Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80314 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80314 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
“Would you like another glass?” I hear the bartender ask, and I look up at her from my phone, hating the sympathy I see in her gaze.
It’s been an hour since I took a seat at the bar, and in that time, I’ve sent a dozen or more messages to Mike and tried to call him multiple times, with no response in return. I want to believe the guy I’ve been talking to would never stand me up and something happened to him that is preventing him from calling me, but I have a feeling Mike was too good to be true and I’ve been played.
“I think I should probably cash out my tab,” I tell her quietly as I scoot off my stool.
“That drink’s on me, girl.”
“Oh no, that’s not necessary.” I shake my head, pulling out my wallet.
“I know it’s not,” she says gently, then tips her head to the side. “Just so you know, whoever was supposed to meet you here tonight is an idiot for not showing up.”
“Thanks,” I whisper, giving her a smile as I pull out a few dollars and leave them on the top of the bar. When I step out of the restaurant, I give one last glance up and down the sidewalk to check for Mike before tucking my free hand in my coat pocket.
Walking toward where I parked, I feel like the biggest idiot in the world. Halfway to my car, my cell phone in my hand rings, and relief floods through my system like a tidal wave, but as soon as I look at the screen, the feeling whooshes out as quickly as it rolled in. Sliding my finger across the screen, I put my phone to my ear.
“Hey,” I greet my cousin, Willow.
“Hey, girl. Do you have a minute to talk?”
“Yep,” I chirp trying to cover how disappointed I feel.
“Well, I was thinking about getting out of town for a few days after the holidays and wanted to see if you’d like to join me on a beach in Florida.”
“Yes,” I answer immediately, and she starts to laugh.
“Well then, I’m going to see if any of the other girls want to join us before I start looking for a place to stay.”
“Awesome, keep me in the loop when you buy your plane ticket so I can catch the same flight as you.”
“Will do,” she says, sounding happy, then asks, “Have you been okay? I feel like we haven’t had a chance to chat in forever.”
“I’m good,” I lie as I settle behind the steering wheel of my car. “Just busy with work and stuff. Are you good?”
“I can’t complain, and I can’t wait to hang with you.”
“Me too. Let me know what everyone says.”
“Will do, and we’ll catch up on the beach.”
“We will.” We hang up, then I reluctantly send my sisters a text, letting them know I’m heading home because Mike was a no show.
Of course they all start calling me right then, so I end up doing a group call with them on my drive home. And by the time I reach my house, April—with her husband’s help and using the photo Mike used for his profile—is able to find out that the man in the picture isn’t a guy named Mike but a man named Aiden Bender. Aiden apparently grew up in Tennessee, played soccer for Stanford University in college, then went on to play for some big-time team in London.
Since Aiden didn’t have any social media, she couldn’t find much more about him besides that. But what more was there to know? The man I had been chatting with for weeks was the worst kind of liar, and I was the world’s biggest idiot.
Chapter 2
May
STANDING ON MY front porch with a cup of hot coffee held tightly in my grasp, I smile as I watch a group of kids sledding down a hill on the opposite side of the road, in a lot the builder has been using to store extra dirt. It rarely snows here in Tennessee, so when it does, the kids tend to take advantage of it before it all disappears. The kids in my neighborhood lucked out this year, having the perfect sledding hill right in their neighborhood. And I lucked out, since the weather should be clear tomorrow when I’m due to leave for Florida, where I’ll be meeting Willow, Hanna, and Nalia for two days on the beach.
After the last few weeks, I really need to get away for a few days. Mike, or whoever he is, of course called and texted me the day after I was supposed to meet him, apologized profusely, and told me some tall tale about how he had a family emergency. I didn’t answer the phone calls, but I did text him back some article I found on Aiden that proved Mike was a liar. He didn’t message me back for a few days after that, but then he started calling and texting me nonstop again—so much so that I changed my number.