Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 95080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“Yep.”
I meant to walk away from him, but I really liked the feel of his rough, callused palm skimming over mine.
“So, you and Breckin,” he said, his eyelids fluttering as I lifted my hand away from his and put it on his stubble-covered cheek.
“What about it?” I asked, tracing my thumb over his left eyebrow.
“What?”
I stroked over his cheekbone and watched his eyes narrow like he was drugged. “You have a question about Breckin and me.”
“Is it over?”
I could get far too addicted to touching him if I wasn’t careful. The way he responded, the feel of him…it was dangerous. “It is.”
“That fast, huh?”
“Not really, not if you think about it,” I said, the sudden urge to touch his short sideburns nearly overwhelming me. “We’ve been apart for nearly six months already, so—”
“What?” he said quickly, his gaze clearing as he stared at me.
“What did I say?” I took a step away from him.
“How long have you guys been taking a break?”
I scoffed. “Let’s call it what it is, Cord. We’ve been done for—”
“Done?”
“Well, yeah, like I said, it’s been—”
“Are you kidding?”
“Why would I kid about that?” He was so strange sometimes. I gave him a faint smile and walked away. I turned at the door. “Don’t let Alex hit Breckin, will ya?”
“I promise,” he said, seeming distracted. He probably had a lot on his mind.
Walking back into the house, I didn’t say anything until I reached Breckin, who was now at the kitchen table, having tea with my father.
“You need to go home and pack,” I told him. “We’re getting on a plane tomorrow.”
He stood up and faced me. “I just want a chance to talk to you. How come Cord gets time and I don’t?”
The answer seemed obvious to me: Cord had never made promises and broken them. Cord had never made me wonder what was wrong with me or why I wasn’t enough to satisfy him. Cord had never cheated on me and made me cry.
“There’s nothing for us to talk about. Just go home. I’ll see you tomorrow at the airport.”
“Tracy—”
“Make sure you get the flight information and stuff from Cord. You should actually go out and talk to him now.”
“I don’t want to talk to Cord. I want to talk to you!”
“Tomorrow,” I insisted, squeezing my dad’s shoulder as I turned away.
I was upstairs and safely ensconced in the bedroom minutes later. Sleep came fast after that. When I came to a couple of hours later, a little after eight, Matt and Eric were downstairs, and they had brought us all dinner from Molinari Deli. When I asked Alex if Cord was coming back, he said no.
“Why?” my brother asked. “Are you disappointed?”
“No, I was just wondering.”
But from the look on his face I was guessing I hadn’t fooled him at all.
NINE
At the airport on Tuesday morning I was thankful Evan was flying out too, so he could stay with me a little longer. His flight back to NY was around the same time as ours to Burlington. It was also a nice distraction to watch people see him, do a double take, and then approach slowly. I enjoyed having my mind occupied.
“What’s it like, Evan?” I asked him when he took a seat beside me.
“What?”
“To look like you.”
“I dunno.” He shrugged, pushing his sunglasses down to the end of his nose to look at me. “Never known anything else.”
I smiled at him. I couldn’t help myself. Our mother used to stare at him in wonder and tell him how beautiful he was. She did that with all of us, though; mothers were like that.
“Better’n being ugly, huh?” He grinned wickedly, giving me an eyebrow waggle.
“It is,” I agreed as Celia joined us in the boarding area and took a seat across from me.
“Not that you would know.”
“What?” My attention returned to him.
“Please.” He made a face. “You know what you look like.”
“Yeah. Not you.”
He gestured at me. “Oh, come on. You got Mom’s beautiful tan coloring, her big brown eyes, and her thick eyebrows and long lashes. You came out prettiest of all.”
I groaned. “Yeah, pretty is what every man strives for.”
He snorted. “Don’t knock it.”
Smiling at him, I watched his face grow serious.
“I will come at a moment’s notice if you need me.”
“I know,” I soothed him.
He sighed deeply. “I’m so thankful Cord’s going with you. That’s the only thing that’s actually letting me get on my plane.”
“Trust in Cord Nolan, do you?”
“Where you’re concerned, no question.”
When Evan had to go catch his plane, I held on to him tight. I had left my dad and Alex at the house, not able to do the whole waving-through-the-security-checkpoint thing that day.
“This will pass, Trace, and it will just be an interesting sound bite in your life,” he promised me before kissing the top of my head and giving me a tight squeeze.