Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 135604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
God, he was so damn cocky. And I totally loved that, too.
Sucks worse for me. I wanna be there.
You are here, babe.
I felt my cheeks warm.
Oh, yes, I liked that. Jamie was saying I was with him even when I wasn’t. That was seriously sweet.
I wanted to give him something seriously sweeter. So I pulled out my ticket book and flipped to the page I’d been doodling on all morning, snapped a pic of it, and sent it through with a caption.
You’re here, too.
The page had Jamie’s name scribbled all over in different sizes and fonts, some darker than others, with hearts and starbursts and decorative swirls filling in the white. And in the center was a thought bubble with the word LOVE deeply bolded.
Again, I wasn’t saying the words, not exactly, but kind of, maybe … I was.
My phone started vibrating with a call as I was sliding my ticket book away, and although I had been using it all morning, I hadn’t been talking on it.
Texts were one thing. I could be discreet with those, like I was doing right now by keeping my phone below the lip of the counter. But taking a call was different. That would be difficult to hide if Nate walked out.
Too bad I totally didn’t care if Nate walked out right now and saw me. Jamie was calling and I wanted to answer it. So I did.
I was certain I could convince Nate of this phone call’s importance later if I needed to. And if I couldn’t, well, I did have a nice run here.
“Hey,” I answered through a smile, keeping my voice down. I turned to face the kitchen, listening to beach breeze and the rushing of waves in the background. I could hear the crowd gathering around to watch.
If I closed my eyes, I could pretend I was there watching, too.
“That from today?” Jamie asked, talking about the picture. “Fuck. Can you hear me? Hold up, I’m movin’. There’s too many fuckin’ people over here.”
“I can hear you.” I chuckled at his irritation, then followed up my laughter with an honest, “Sort of,” lifting my shoulder as I said it.
The background noise grew quieter in my ear. I could tell Jamie was still outside near the water, but he was away from the crowd now, not standing among them.
“Better?” he asked.
“Better.”
“And?”
“It’s from today, yes.”
“You got more of those?”
My mouth twitched. “Pages and pages,” I answered honestly.
“Fuck,” Jamie breathed, and I knew right then how much he thought of the picture I’d sent him.
It was totally just like saying the words.
“Wanna be here,” he went on telling me, talking about the meet. “I haven’t won this yet and been wantin’ to win it. Got my sponsors here. Got people who came out to see me, no one else, but I’m two seconds away from saying fuck it, you know?”
I bowed my head, heart swelling and that funny, fluttering sensation warming my belly. “Yeah,” I whispered. “I know how you feel. I totally hate it here.”
“Yeah,” Jamie replied, understanding. He knew I was crazy about this job. “I get back tomorrow,” he continued. “Flights not landin’ ’til late, but I wanna see those pages, babe. All of ’em.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll come to you. Got my key so you don’t gotta wait up.”
“I’ll be up,” I told him, knowing there was no way I’d be able to sleep waiting on Jamie. I never could. Even when it had only been hours since I last saw him, I still twisted in my sheets restlessly and stared at the bedroom door.
He exhaled heavily in my ear.
“What?” I smiled. “Your fans follow you or something? Move around again.”
“Years, babe,” Jamie mumbled, his voice rougher and richer, carrying meaning.
He was definitely not talking about his fans.
The hand I had curling around the lip of the counter behind me curled harder. I lost my smile. Jamie was referring to how long he would’ve waited for me again. He was feeling that truth hundreds of miles away and making sure I knew he was feeling it.
I was. And right now, I did not need him making sure I was feeling anything.
“Damn it. Stop being so sweet,” I scolded, looking up and checking behind me for Nate. His door was still closed so I turned back around, informing Jamie while I did that, “I’m already hating this place today. You’re just making it worse.”
“Makin’ it worse for me just by breathin’, Legs. I think you can handle me telling you somethin’ I’ve already fuckin’ said.”
My mouth fell open. Oh, my God. Seriously?
Even when he was being a little dickish, he was still sweet.
“I’m gonna go before I set fire to this place and hop on the next plane,” I told him, pinching the bridge of my nose. “You say anything else and I’m afraid that’s what it’s coming to.”