Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
“Yeah, I did and I do. Life is too short to hold in things like that. I can think of a million things I wish I’d told Brooke and she was just a friend. I couldn’t imagine holding back from Lynn.”
I take a sip of my beer and glance around for Lynn. Not seeing her yet, I turn back to Tom. He has this look on his face as if he wants to ask me a question but isn’t sure if he should.
“What’s going on in your head?” I ask.
“Cliff. Is he going to be all right?”
“She was his girlfriend. He was planning to propose. He was in Dallas with his daddy to pick out a ring that day. Moses was finally coming around to the idea.
“He’s broken. Angry with himself for not letting her know he was committed to coming on this trip for her and angry that they didn’t get more time. Most of all, he’s angry he wasn’t there that night.”
“I thought his plan was genius. Surprising her here during the first week so he could propose in Paris. I get why he kept telling her he wouldn’t come.
“It’s not like it was unbelievable that he wouldn’t want to. Cliff is Cliff. If he never leaves Texas, I wouldn’t be surprised.
“Once he got here, that was going to blow her mind. The perfect romantic gesture. He shouldn’t be too hard on himself,” Tom murmurs.
“I know, but that’s gutting him now. That she died thinking he didn’t want to be here with her. That she’ll never see the ring. He’s in bad shape.”
“I feel sorry for him. I hope that if I ever fall in love, I can protect her until we take our last breath together.”
I smile at that thought. That’s exactly why I want to go to New York with Lynn. I want to keep her safe. In a few years, we’ll settle down and get married, but as long as she’s pursuing her career, I want to look out for her.
I’ll figure the rest out. The more I think about it, the more it feels like the right thing to do. I’d walk to the ends of the earth for that girl.
“I couldn’t imagine going through what he’s going through. It took so long for her to get her daddy to approve of her dating anyone,” I say.
“She was in love with Cliff for years.”
“Don’t I know it. She refused to date him until she tested the waters with guys she didn’t even like, but Cliff only had eyes for her. He would have died waiting if he had to.”
“Which makes this all so much more fucked up. I miss her so much, man,” Tom says as he plays with the condensation on his beer.
“Yeah, me too.”
I look up to land my eyes on Lynn, getting impatient for her return. I spot her over at the bar. Some French guy’s all up in her face.
I stand immediately. I don’t even think twice before I’m crossing the room. I nearly snarl when Cody stands in my way.
“They’re fans. Do you really want to ruin her moment?” he says.
“When did I ask you a damn thing?”
“Look, I get you’re not a fan of mine, but think about it. This is going to be her life. We all know she’s going to make it big. You storm over there now, it’s gonna blow up in your face.”
“Billings, I don’t remember asking you for advice. What I am telling you is to get the hell out of my way. Now,” I snarl.
He holds his hands up and sighs. “Fine, I tried. Someone’s gonna need to figure out how to reel you in since Pook is gone,” he mutters the last part to himself as he mopes away.
I narrow my eyes at him and nearly take a swing. However, Lynn is more important. I need to make sure she’s safe.
Ignoring Cody, I head toward the bar where Lynn is. One of the guys now has his arm draped over her shoulders while the other holds up a camera, taking a picture.
I step right between the camera guy and Lynn and the other asshole who’s touching what doesn’t belong to him. I wrap my arm around Lynn’s waist to pull her up from the stools she’s on and tug her into my body.
“Let’s go,” I murmur while glaring at the sleezy-looking guys.
I don’t like the vibe I’m getting from either of them. I’m almost tempted to break the camera. When one of them says something in Italian to the other, I turn and do just that.
Like I told Lynn, my French might be trash, but my Italian is as good as my English. These two assholes aren’t fans. They’re scouting for young women.
“Trev,” Lynn gasps and grabs my arm before I can swing.