Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 105306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
I’m not sure where the time went, but never ever would I have thought I would be living with a guy during college.
Correction: a guy and his twin brothers.
Then it will be down to Drake, Drew, and me.
How I got here, I will never know.
Oh, that’s right—Dallas dumped me for Diego.
Diego…
Speaking of him, he and I finally had our reckoning—I was finally able to ask him face to face why he didn’t break up with me himself, not that it mattered at that point.
By that time, Dallas and I had been dating for two months, and I was bound to run into Diego at some point given that the guys play football together and run in the same circles.
I wasn’t exactly expecting Diego to come walking through the Colters’ front door for the party they were having; up until then, he’d either not shown up or made an excuse not to come, but in this instance, he chose to come.
I was leaning against the doorway of the kitchen, watching the guys watch the Texas Steers game, the energy in the house electric because Duke was playing and the Steers were kicking ass and taking names.
Duke was busy earning his wage, worth a whopping hundred million dollars over the span of a few years.
Mind-blowing.
Anyway.
I digress.
There I was, leaning against the doorway when Diego and two other guys blew through the door, snow blowing in at their backs since we were in the middle of a good old-fashioned, Midwestern snowstorm.
I had hot tea clutched in my palms, warming my hands and my stomach. Brought it to my lips to disguise the surprise in my expression when our eyes made contact across the room—I had to force myself not to look away.
He looked the same, mostly.
Dopier, if that was possible.
Certainly not as good-looking as I once thought he was.
Okay, so maybe he didn’t look the same. Ha!
The very fact that he didn’t have the balls to dump me made him that much less attractive in my eyes. A wuss personality does nothing for me. Gross.
I lowered my mug and tilted my head in his direction as a greeting.
He tilted his back.
When he made his way across the room, all eyes were on him.
Us.
I pushed off the wall and ducked into the kitchen, not wanting an audience; caught sight of Drew leaning over the arm of the couch to peer over at us, nosey little bugger.
Usually it’s Drake who’s up in everyone’s business.
“What’s been going on?” he asked when he walked in, going straight to the fridge and grabbing a beer. Held one out to me, but I didn’t want it and didn’t take it.
I had tea, thanks.
“You know…” I shrugged. “The usual.”
Only he didn’t know what the usual is because he never got to know me on a personal level when we were dating. Didn’t know what food I like or that I’d rather drink tea over beer on a cold winter day.
Diego shuffled over to the counter and rested his back against it, still wearing his coat, still looking cold.
Must have walked over.
“The usual.” He took a chug of beer, then wiped his mouth. “So…Dallas Colter, eh?”
Dallas Colter, eh? That was his big way of asking what was going on and prying for information?
“Yup.” I nodded. “Dallas Colter.”
Time to rip the Band-Aid off and cut to the chase.
“So I’ve been wondering…” I let my voice trail off so I didn’t sound like I was attacking him or backing him into a corner. “Was there a reason you didn’t want to break things off with me in person?”
There.
That was diplomatic.
**pats self on back**
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Drew still gawking at me (Diego was out of his view), probably reporting my nonverbals to Dallas and Drake and anyone else who was interested in our personal affairs.
“I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
It was a simple response and answered the question, but it also didn’t make sense.
“You didn’t think paying someone fifty bucks to dump me would hurt my feelings? I thought it was a practical joke at first.”
He futzed with the beer can in his hands, plucking at the metal tab.
“I hadn’t thought of it that way.”
Apparently, he hadn’t thought about anything but himself. Breaking up with someone is never easy, but you can’t stay dating a person you are not into.
It was inevitable. Shit, I’d been on the verge of ending things with him myself—and I would have done it in person, and it would have been awkward and it would have sucked because that’s how breakups are.
If it were easy, couples wouldn’t wait until they feel stuck.
“Well…guess it hardly matters now, but I still wanted to hear it from you.”
“Yeah.” Diego moved the beer from one hand, stuck his other hand in the pocket of his coat. “You’re with Dallas now. Don’t know why you’d give a shit.”