Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
“I hope you’re right.” Carly sighed. “I’ve not exactly been lucky on the dating front. Everyone seems to have an excuse, or they don’t show up. The ones that do are absolute pigs, and it always puts me off dating for a long time.” She tried not to feel upset or like giving up. She took a deep breath.
“What’s the matter?” Sarah asked.
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
“Don’t do that to me, babe. You and I both know we don’t have secrets from one another, so just tell me.”
Carly finished swiping the brush through her hair and turned toward Sarah. “It’s silly, really, and I don’t even know why I’m letting it bother me.” Her friend didn’t interrupt, and she knew she couldn’t keep it in any longer. “I get that as a kid, parents and couples didn’t want me. I always hoped when I was older, I’d find someone who could love me, that we’d be able to start a family, have lots of babies, and those babies would love me as well. I’d be this amazing mom, always at the stove, cooking up pies and cakes, and making homemade medicines, like chicken soup.” She felt tears spring to her eyes. She’d lost count of the number of birthday candles she blew out on that wish.
“Oh, honey,” Sarah said, wrapping her arms around her.
“It’s fine. Honestly, it’s fine.”
Sarah didn’t let her go and Carly couldn’t help but want her best friend’s tight embrace.
“I’ve got you,” Sarah said. “We’re your family, and you can cook me chicken soup anytime.”
Even as tears fell down her cheeks, she couldn’t help but let out a laugh. She could always rely on Sarah to keep it real.
“I love you,” Carly said.
“I know, and I love you too. I also know the guys would gladly come for your chicken soup.”
They were the best. She knew she could always count on Sarah, Reese, Dalton, Mitch, and of course Nate. They were her family. When no one else wanted her, even the other kids in the care home, they were always there.
“Are you going to be okay?” Sarah asked.
“Yeah, of course. You know me, I always bounce back from something like this. I will be A-OK.”
Sarah didn’t look convinced.
“So, are you going to tell me all the juicy gossip with Nate?”
“There is nothing to tell, and I don’t get your obsession with him.”
“Trust me, I am not obsessed with him. The dude is like a brother to me.”
Carly watched as Sarah wrinkled her nose. She kind of understood what her friend was saying. Reese, Dalton, and Mitch were like brothers to her, no doubt about it, but she never thought of Nate in a brotherly sense. However, she did think about him a lot, and she would quickly push those thoughts deep down so they had no chance to escape.
Someone like Nate Smith would never go for her. She’d seen women swarm around him, even when they were teenagers. He always possessed that dangerous, dark edge that seemed to draw a lot of women. Nate always seemed disappointed in a lot of women. He was her best friend, and they were technically family, but none of them were actually related. It was messed up.
She would never do anything about it, though. She couldn’t ruin nearly twenty years of friendship because she had feelings for him. Sarah didn’t always help matters, as she constantly tried to imply there was more between them, but that wasn’t the case.
Nate was always there for her, and it was a relief because no one else had ever been able to understand her. She knew Sarah and the others were there for her, but it was different with Nate. She didn’t feel like a freak around him. Sometimes, she felt like the others only kept her around because of Nate. She knew she had no right to feel that way since they’d never made her feel less or anything like that. It was just different with them.
“But come on, you and Nate, on a date? Tell me what happened. Give your girl the deets.”
This was where Carly always felt guilty, because Sarah was always there for her, and her old insecurities felt so out of place, it was unreal.
Carly laughed. “It’s not that thrilling. Nate ordered us chicken, and trust me, it was delicious, and he made sure I got my fries dripping in cheese sauce. You know how much I love that. Then for dessert, we shared some chocolate pudding.” She was not about to tell Sarah that Nate insisted on being the one to feed her. If she told her that, she wouldn’t hear the end of it.
Stepping out of her bedroom, she made her way into the kitchen to prepare her bedtime drink of a lovely hot chocolate. She knew it was bad for her, but she’d also been on a strict vegetable diet, and she was in serious withdrawal. It wasn’t like she even dropped the weight either. No, she ate more and put weight on. Stupid diets and stupid fads that don’t work.