Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 130673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 523(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 523(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
“She went back to New York to ask you to take her back.” Zeta tugged her robe tighter around her chest.
“I’m not leaving until she—Wait, what?”
“She understood she made a mistake as soon as she started driving to Maine,” Zeta explained with a smile.
“And she never heard of the word U-turn?” I was on the brink of dancing, crying, high-fiving myself, and hugging Zeta. Possibly all at the same time.
Dylan was coming back for me.
Hold your horses, Coltridge. You’re not even there.
“I don’t appreciate your tone, young man. She wanted to spend some time with her mama after what happened with Tucker.”
“You’re right. You’re absolutely right,” I said breathlessly. “I’ll be out of your hair right now. Just let me see Gravity before I leave.”
“She’s asleep.”
“I know. I need my daily fix of inhaling her hair, and I’ll be on my way.” I was such a fucking red flag I was surprised no bull had assassinated me yet. It sounded so creepy and cheesy. “I won’t make a sound. I promise.”
Zeta cursed in Italian, shaking her head and flattening her hand against the door to open it up for me.
“My daughter better marry you, or I will.”
DYLAN
When I made it home, Rhyland wasn’t there.
I unlocked his door using the spare key he’d given me. The place was impeccably organized, clean and empty. The addictive scent of leather, wood, and man filled my nostrils, making me ache for him.
My knee-jerk reaction was panic. Where did he go? When was he coming back? Was he with someone else?
No. I knew for a fact the last option wasn’t possible. Heat uncurled in the pit of my stomach—something that resembled an orgasm but was much more profound. The realization floored me.
I trusted him.
I trusted him not to be with someone else, even if we weren’t together. And that was huge.
After my dread and sadness subsided, determination took over.
It was actually a good thing he wasn’t here yet.
I had a plan.
RHYLAND
I pushed Dylan’s apartment door open.
She wasn’t there.
I tried to tamp down my worry.
I knew she’d gotten here before me because I’d been texting her mom throughout my drive.
Maybe she came straight to my penthouse.
Rather than take the elevator, I took the stairs up two at a time. I needed to see her. Taste her. When I pushed the door open, she wasn’t there. I pulled my phone out, ready to concede in this wild-goose chase, call her and ask where the fuck she was, when I noticed a note stuck to my stainless-steel fridge. It hadn’t been there before. I didn’t even own any magnets. Squinting, I walked over to it.
Meet me at the Stonewell Mall ASAP.
—Cosmos.
(P.S. your dogs are with me)
(P.P.S. not in a ransom kind of way. They were whimpering and wanted to be taken out.)
(P.P.P.S. You do realize they’re your dogs, right? You’re never letting anyone adopt them. Just admit you’re a big softie.)
She used the nickname I gave her.
The one she apparently loathed.
I grabbed my keys and bolted out. I shook my head the entire walk to the local mall. It was ten in the goddamn morning. I didn’t remember what day it was. Or what year, for that matter. I broke into a jog at some point, eager to get to her. I knocked down two delivery boys on bikes and nearly seriously injured an elderly lady. The mall was two blocks down from our building, and by the time I got there, I was sweating harder than Jeffrey Dahmer in a zombie movie. I hurried through the sliding automatic doors, realizing the mall was huge and she hadn’t specified where she’d be.
She didn’t have to.
She was standing right in front of me.
Dylan.
The generic mall fountain was her backdrop.
People were pushing strollers around her, walking around with their coffees and suits, taking business calls, fretting over menus in restaurants, and there she was. The woman of my wildest dreams.
The woman who’s about to become my reality.
The dogs were next to her on a leash, napping on the floor.
As soon as she noticed me, her worried brow smoothed, and her lips broke into a childlike smile. I hurried toward her like a congressman reunited with his long-lost brain cells. She raised a hand before I could scoop her up in my arms.
“Wait,” she said.
I stopped, doing my best not to grumble my protest. We both looked like we could use a meal, a shower, and a two-week vacation. We’d been driving back and forth across the East Coast like a traveling circus.
“Yes?”
“Open your hand,” she commanded.
I did, even though I normally only responded well to orders when we were in bed.
She pressed a smooth silver coin into my palm. “A family heirloom,” she explained. “From Italy.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but she stopped me. “Make a wish, and throw it in the fountain.”