Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 117820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 589(@200wpm)___ 471(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 589(@200wpm)___ 471(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
He pushes my burger towards me as I chew on another fry. “Eat. You need to take care of your body.”
At his words I laugh, it’s genuine but also cruel and then sad because I’m watching him ruin his and there’s nothing I can do.
I reach across the table and squeeze the hand of my twin.
“I love you,” I say to him. “Whatever happens.”
“I love you too.”
At that I smile and peek at the test in my pocket and a whoosh of air leaves my body.
“What is it?” he asks as my face stretches with a blinding smile that aches my cheeks and jaw.
“I’m not pregnant.”
“You sure?”
I nod and show him the stick, using a menu to shield it from the prying eyes of others. “No plus sign. I’m not pregnant. I must just have a bug.”
“There’s a lot going around right now.”
I take a big bite of my burger and wipe away the grease that rolls down my chin. I’ve never felt so relieved in my entire life. I’m not pregnant and I don’t have to worry about a thing.
To celebrate, I of course surprise Kane at work and throw myself at his grease covered body. I mash my lips to his, shove my tongue into his mouth and grab his hair so he can’t move.
His coworker wolf-whistles and cheers us on, which is gross because he’s like forty, but I suppose it’s what they do at work. It’s all good fun.
“Well hello to you too,” Kane whispers when I pull back breathlessly and stare into his eyes. “Didn’t think I’d see you until later.”
I kiss him again, unable to help myself, crushing my lips so painfully against his.
“I’m sorry I said that you’re ruining my life, Kane Jessop.”
He frowns, confused.
“You’re the only thing I have these days that brings me any kind of happy feelin’,” I admit, still clinging to him.
His eyes, his smile, his body soften all for me and he looks at me in that expressive way that he only looks at me.
“I just wanted to say that,” I breathe and pull away. “I’ll let you finish working.”
I start to drift from him when he slides his hand down my arm and snags me back by my hand at the very last second. This time he kisses me. He doesn’t say shit, he just kisses me and watches me walk away with a twinkle in his eyes that mirrors my own.
Matthew, who waited in the lobby of the service station sees me mount my bike and joins me. He’s chewing something in his mouth. I don’t ask what it is as we pull away, but I wish I had.
I really wish I had. Not that he’d have given me any kind of real answer.
It’s as we’re driving down the long and dusty dirt road that he starts to have a seizure. It’s when his weight brings down mine that we crash into the back of a parked truck and tumble into a dry ditch.
I hurt, my body aches, but I’m okay.
I’m okay, that is, until I see the rolling eyes of my brother and foam coming from his mouth.
I scream, long and loud, a hoarse, panicked cry tearing through my throat as I crawl towards him.
“HELP!” I shriek, fumbling for my phone with trembling hands. “SOMEBODY HELP ME!”
26 years old
“That day with my brother was the scariest day of my life… or so I thought,” I whisper, wiping away tears. “I mean, shit just couldn’t get worse.”
“Why didn’t he care that you didn’t come back?” Kane asks. “He didn’t say a thing.”
“Right?” I sniff and wipe my nose on a piece of tissue, then I toss it and wash my hands while listening to the hum of the coffee machine. “I wouldn’t have left him there.”
I try to pour his coffee but my hand shakes so violently I have to put the jug down. Kane steps behind me and wraps an arm around my waist.
“I hated you,” I whisper. “I still do.”
“Why?” he asks, sounding bitter and hurt. “I tried.”
“I know that now but then, you were on this superhero pedestal. I was just waiting and waiting for you to save the day.” I let my head drop forward. “Every single day my stomach got bigger and bigger and I just kept praying and praying that you’d bust your way in and take me away on your bike and we’d all live happily ever after.”
He holds me tighter and presses his forehead against the back of my hair. “I tried. I didn’t stop trying. Your mee-maw got an injunction out on me. They said you didn’t want to see me. Said you hated me. I didn’t believe it, I knew you wouldn’t have left on your own but after a while they all started to convince me it was true.” His voice cracks and he slowly turns me in his arms. “Eventually I believed I wasn’t good enough and you and Marshall were living happily ever after.” His fist comes down on the counter behind me. “I never should have stopped.”