Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 37781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
“What do you mean she’s got a fucking boyfriend?” I snarl, shocking Brad and only surprising myself that I haven’t grabbed his throat and choked him because I’m so mad. A surge of rage courses through me at the thought of it.
The unthinkable… Beth with a boy. Fuck! Beth with anyone except me. It’s not gonna happen!
“Hey… Hey! What the fuck, Bowdie!?” Brad says swiftly, holding both his arms out in a display of instant surrender, but it’s hard for me to let it go, to let him go.
“I just figured you oughta know,” he explains, my eyes wild and my free hand balling into a fist.
“I thought you’d rather hear it from me than Lucy,” he says meekly. “Just as well, if this is your reaction to her having a boyfriend. Jesus, Bowdie!” he exclaims, haughtily freeing himself from my grip and readjusting his collar before stepping back inside, shaking his head to himself.
Lucy? A boyfriend?
Six months ago, that would have been my biggest fear as a parent, that and her getting knocked up, but I’ve had other things on my mind since then. The only thing hearing that Lucy has a boyfriend makes me feel is a new kind of panic.
Oh, thank fuck for that, but if Lucy has one, then who’s to say Beth doesn’t either?
In a split second of a New York minute, I’m flinging the screen door open with a bang, spinning Brad by his shoulder to face me.
“And Beth!?” I gasp, feeling all my sanity about to leave me for good if it turns out to be true. If Beth has feelings for anyone else, there’s no telling what I’d be capable of the way I reacted just now. If Beth already has a boyfriend, I’d have to do the unthinkable.
“And Beth, what?” I hear her ask with concern and suspicion, shifting my gaze to see Beth standing in the hallway by the kitchen.
CHAPTER THREE
Beth
Dad tries to brush it off, but I can see something happened between Bowdie and him in a second. Lucy’s pretty much told me to leave her alone, and now it looks like these two are having their own problems. This is not the Bowdie Bigg fantasy I’ve been having for months on end, and it’s not how I want to face the reality of it being just a fantasy, either.
“It’s nothing, sweetie,” Dad smiles, “How’s Lucy? Is she alright?” he asks with genuine concern.
Bowdie only gives me a dark look before he moves toward me, but seeing him look past me, I know to get out of his way. His huge frame fills the hallway as he reaches the bathroom door in four long steps, knocking gently and murmuring to Lucy.
“And Beth, what?” I challenge my dad instead, moving into the kitchen, not just wanting but needing to know why Bowdie was even saying my name right this second.
“I was just trying to let Bowdie know… about Lucy and Josh,” Dad whispers with gritted teeth, keeping his voice low and looking like a man who wished he’d said nothing.
I feel a wave of relief. If Bowdie’s mad at Lucy, it must mean…
No. No, you don’t, Beth. Don’t go telling yourself that, and don’t freaking say it!
It must mean he loves me.
I know. Lame, right? This is the stuff I’ve told myself for so long. My motor mouth is hard to switch off the things I’ve been telling myself for so long if only to stop feeling like I’ll wither completely unless I can be with Bowdie somehow. That was my mind when he was away. Now that he’s right in the hallway, I can see how dumb and dangerous this fantasy is. Until now, I had no idea how much of my emotions I’ve invested in this—invested in him—heart and soul. I can feel it.
Dammit, this is gonna hurt. This forbidden crush of mine. My dirty little secret. Okay, maybe my second dirty little secret, but anyone with eyes could see that a girl my height with curves meant for someone a foot and a half taller is most likely a virgin. An eighteen-year-old who still lives with her dad and has a bunk bed with pink blankets, for Christ’s sake.
What hope in hell did I think I’d ever have with a real man like Bowdie? But he got so mad because he thought I was the one with a boyfriend. There I go again. It’s such a perfect fantasy. I can’t let it go.
Bowdie reappears in the doorway, making me lose all my courage about telling him or announcing that I do not have a boyfriend, in case anyone was wondering. As usual, I gum up when I look into his eyes. His creased mouth at an angle to his chiseled, unshaved-for-the-day jawline makes my mind completely blank.
“Lucy wants to be left alone. She’ll be fine,” Bowdie remarks, glancing at my dad before he puffs his cheeks and lets out a long breath.