Total pages in book: 20
Estimated words: 18430 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 92(@200wpm)___ 74(@250wpm)___ 61(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 18430 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 92(@200wpm)___ 74(@250wpm)___ 61(@300wpm)
He was actually quite understanding. He wasn’t so on board with me being this into Liam right away, but that will come in time. He just has to get used to him, and with Liam being so charming and sweet, I’m sure that won’t take long.
I take a deep breath as I step out of the conference room and close the door behind me, to find my sister standing there with a despondent look on her face.
“What?” I ask her.
“Jess,” she says, in that tone that I never want to hear from her. “He’s gone.”
“Who?” I ask, not wanting to acknowledge what she’s saying. “Who’s gone?”
She gives me that you know look. “Liam.”
I feel a crack begin to form in my heart. It can’t be. “But wait…how?” I stammer. “He said he just needed the restroom…”
“I was in the kitchen while you were talking to Dad,” Emily says. “And both Mom and I saw him drive off in a hurry. Like he was trying to get out of here quickly.”
No. No this can’t be. Everything around me starts to come crashing down. My wonderful conversation with Dad feels so meaningless now. What’s the point if I don’t have Liam to go to?
I feel hollow. As if an enormous ice cream scooper has been taken to my insides and just left me completely empty.
“But I…”
“Can you try calling him?” Emily asks hopefully.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and then slump back against the wall. “I never even got his number.”
Despite our competitive natures, my sister always knows when it’s time to drop all that and be a big sister. Now is one of those times. She comes over to me and puts an arm around my shoulders and pulls me tight.
“I’m so sorry. But don’t let it bother you too much. He’s just a guy. And guys are guys, ya know? They only care about one thing.”
She’s probably right, but at the same time, her words are just biting into me like a set of sharp teeth chomping straight into my chest.
“Yeah…”
“Just let it go,” she continues. “We’ll have an ice cream and movie night tonight. You me and Mom. How about that? Forget about the jackass.”
But suddenly a flare of anger rises up inside me. No, I tell myself. This is not it. I’m not just going to accept this betrayal and rejection and mope like a little girl.
I glance over at the short table by the door where we keep the keys. Mine are there. At least Liam kept up part of his bargain and didn’t make off with my keys, leaving me completely immobile.
I race over to them, snatch them up and tear the front door open. I’m halfway down the front steps when I hear my sister shouting after me.
“Jess, where are you going!?”
“To get my man back!” I shout back over my shoulder.
It’s a decently long drive back to Liam’s, which gives me time to think about what I’m doing and to go over all the nightmare scenarios I could be walking into. But I just put them out of my mind and keep driving until I get there. But as it turns out, when I arrive, I walk right into the worst one imaginable.
As I pull up and park in front of Liam’s house, the house where he and I shared such a magical and incredible night, I see him standing there uncomfortably close to a beautiful woman with bleached blond hair halfway down her back, a sleeve tattoo on her left arm, and lowrider jeans on showing off her incredibly tanned skin. She and I couldn’t be more different from each other if we tried.
My heart plummets into my toes. I want to spin the car in a 180-degree turn like you see in the movies (which of course I don’t know how to do) and just floor it home. But I’ve already driven all this way, and I’m not going home without answers.
Liam looks up as I leap out of the car and slam the door behind me. “So this is why you bail on me?” I snap, my voice filled with venom. “So you can be with her!?”
The girl looks at me and laughs. “Um…”
I’ve never wanted to slap a girl more in my life.
“Jess, just relax, okay?” Liam starts to say, but I am so far from relaxed I might as well be on Mt. Everest.
“You said you would be my emotional support!” I snap. “And then I come out of my dad’s office, and not only are you not there, but my sister is there explaining to me that she saw you drive off on me! Now I find you here with another girl? Do you know how embarrassing that is!?”
Liam rushes forward and takes hold of me by both hands. I try to break away, but he holds tight. “Jess, calm down,” he says firmly. “I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left the house, but this girl…” He tilts his head to the blonde behind him. “You don’t have to worry about her, okay?”