Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
He’s smiling ear to ear. “Yep, you ready to go home?”
I yawn and nod my head. “Yep, let’s go. I can’t believe I slept through the whole second movie.”
He jokes, “And most of the first.”
“I had a really good time, Elias. You’re actually a pretty good date. How are you still single?”
He snorts. “Right.”
I turn to look at him in surprise. “I’m being serious. I don’t get it.”
He points to himself. “There’s not a woman out there that would want to look at this all day, every day for the rest of our lives.”
I’m shaking my head. “Elias...”
He interrupts. “I have mirrors. I know what I look like.”
“But,” I start.
He cuts me off. “Forget it, Emerson.”
I huff out a breath. Elias is being way too hard on himself, but it’s obvious he’s not going to listen to me. I sit back and think about the day's events.
We’re almost home before I dig my phone out of my purse. “Oh my God.”
Elias isn’t even fazed by my surprise. “How many?”
“What?” I ask him.
“How many missed phone calls?”
“How did you know… fifteen missed calls and five texts.”
He laughs. “Yeah, I had more… this is going to be so good.”
Nerves settle in, and I’m unable to sit still the rest of the ride home. I go between reading the texts, looking out into the night, and worrying about Kanan. This is what he wanted. He’s the one that asked his friend to take me out, and now he’s flipping out about it. I start to read the texts again.
Call me, Em. We need to talk.
Are you ok?
Where are you at?
Emerson, are you on your way home?
If he touches you, I’m going to break every bone in his body.
I read the last one again. He sure doesn’t sound like a man that doesn’t want anything to do with me.
When we finally pull into the parking lot, Elias comes around the truck as I climb down.
He holds his arm out to me. “Ready?”
He’s smiling ear to ear, but there’s no part of me that feels like smiling. I inhale and let it out sharply. “Yeah, I’m ready.”
And even though I try to say it with confidence, I’m not feeling it.
I’m not completely sure what I’m supposed to be ready for.
CHAPTER 19
KANAN
I’m going to kill him.
I’m pacing across my porch, thinking of all the ways I’m going to torture my friend. I asked him to take her out and show her a good time. That didn’t mean for him to avoid my phone calls and bring her home the next day. I mean, it’s only a little after midnight, but it’s technically the next day.
I see the lights of a truck coming from the parking lot, and I lean over the banister, with my eyes on the walking path.
As soon as Elias and Emerson come into view, I’m off my porch stomping toward them. Fuck, she’s beautiful, and the thought pisses me off even more.
When I get in front of them, I shove my friend. “Asshole.”
He just smirks at me, and it takes everything I have to not throat punch him. I grab Emerson’s arm, lace our fingers together, and start walking back to the cabin. She turns and waves over her shoulder. “Thanks, Elias. I had a great time.”
I don’t even recognize the sound that comes out of me. It’s a cross between a growl and a grunt, but there’s no doubt she knows how unhappy I am with the chain of events.
She’s practically jogging to get next to me. “Kanan, slow down.”
I do, but I also throw my arm around her shoulder and walk with her the rest of the way to the cabin. When we get inside, she’s pissed. She stops next to the couch and glares at me. “What is wrong with you?”
“Did he touch you?”
Her mouth drops. “What?”
I move toward her and don’t stop until I’m towering over her, glaring down at her. Most people would be intimidated by me. “I said, did he touch you?”
She puts her hands on her hips. “What if he did?”
My nostrils flare, and every muscle in my body flexes. “Don’t fuck around because I will gut him, Em. I’m not playing. Did he touch you?”
She’s still glaring at me, and it’s obvious she wants to challenge me, but I can see her weighing the options, wondering if I’d really kill my friend or not. She must see it in my eyes because she finally tells me. “No, he didn’t touch me. But what do you care, Kanan? You don’t want me… but what? You don’t want anyone else to have me either?”
I reach for her, holding her face in my hands. “Fuck, Em. Don’t want you? How can you even think that?”
Her eyes are wide. “Because you pawned me off on your friend. Instead of you asking me out, instead of you finishing what you started last night, you had your friend take me out on a date.”