Total pages in book: 215
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
“I figured you heard me coming,” I tell her. “My car isn’t exactly quiet.”
She pulls a face, almost embarrassed because she knows I’m right. “How’d you know where to find me, anyway?”
“Lucky guess,” I say with a shrug.
“Try again,” she says, pulling out of my arms and arching a brow, knowing damn well I’m lying.
“Okay fine,” I say with a groan, not surprised to see just how well she’s able to read me. “I swung by your place and your dad said you’d gone out, and seeing as though Hazel was still at home, your car was in the driveway, and you kinda don’t have any friends, it narrowed down the options.”
She lets out a heavy sigh, her bottom lip jutting out, and I know it has everything to do with my comment about her friends. “She really hates me.”
I step back into her, pulling her into my arms again and dropping a kiss to her temple. “She does,” I say, not bothering to sugarcoat it. “But that’s because she’s a spiteful bitch who can’t see past her own wants and needs to the people around her. She doesn’t deserve your tears, Zo. You’ve given her ten years of friendship, and she’s going to throw it away over jealousy.”
She lets out a heavy breath, not willing to let it go just yet, so I go on, more than ready to drive my point home. “She was there, Zo. She saw us as kids. She watched from the sidelines as we fell head over heels in love with each other. She knows how happy you are when we’re together. If she’s the kind of person who wants to stand in the way of your happiness, then she was never a good friend to you,” I tell her. “She’s never had your best interests at heart. I saw it the very first day I met her, and I just hate that it’s taken this long for her to show you her true colors.”
“It just . . . It hurts,” she whispers, letting out a heavy sigh.
“I know it does,” I say, my hands rubbing up and down her arms. “But soon it’ll fade, and you’ll realize you never needed her.”
“Let me guess,” she says, her chin tilting up to meet my stare. “Because I have everything I need right here?”
“Wow,” I tease. “Whoever said you weren’t a fast learner?”
She rolls her eyes, but I grab her hand, pulling her back toward my car. “Come on,” I say, “I want you to come somewhere with me.”
Her brows furrow, but she allows me to pull her along, stepping into my side as we make our way back to my car. “Where are we going?” she asks as I open the door for her, knowing how my mom would clip me over the back of the head if I weren’t the perfect gentleman.
“Linc’s grave,” I tell her, watching for her response. “I haven’t been since the funeral.”
Her eyes widen. “You haven’t?”
My lips press into a hard line, and I shake my head, almost embarrassed by my admission. “I’ve never known what to do if I went or what to say. I’ve had this fucked-up vision stuck in my head that he’d claw out of there like some shitty zombie movie and try to drag me back down with him.”
Zo gives me a blank stare. “You know, he probably would just to screw with you.”
“I’m more than aware.”
Zoey laughs and settles into her seat as I close the door and make my way around to the driver’s side. I’m kicking over the engine when a smirk stretches across Zoey’s lips, and she swivels in her seat to look at me. “Okay, so you should probably know that Hazel leaves letters for him all the time, and I, umm . . .” She cringes, and I raise my brow, waiting to hear what’s about to fly out of her mouth. “I kinda respond to them as Linc, so she’s convinced he’s actually coming back from the dead to write her letters.”
I gape at her in shock, but I’m also a little impressed she’s been able to keep this going for three years without Hazel being the least bit suspicious. “You have to tell her.”
“Hell no, I don’t. It’ll crush her.”
“Zoey Erica James.”
“Noah McFunPolice Ryan.”
I let out a sigh, knowing a lost cause when it’s staring me in the face. “What are you writing to her?”
“Nothing that will get me in trouble,” she admits. “It started out innocent. I went to his grave a few days after Mom and Hazel had been, and I saw the letter and couldn’t help reading it. Then I was sitting there for a while and thought maybe it was a good idea to leave him a message too, so I flipped her letter over and wrote I miss you on the back, and next thing I knew I was walking in the door after school and Hazel was running up to me saying that Linc had responded. I didn’t have the heart to tell her it was me. Then it just got a little out of control from there.”