Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 24936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 83(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 83(@300wpm)
“Ooof!” she squeals. “OMG, stop it! You’re going to ruin my hair!”
Of course, her blonde hair remains in its perfect curls, but Curt puts her down and turns to me.
“Hi Annie,” he greets in a low voice. “Welcome to my humble home. I’m happy to have you girls over for Thanksgiving.”
I murmur a shy “hi” as he steps aside, letting us into the apartment. I enter the hallway, and it’s nice. The wood floor is a shiny parquet, and I can see two doors to the left, which must be the bedrooms. Then in the distance is the living area, which looks to have comfortable grey and blue furniture, as well as a coffee table that I can just glimpse through the narrow hallway opening.
Immediately, Halsey makes her way to the second door on the left, her bag dragging behind her. I follow, figuring that this must be her bedroom and where we’ll both be staying. But when I make to enter, she spins around, blocking the doorway.
“Oh wait, I forgot to mention,” she says in a lighthearted voice. “Travis is coming for Thanksgiving this year, and he’ll be staying here. With me. In my bedroom,” she says. “Is that okay, Curt?”
Both her stepdad and I stare at the beautiful blonde, blindsided.
“Wait, he’s coming?” I ask in a surprised voice.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Curtis adds in a growl. “I had no idea. This is so last minute, Hals.”
But the blonde girl merely shrugs and prances into her room, before depositing her bag by the bed.
“It was a last-minute thing,” she says in an airy tone. “We were going to spend Thanksgiving apart because you know I just flew out to San Francisco to see him two weeks ago. But I missed Travis so much, and he finally gave in. Just two nights ago, he booked a flight to NYC and he should be arriving any moment now,” she says with a glance at the clock on the wall. “It’s okay, isn’t it, Curt? He’ll stay here in my bedroom with me, so it won’t be a problem.”
We gape at the beautiful blonde who hums to herself as she begins unpacking like nothing’s wrong.
“But Hals,” I say in a confused tone. “I thought I’d be sleeping with you in your room. Where am I going to sleep if Travis is here?”
“Well, definitely not in my bedroom,” she says quickly, looking up as she pulls a filmy negligee from her bag. “I’m sorry there’s a change of plan, but I didn’t want to say anything until we got here because I didn’t want anyone to flip out. Travis is coming, for sure,” she says in a firm tone. “I want to be with him, and he’ll be here any moment actually.”
Meanwhile, Curtis stares at Halsey too, a look of confusion on his handsome features.
“But can’t Travis get a hotel room? Sweetheart, I thought you said he was a successful entrepreneur. He can afford to splurge.”
“Travis is loaded,” Halsey affirms with a smile. “He just sold his company to Microsoft, or someone like that. But when we tried to look for hotels, they were all booked up for the holidays, and you know that NYC doesn’t have AirBnB, not really. So we figured we’d just stay here for the duration of the trip. He won’t be here long,” she says hastily. “Just over Thanksgiving break, and then he’s headed back to SF.”
Still, I’m utterly thrown by this unexpected announcement.
“So should I go back to the dorms?” I ask with confusion. “I mean, I can come back for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. That would be easier, wouldn’t it?”
But Halsey jumps up then, waving both hands with a ‘no’ meaning.
“No, no, no, it’s fine!” she says brightly. “Annie, just crash in Curt’s room,” she says by way of explanation. “It’s no problem. Aren’t you glad Curt has a two-bedroom apartment? There’s plenty of space and it’s perfect.”
Her stepdad and I stare at each other with confusion even as my cheeks go bright red. My nipples begin to pebble through my thin t-shirt and I feel hot all over because this is sheer craziness. I can’t stay in Curtis Salomon’s bedroom! It would be incredibly rude to put the host on the spot like this, when really, I’m just a stray he’s invited for Thanksgiving.
“Oh no,” I say in a rushed voice. “I’ll head back to the dorms then. I don’t want to put you out of your bedroom, so it’s no trouble.”
But Halsey pipes up again.
“No, you won’t be putting Curt out of his room. You’ll stay there with him, Annie. It’s fine because the master’s really big, with wonderful views too. It’s okay, right Curt? There’s plenty of space.”
The handsome NYPD officer looks just as stunned as me, but then a dark flush crawls over his high cheekbones.