Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 82143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Oh. Quickly, I put my feet on the ground and smoothed out my stretched-out sweater. “Thank you for telling me.”
“It’s stupid, I know, but—”
“No, it’s not stupid. If there’s anything else, please let me know, okay? I want you to.”
“Okay.”
I fought the urge to reach over and pat his hand, but I sensed he wasn’t ready for that. “I haven’t been where you are, and I can’t imagine how hard it is, but… everyone always says that the only thing that helps is time.”
“Time’s been moving pretty fucking slowly lately.”
“You’ll get through this,” I said, hoping it was true. And vowing to help however I could. “And hell, maybe I’ll even get through my first semester.”
“Maybe,” he said, his voice quiet again. I didn’t know if he was talking about him, me, or both of us. But maybe was all either of us had to go on.
Thursday was no better in terms of classes. It was worse, in fact, after the early morning seminar with little sleep. All day, I felt lost and anxious. I wasn’t the only one not having a great day, though. Jude was almost as silent as Parker, and Mason was grumpy. Then at night in the bedroom, I heard them both tossing and turning again. Since I’d had so little sleep the night before, I drifted off pretty soon after my head hit the pillow. But the guys were still cranky in the morning. I was beginning to wonder if they were always like that or if their classes were giving them trouble, too.
After the last class on Friday, I went back to the suite and made a beeline for the balcony. As always, the sight of the mountains made me feel better about life in general, but not about my classes.
I called my friend Ronnie and told her about it—both the classes and my unusual living situation. Hearing a friendly, familiar voice was so comforting that I had to blink back the moisture that lined my lower lashes. In general, I wasn’t much of a crier, but at the moment, I felt almost as discouraged as Parker always looked.
After that, I sent a text to my friend Sierra. It was still hard to believe that I had the contact info of a Hollywood actress in my phone, but you meet a lot of interesting people while bartending—even at a small bar out in the middle of nowhere. Besides, Sierra didn’t act like a star. She was pretty much a regular woman except for being drop-dead gorgeous. And a bit girly, in my opinion. But she was very kind and I knew she’d understand how overwhelmed I felt.
I skipped dinner, instead having some popcorn and soda on the balcony. Maybe if I just kept staring at majestic, snow-capped peaks, everything else would fade away.
To my surprise, the guys were around in the evening, too. It was Friday, after all. I thought Mason, at least, would find a campus party to attend. And Jude? Hmm… maybe he was the type to see an arthouse movie? Or go somewhere where there was live music? It wasn’t much of a surprise that Parker was staying in, though.
When I went in to get something else to drink, I saw the guys sitting in front of the TV. It was on, but the volume was low, and they seemed to be talking about something intently. Good. Maybe the older two were finally trying to help Parker with what he was going through.
Leaving them to it, I returned to the balcony, propping my feet up on the railing as I alternated between taking in the view and scrolling through my phone. At least until the door opened and Jude and Mason appeared.
Jude gave me a smile. “Kylie, could you join us inside for a minute?”
“Sure,” I said, returning his smile. But my smile faded when Mason scowled. “We need to talk.”
Uh-oh.
That didn’t sound good.
9
Mason
Kylie looked uneasy as she followed us into the living room. I refused to feel guilty about that. She was the one who’d insisted on staying. Who’d wanted to insert herself where she didn’t belong. Well, this was one of the consequences of that decision.
She sat down on the couch across from Parker, immediately drawing her knees up to her chest. She had nice legs, I had to give her that. Really nice and surprisingly long for such a little thing. And though she sometimes dressed like a tomboy, her toenails were always bubblegum pink. I definitely didn’t mind the view with the sides of her thighs showing, but for some reason, she glanced at Parker and switched her position, tucking her legs off to the side.
Parker. I huffed out a sigh of exasperation. Last year, he would’ve been on board with this. Like any normal, red-blooded male, he would’ve been on my side. But this year, it’s like he’s not even here. It’s like he’s part of the scenery, like those mountains Kylie keeps drooling over.