Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76693 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76693 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“The Rover is fine,” I say with a grumble. “My shoulder…not so much.”
“Wait? Someone hit you with their car? How are you here and not at the hospital?”
“It was just a bump. Knocked me on my ass, though.”
Concern etches over his features. “You should have gotten it looked at. What if you injured yourself internally or something?”
“I really am fine.”
Tate’s eyes narrow. “Are you, though? That must have been terrifying. Even if you just got bruised or scraped up. Getting hit by a car isn’t a small thing.”
“It was just a dumb girl not paying attention.”
“The same girl who called your car a hunk of junk?” he asks, head tilting to the side.
I blink at him in shock. He said he was good at reading people and pressing issues, but damn. Am I really that transparent?
“Yeah. How’d you know that?”
“You got the same exact tortured expression as you did on Monday when mentioning her.”
I do?
Blinking several times, I wonder what else is clearly written on my face. Knowing my thoughts are visible on the outside has my heart hammering inside my chest. The last thing I need is anyone seeing inside my mind. It’s a clusterfuck of pain and disappointment.
“And now you’re afraid,” Tate says gently. “You don’t have to be. I’m here for you. This is a safe space to confide in.”
Absently, I take another butterscotch-flavored sip of my coffee, wondering what’s actually safe to say and what isn’t.
“This girl. What’s her name?”
“Golden.”
He laughs. “Strange name and most likely fake, but I’ll bite. What is it about Golden that you don’t like?”
Tension coils around me, making me stiffen. “She’s just a spoiled brat.”
He nods, pursing his lips together, waiting for me to continue. Rather than spilling my guts, I bite on my bottom lip, refusing to say more. Finally, he gets the message and exhales.
“From what I know of Golden so far, which isn’t much, she doesn’t appear to be a spoiled brat. Could she have been teasing you about the hunk of junk comment? I’m sure her hitting you today was an accident. If it wasn’t, I can refer you to a police officer who you can make a report to.”
A laugh barks out of me. “She didn’t do it on purpose.”
“That’s relieving,” he says gently. “There’s more to this story. Why don’t you like this girl, Two?”
Let me count thy ways, Therapist Tate.
“She’s my partner in class,” I grunt out, avoiding the real reason. “She thinks she’s perfect and snaps at me a lot. Now we’re stuck for an entire semester having to do work together. It’s stupid.”
Tate nods as though he agrees, which makes me feel marginally better. “Working with someone you don’t like has to be uncomfortable. Have you spoken with your professor to see if you could switch?”
“Pederson already made it known that we’re not able to switch. The only way out of this partnership is if she drops.”
“Why don’t you drop?”
“Because that class is something I’m passionate about. It’s an elective for her. She can literally take anything else and I’m sure we’d both be happier.”
Tate takes another sip of his coffee, thinking in silence. Then he lifts a brow. “Do you want my honest opinion?”
“No.”
His laughter is light and airy. “Too bad. I think you’re being a bit hard on her. You barely know her. Perhaps if you took the time to learn more about her, your feelings of dislike wouldn’t be so intense. It would certainly help make the rest of the semester go by more easily.”
“It’s not that easy…”
He leans forward as if he can draw the real reason out of me. “Why not?”
“Because.” I take another blissful sip of my coffee.
“I didn’t like my fiancé at first,” he reveals. “He slammed the door in my face and fired me. It was humiliating.”
“Sounds like a real dick.”
“Totally a dick that day,” he admits with a grin. “But I persevered. Behind his snappy, rude behavior, someone vulnerable hid deep inside him. That person behind the outward mask of his was enigmatic. I kept feeling drawn to learn more.”
“Trust me. I don’t want to know any more about Golden. What I know is already too much.”
He nods, giving me a sad smile. “What if you’re wrong? What if what you think you know is only the surface but there’s more hiding beneath?”
Digging deep into Gemma Park feels like an exploration mission on Mars—dangerous and terrible and something that would suck the life out of me. Hard pass.
“My man was an asshole,” Tate continues, “until I saw that he wasn’t. He wasn’t at all what he’d presented himself to be. Once I saw a tiny glimmer of someone else inside of him, I liked that person. A lot. What started out as hate morphed into love. Serendipity.”
There’s that word again.
“Sounds more like stupidity if you fell for your enemy.”