Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 78407 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78407 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Knuckles rapped softly on wood. “Cassidy?”
I went motionless, and my heart skipped a beat faster. “Yeah?”
“I . . . need to say something,” Dr. Lowe’s voice came from the other side of the door. “Can I come in?”
I clenched a hand tight on the side of my towel. I hadn’t started changing, and he’d seen me in my swimsuit a minute ago, but that had been beside the pool. It was stupid, but I felt more exposed now that I was in the house. I pushed the thought aside. “Yeah.”
He stepped into the room, shut the door behind him, and when he faced me, his shoulders sagged. Whatever he was about to say, it seemed deadly serious, and he’d struggled with the decision.
“What’s wrong?” I whispered.
“I shouldn’t be saying this, and it’s not my business, but Preston—” His eyebrows pulled together. “You should end it with him.”
I nearly fell over. “What? Why?”
It took him a lifetime to say something. Every rise and fall of his chest as he breathed made it harder for me to do so. I ran a list of reasons in my head of why he’d ask this, and one of them was absurd.
“Because,” he said, “I’ve watched the way he treats you, and it’s not right. He’s at a point in his life where he’s extremely selfish, and he’s not going to get better. Not for a while.” Dr. Lowe’s expression was resigned. “Not until he learns to stop taking things for granted, and I’m unfortunately speaking from experience. When I was his age, I was the same way.”
It was a lot to process, and I swallowed thickly. It was hard to think around him. Maybe the lemonade had been drugged.
I opened my mouth to tell him I’d broken it off with Preston five minutes ago, but he kept talking.
“I know this all sounds terrible. What kind of dad am I, telling you to break up with him?” He shook his head at his own question. “I don’t want to see either of you get hurt, but I think that’s bound to happen, no matter what you do. I’m probably going to walk out of this room regretting I said any of this, but I want to be clear, this is on him, not you.”
He rubbed a hand on his defined jaw, and the whiskers scratched against his skin.
“You’re a great girl, Cassidy, and frankly, you deserve more than my son can give right now.”
“Wow.” It was a breath, rather than a word from me.
Dr. Lowe’s face twisted with embarrassment, and his shoulders straightened sharply. “I’m sorry. I really shouldn’t have said anything.”
“No, wait,” I cried as he turned toward the door. “I just broke up with him.”
“You did?” He stilled. “Why?”
I dropped my gaze to the carpet. It was too hard to look him in the face as I told him his son was less than perfect, even when Dr. Lowe seemed to know Preston was human. “For the same reason you just said. Preston and me, we’re different people from who we were three years ago.” My gaze crawled up Dr. Lowe’s body until I could meet his eyes. “I’m not sure the new me likes the new him all that much,” I admitted.
“I get it,” he said, and he genuinely seemed to. There wasn’t defensiveness or anger in his eyes. It looked mostly like relief. “I grew up a lot when I was in school. I did stupid shit until I figured out how to be an adult, and I’m guessing that’s where he is right now.”
“Still figuring it out?” It was a half-question, half-statement, because I knew it was true. Preston couldn’t get a handle on all the freedom of college life, and he’d gone overboard.
“Yeah. He’s got a ways to go,” his father said.
“I’m sorry.”
Confusion flooded Dr. Lowe’s face. “For what?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. That I couldn’t make it work.”
He looked at me like I was being silly. “Don’t do that. This isn’t your fault. Things don’t work out sometimes, and that’s just life.”
I took in a deep breath. It was strange to talk about it with him, but it felt good too. It was nice to hear I wasn’t to blame. He was always so good at knowing what to say or do, and with that thought, I grew sadder than I’d been all day. “It sucks. I feel like I broke up with you too.”
The second it was out of my mouth, I wanted it back. His eyes went wide.
“I mean,” I sputtered, “because we won’t see each other again after this. Like, do we say goodbye?”
I’d been a huge part of Preston’s life. There were pictures of me with my boyfriend sprinkled throughout this house. I’d even gone on vacation with the Lowes last summer.
I wasn’t overly emotional, but I blinked back the threat of tears. “Is it weird to say I’m going to miss you?”