, passenger side.
The street is too dark, so I pull out my phone and use it as a flashlight for him, crouching down by his side. “What was that? Were you seriously about to propose to Juniper? … In the car?”
“No,” he snaps, wide-eyed, looking freaked out. “Why? Did it seem that way? I wasn’t proposing. Why would I? Shut up, you’re distracting me. Shit.”
Then he’s back to working on the tire in silence.
I take a patient breath. “It sounded an awful lot like you were confessing that she’s the love of your life.”
He stops what he’s doing and shuts his eyes. “I just wanted to see … to see if she … might …” He sighs. “Bridge, man, I think she might not want to be with me … something she said at the party.”
“What’d she say?”
“That Spruce had run its course.” He looks at me now, his eyes shining in the harsh light from my phone. “I think she’s leaving.”
“Leaving?”
“Yeah. I think she plans to leave when we do. But I …” He runs a hand through his hair. “I don’t know if she’s leaving because of me, or if she’s testing me, waiting for me to stop her, or if she’s uncertain herself … I don’t even know for sure if she is leaving. It’s just what it sounded like. And if she leaves, then maybe I shouldn’t propose to her. Maybe she’s not the one. What if I’m being an idiot about this and Juni was never seriously into me in the first place? What if this is all in my damned head?”
“Hey, hey, don’t worry.” I put a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve got this, no matter what happens. I’ve seen the way Juniper looks at you. She loves you. But this place isn’t her home, either. Maybe she wants to go back to Kansas with you. Did you consider that?”
“But I don’t wanna go back to Kansas.”
“Wait, what?”
“At least … not yet. That’s what I was trying to tell her. In the car. I …” He swallows, then meets my eyes again, only this time he looks ashamed. “I … I wanted to tell you, too.”
“You’re not going back home?”
“It’s not official yet. It’s not a plan or nothing.” He looks down at the ground, fiddling with his tools, then squints at me. “Hasn’t it crossed your mind before, Bridge? Not going home? Our families being alright … without us?”
My grip on the phone loosens, lowering the light slightly. I let out a sigh. The answer is probably all over my face.
“See?” he presses on. “You considered the same thing, right? Anthony’s here in Spruce. Your man. Your world.”
“I know.”
“What if we stayed? That’s what I was thinking. Considering. But then she went and said that. And all night I’ve been trying not to let it get to me, but …” He sighs. “I think it’s something bad.”
I frown, unsure what to say. “Pete …”
“Just hold the light up a bit, will you?”
I do. He resumes changing the tire without saying any more. The silence of the night drowns out everything else, including our own thoughts.