Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69537 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69537 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
“It’s Garrett…” He paused and corrected himself. “Gee. You called me Gee.”
Then it hit me like a battering ram.
He was here? What were the odds?
My mouth fell open. “Gee?”
“Yeah.” He moved closer. “What are you doing here?”
I swallowed past the emotion that welled up inside of me, then thought…fuck it.
I moved toward him with my arms wide open.
He caught me up in his arms, and I buried my face into his chest before bursting into tears.
“Shh,” he said. “Shh.”
He’d said those same words to me when he’d held me in the truck as he barreled toward the emergency room.
The intense rightness of his words made me feel better, and he hadn’t done a damn thing.
“I’m sorry,” I sniffled. “I thought I’d never get to see you again.” I paused. “Well, maybe not see…hear?”
He chuckled. “Hear is good.”
His rumbling voice was enough to send pleasure straight through my veins.
I pulled back, wiping at my eyes, only now realizing I’d forgotten my glasses in my haste to get down here.
“Oh.” I squeezed my eyes shut.
I hated being out in public without my glasses.
I was so self-conscious about my eyes.
It wasn’t like I could help it, but based on the description my mom and dad gave me, they were weird to look at.
They’re pretty, really. I promise I wouldn’t lie to you.
My mom’s assurance that they were beautiful didn’t outweigh Joseph’s.
They’re fucking creepy. God, can you cover them up?
“I just moved here.” I shook off Joseph’s voice. “I don’t know why. I just…I started looking for blind-friendly places to live. And this apartment building is superior for blind people who live alone. There’s a lot of stuff nearby, a bus stop, and anything and everything I could ever need to get to within a safe walking distance. So I just…moved.”
“Oh,” he breathed. “That’s fucking amazing.”
“Do you live here?” I asked.
He caught my hand with his, then pressed another hand on my eyes. “Stop squeezing your eyes shut so tight. You look like you’ll induce a headache.”
I did so, relieved that he didn’t find my eyes creepy.
Since I couldn’t see, sometimes I couldn’t tell that they were open until they started to get really dry.
If he wasn’t bothered…
“I live here,” he said, immediately making my heart rate pick up, only for his words to make it fall. “I’m building a house out of town, though. So not for very much longer.”
My belly sank.
That really sucked.
I kind of liked the idea of him being in the same building as me.
“Bummer,” I sighed. “It would’ve been nice to have someone close to rely on.”
When I inevitably needed some help.
Because it was a sure thing that I couldn’t do this on my own.
“I’m here when you need anything,” he said. “Even if I’m not living here anymore, I’m still here. If that makes sense.”
I smiled and dropped my head, wishing that I could see his face to read if the sincerity I heard in his voice was true.
It wouldn’t be the first time I was lied to after I’d lost my vision.
Freakin’ Joseph.
God, how had I picked so wrong?
“What are you doing out here so late?” he asked. “Anything I can help you with?”
I started to answer in the negative but paused.
“Actually.” I straightened my shoulders and turned to where I thought he was standing. “I could use some help.”
He turned my head, just with a finger on my chin, and I said, “Thanks.”
“Welcome,” he said. “Gotta be weird not to be able to find people anymore. What is it you could use some help with?”
I sighed. “So yesterday I called my ex-boyfriend, who, if you can believe it, decided to follow me to Dallas to ‘fix what he’d broken.’ Which, let me just say, I’d already told him he could never fix this. I can’t stand the man, yet he’s made it his life’s mission to fix me—us. Anyway, when we left, I forwarded my address to this new one. I’m not sure what happened to his. But he got forwarded a refund check for taxes, and it came to my place. So I called him to get his new mailing address. And instead of giving it to me, he said he’d get back to me. I didn’t expect that him getting back to me was showing up at my house unannounced. We fought, and he left, taking my stuffed bear I sleep with every night with him.”
Gee growled under his breath and said, “What the fuck?”
“I know.” I pressed the heel of my hands to my eyes, frustration leeching out of my every pore. “I called him after I found out, and he’d told me that he threw it away in the dumpster outside. So I need help to see if it’s in there.”
Gee grabbed my hand and said, “Let’s go look.”
I followed his directions, shivering when we hit the cool night air. “Cold.”