Total pages in book: 16
Estimated words: 15283 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 76(@200wpm)___ 61(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15283 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 76(@200wpm)___ 61(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
“Putting up with me?” I say, feeling my anger rise, but I quickly push it down. He doesn’t mean what he’s saying.
“Fuck, you’re such a clingy bitch.”
“But I thought—”
“Don’t you get it? It doesn’t matter what you think,” he scoffs. “All that matters is what I get. Can’t believe I have to spell that out to you.”
“But Dylan…”
I move closer to him hoping that the Dylan I thought I knew would show up. I put my hand on his arm, desperately hoping that the man I once thought would rescue me appears.
“Get the fuck away from me,” he says.
He slaps my hand away, then shoves me back. I trip backward over one of the table feet and start falling, but I never land. Strong hands catch me, and when I look up at my rescuer, I see familiar blue eyes.
“Are you okay?” Alex asks.
“Alex?” I whisper.
Before I can gather my thoughts, Alex punches Dylan on the nose, making it gush.
Dylan falls back off the bench. His hands cover his nose. He’s shrieking, but I don’t care what he says anymore.
“Don’t ever talk to my wife again,” he says before throwing money at Dylan. “Get yourself cleaned up. You’re an embarrassment.”
Alex turns around and walks past me. I follow in awe. Not only was my father right about Dylan, but he was right about Alex, too.
My heart is thumping so loudly in my chest that I think everyone can hear it. Is this what love feels like? This feels warm, comfortable, and safe. Like a warm blanket on a cold day. It’s nothing like what I felt with Dylan.
Alex opens the limo door for me.
“I’m leaving for a few days on business,” he says before walking to his car.
As I stand by the limo and watch Alex drive away, I think about how I’ve treated him the past few weeks. He didn’t deserve any of that.
I pull out my phone to apologize but then decide it’s better done in person. I can wait until he gets back. In the meantime, there’s someone else I need to apologize to. Someone I’ve missed over the last few weeks because I was too stubborn to talk to him.
I get into the limo and buckle my seat belt.
“Reggie?”
“Yes, Miss?”
“Can you take me to see my dad?”
“Right away, Miss.”
I burst into tears as the car moves into traffic. I can’t believe how stupid I’ve been. I think back over the past few weeks, and even though I had been reaching out to Dylan, I had also been convincing myself that Alex doesn’t matter.
A so-called normal girl would reach out to her bestie for some girlfriend therapy, but I never had that. What I always counted on was my dad.
As the limo pulls up to the front door, my father races out of the house. He’s unshaven and has dark circles under his eyes. I can tell he hasn’t been sleeping much. He doesn’t need to tell me that it’s all because of me, I know it is.
Not that he would ever blame me, but he didn’t need to. I did a good enough job of blaming myself.
The limo comes to a stop, and my father opens my door. As soon as I’m out of the car, he kisses my cheeks and wraps his arms tightly around me.
“My girl is home!” he exclaims.
“Stop it,” I say as I hug him back. “You’re going to make me feel even worse.”
“Come inside and let’s talk,” he says. “Reggie? Thank you for bringing my little girl home.”
“I’m just the driver, Sir. She asked to come home.”
Dad wraps his arms around me again and squeezes tight.
“I can’t breathe, Dad!”
“I’m sorry, it’s just been so long.”
We enter the house, and Dad leads me to the kitchen, where we always have our best conversations. I sit on the stool and lean my elbows onto the kitchen counter while Dad makes us ice cream floats.
“So tell me what happened,” he says.
I updated him on the past few weeks and what just happened with Dylan.
“Oh, I can’t wait to talk to Alex about that. I want to hear what it felt like to punch that asshole.” Dad balls up his fist and punches the air. “Pow! I bet it felt great.”
I giggle, replaying it in my head again.
“Dad? How do you know when you’re in love?”
He takes a long sip from his straw as he thinks about my question.
“I don’t think love is a matter of knowing or not knowing. It just is. It’s not dictated by a timeline. It can happen at any time. Some people don’t believe in love at first sight. They think love has to take time to become love. I don’t think that’s true, though. I believe there are both kinds of love. I think the lucky ones are like your mother and me, who are lucky enough to find their soulmate. When you meet that person, everything feels as though it’s all fallen into place. Like you were made for each other. As if every step in life has been taking you to the moment you meet. That’s a special kind of love.