Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Because I knew my sister.
She would feel guilty.
She would lose focus again, would be pulled back into that hole again, into the traumas of her past.
I couldn’t do that to her.
“Greasy and fatty is pretty much all we serve. Oh, and once, salmonella. So just… don’t order the chicken, okay?” I asked, giving her a smile as I pushed a Sprite in her direction. “You seem happy. How have things been going?”
“Oh, my God. So good. I think I was struggling a little at first. I just felt out of place. Too old, I guess. But once I got over that, I really started to make a lot of friends,” she told me. “I, ah, I even met this guy.”
My stomach tensed.
And I hated that.
But I couldn’t seem to stop it, either.
A trauma response, I guess.
Because it hadn’t just been Wren who’d been impacted by the whole Josh situation. She’d had it the worst, of course, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t have some scars as well.
“Really? What’s he like?” I asked, glad when my tone didn’t come out as tight as my throat suddenly felt.
“He’s… God, how do I put this that doesn’t sound wrong? He’s… not charming,” she said, rolling her eyes at herself.
“Oh yeah?” I asked, almost feeling a little relieved. Because, a lot of the time, abuse hid behind charm. It certainly had with Josh.
“He’s sort of… nerdy actually. Shy, even. He’s got these horrible glasses that are just all wrong for his face. And I don’t think he’s had a haircut in like six months.”
I kind of liked that image already.
“Where did you meet him?”
“The library. I’d, ah, accidentally dropped a stack of books on his head.”
“That is a great meet-cute,” I said, starting to feel excited for her.
If anyone deserved a chance to meet a guy who would treat her right, it was Wren.
Was it soon? Maybe. But sometimes, you just couldn’t control that kind of thing.
“Right? His name is Liam. He’s actually older than me. It’s so nice to meet someone older than me on campus,” she added, raking a hand through her shiny hair. “He’s going for a doctorate in history.”
Oh, I knew a few professors of history.
And, yes, they did tend to be the shy, library-hiding types with ill-fitting glasses.
“We’re just friends,” she said, giving me a small, hopeful smile, making it clear that she would be happy if it became more than that. “He’s actually going to meet me here in a little bit,” she added. “He’s excited to meet you. He wants to get into teaching. I mean, he wants to be a professor, but he is interested in what you have to say about working in education.”
“I can’t wait to meet him,” I assured her.
That was another green flag, right?
Because Josh never wanted to meet me. And he always made sure when Wren and I had plans, that he was nowhere around. Maybe he was afraid that I could see through his bullshit.
And, honestly, I could.
When I finally did meet Josh, I’d instantly disliked him, but for no good reason, so I’d kept my feelings to myself about it. Wren had been deep in the love-bombing stage at that point, so she wouldn’t have listened to my criticisms anyway.
“Please don’t go interrogating him. I know my history with guys is—“
“Not your fault,” I cut her off.
“I know,” she agreed. “I just want to give this a chance, okay? As friends. Then maybe more when I really, really get to know him.”
“I think that’s a great plan,” I agreed.
“So what does he like? Aside from history and libraries?”
“Food,” she said, smiling. “He’s a complete foodie. Earlier this week, we met up at this hole-in-the-wall place but it ended up having some of the best food I’ve ever had in my life. Apparently, he likes to cook too. He just doesn’t have as much time anymore with all his classes and work.”
“What does he do?”
“He narrates books!” she said, practically bouncing in her seat because she knew how interesting I would find that.
“Really? That’s an interesting career.”
“He’s got a really deep voice, so I guess that is really in demand, so he… oh, here he is!” she beamed as the door opened.
And there he was.
Tall, lanky, shaggy-haired, brown-eyed, with round glasses and baggy clothes. He had a messenger bag hanging from his shoulder, and the bag part was swinging and whacking hard against his thigh, making me think he had some serious books in there.
“You must be Liam,” I said, giving him a warm smile.
“And you’re the best big sister in the whole world,” he said, smiling at me as Wren went goo-goo-eyed at him.
“Well, top ten maybe,” I said, smiling. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Coffee.”
“Ah…” Wren said, making him look over at her, giving her a sheepish smile that he turned to me.