Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 135517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
“Thank you, Evan, thank you.”
He smiled and squeezed my hand before throwing his arm around my shoulders. “It’s still early, and I’m enjoying your company too much to let it end. Do you have something waiting for you at home?”
“No, actually, I don’t.” And I wasn’t ready to go back to the four walls of my bedroom just quite yet, either.
“Great, let’s go shoot some pool.” I looked down at the sexy little number I had on and back up at him.
“I’m not dressed for it.” I could feel the disappointment build in me. I wasn’t interested in having a romantic dalliance with him, but it’s rare to find someone to feel comfortable with, and I’d forgotten how much I missed that.
“What dress? You can shoot pool in anything. Say, do you want to invite your friends along?”
And that right there put me at ease. I took him up on his offer and called Sydney, Rachel, and some others. Even my aunt and uncle got an invite, which they readily accepted, and the evening became something more than I’d expected.
The next day I woke up feeling better than I had in ages and was actually looking forward to the day ahead. The night had done wonders for me, and I couldn’t wait to take Evan up on his offer to hang out again. It’s been a while since I’d been in such great company without having to worry about compromising my morals at the end of the night.
Since I’d locked myself away for so many years immediately after the debacle, once I started poking my head out again, it was as if every guy who ever knew me thought I was easy pickings, and all it took was a smile to get into my pants. I’d ignored all the messages and phone calls back then, but I had a feeling that since I’d gone and opened that door, the freaks were going to be up to their shit again.
I opened my phone and saw the million and one notifications and had to wonder if the paparazzi ever slept. There were thousands of comments under the images that had been published the night before, which meant the photos had been up for hours.
My fans are the best. Poor things, they so want me to be happy. They’re so invested not only in my career but in my personal life and well-being as well. No wonder they’ve been such a source of help and support to me. It sucks that I’d missed out on most of their kind wishes in the past because staying off of the Internet to avoid my enemies meant I had to avoid my well-wishers as well.
Now, I feel even guiltier because they always had my back, and I dropped the ball. But reading the comments, I saw that my fans were still the same—steady, loyal, and supportive. Reading the comments brought tears to my eyes, but of course, there was a lot of speculation as to what kind of relationship Evan and I shared.
Of course, whenever I’m mentioned with a supposed love interest, Ryder’s name comes up. I’m unsure how to get it across to my fans that he’s now married and out of my reach, and I’m not too fond of the disrespect shown to his marriage. I understand how they feel; the way he did it was shitty as fuck.
But what’s done is done, and it was his choice, and I’m not about to be no man’s Jezebel. I’d be lying, though, if I said I didn’t have just the tiniest wish to see his response with his jealous ass.
***
*Ryder*
No, Ryder, don’t throw your phone. It’s about two hours to the nearest town if you break it. I was tempted to throw it anyway and risk turning on the old one just for the satisfaction of slamming the offensive piece of shit into the wall. I didn’t want to look again, but just as with the scene of an accident, I couldn’t look away.
She looked fucking happy with him. And the idiot press was talking shit about their relationship. What relationship? They don’t have a fucking relationship; she doesn’t have relationships; she’s not allowed. “Fuck me!” I think I’m losing my mind. I can’t do this shit.
This was their fourth or fifth date in two months. That’s how long I’d been up here, give or take a couple of weeks. I didn’t see it at first because I was taking a break from social media and had turned my phone off so I could concentrate on doing these exercises I’d been taught to try and get my memory back.
When I saw the first one when going through all the notifications that I’d missed, I didn’t think much of it. She was dressed nice enough, but I know my girl, and she only dresses like that if she’s trying to send a clear message that they are nothing but friends.