Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 96978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
It means you haven’t had sex like that ever, it’s hate sex, that’s all. Stopping myself from putting heels on, I realize that this is absurd. I need to look indifferent, just go downstairs and have pizza, you’re taking way too much time.
I straighten my shoulders and roll my neck as I try and fix my still-wet hair that’s already starting to curl as I quickly head down the steps.
“Ammo?” I call out.
“In here, my love.” Rachel’s voice’s coming from the kitchen makes me hesitate, as I frown. I really wanted to spend some alone time with Ammo, and now Rachel is here.
“Hey.” I smile as I walk in, my eyes scanning the room, trying to breathe, because my heart is pounding and my legs are full-on shaking. Thank God my dress is long.
“He left.” Her voice is flat as she moves around me to the refrigerator.
“What?” My voice is way too loud, which makes her raise a perfectly waxed brow at me as I take a deep breath, because this hurts…and it shouldn’t. It was hate sex, that’s all.
“Sorry.” I jerk my hair up off my neck because I’m starting to sweat. “He said he was ordering pizza.” My voice cracks as I twist it into a messy bun.
“Ah.” Rachel nods as she takes out a bottle of wine. “Yes, he did mention that. I informed him I don’t eat pizza.” And I have to bite my tongue not to tell her the pizza was for us, not her; she’s not even supposed to be here.
“So, what’s up?” My voice is tight as she grabs a couple glasses and motions with her head for me to follow as she sits down at the table.
“Courtney, I need to be honest with you.” She licks her lips as I sigh and grab the electric wine opener. “You’re in a pivotal spot in your career.” She stops to look at me as I stare out my large kitchen window. The sun is a giant orange ball of fire as it starts its descent, and all I’m doing is trying to blink away the black spots as I search for him.
Pathetic.
“Sit, Ammo’s gone. And he is what we need to talk about.” She kicks out the chair to her right with her Louboutin stiletto as I sit and brace myself, because I really want to be alone and process what happened. Maybe I’ll text him. I mean, at some point I need to start trusting someone. We are working together.
“You know about my ex, right? Jett?” Rachel’s voice slaps me back to the now as I brace myself for this conversation since she’s trying to frown, which can’t happen with the amount of Botox in her face.
“Ammo is like him.” She pauses to open the wine, letting her words drift around the room as the hum of the electric opener does its job.
“And those type of men will take everything from you because they know they can.” I go to stop her, but she holds up a long finger and starts to pour the wine as I sit back and cross my legs. I always get so uncomfortable when Rachel talks about her ex-fiancé. Maybe it’s that I feel sorry for her, I don’t know…
“They will dominate your life, control your emotions, and take everything from you. For me it was my precious daughter. For you, I worry it will be your career.” She sets the bottle down with a dramatic thud.
“You have nothing to worry about, I have no illusions concerning Ammo.” Picking up my glass and starting to guzzle it like it’s water instead of chardonnay. In my defense, it’s smooth, it goes down way too easy.
“I wish I could believe you.” She grabs my hand that’s sitting on the table and squeezes, and I almost jerk away. This is the first time she’s ever done this, and it’s just weird and uncomfortable.
“I want to believe you, and you must forgive me, because this is my own guilt.” She sniffs and looks out the window. “It haunts me at night to think had I only warned my own daughter, she would be happy and we would still be close. Instead, she’s a slave to my ex, and I’m cut off from her completely.”
“Oh, Rachel, I don’t know what to say.” She’s standing there, smiling uncomfortably. It’s like she says these things but never looks me in the eyes.
“Well, for starters, you need to understand that he’s a rebound from Johnny,” she snaps, the façade she tries so hard to show is now back in place and she’s now looking at me.
“Um, I’m not—”
“He is. He’s also completely unreasonable…this is your time. We need everyone to understand that this album is going to be everything, for a lot of people.” She jerks her hand away as she reaches for her phone. “I think we need to give the press, and your fans, a little tease.”