Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 102079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
“It’s not a sugar cone. Those cake cones taste like cardboard.” Isaac eyed me with disapproval.
“Are they as disgusting as smoking?” I rolled my eyes.
“More disgusting,” he countered.
Matt and Heather chuckled.
Isaac scooted back in his chair, which made his leg slide between mine. I stiffened, but I couldn’t move my leg without bumping Matt’s leg, and that might have drawn his attention to his brother’s leg unnecessarily invading my space. So I narrowed my eyes at Isaac instead.
He smirked as his lips wrapped around the straw for a quick sip. “So you’re a licker. You can’t get it past your teeth to let it slide down your throat.”
Heather nearly spat out her drink as Matt tucked his chin and grinned. I had no choice but to act like I didn’t hear him.
“So, what have you two been doing?” Heather asked, directing her gaze at Matt.
I wanted to kick her to shut her up, but someone had his leg wedged between mine, and I didn’t want to move because moving would have felt like rubbing, and I wasn’t going to rub any part of my body against Isaac. After all, I was a taken woman. Matt had claimed me with a third of his thingy and repeated declarations of love and the prospect of marriage.
“We went for a drive,” Matt said, popping the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth.
Everyone at the table knew what we had done, so it was ridiculous to let Heather or Isaac tease and goad us.
“Was it a long drive or a short one?” Heather asked, tapping a french fry against her smirked lips.
“I’m sure it was a short one,” Isaac said.
I shoveled ice cream into my mouth so quickly that each bite didn’t have time to warm up before touching my sensitive teeth, but I welcomed the unnerving pain and what would be the subsequent brain freeze because it was preferable to the agony of the conversation.
“It wasn’t that short,” Matt added.
I whipped my gaze in his direction, and he, too, was wearing a cocky grin as he dipped a wad of fries into the ketchup on an empty burger wrapper.
“This is totally ridiculous,” I mumbled while standing. “I’ll be outside when you’re done,” I said, taking off toward the exit, wishing I had my own car so I could leave all of them behind.
“Sarah?” Matt chased me to his car.
I spun on my heels when I reached the passenger’s door. “I don’t want to talk about what happened in a stupid McDonald’s in front of my best friend and your stupid brother.”
He shrugged, holding his hands out to his sides. “What did you want me to say?”
“I wanted you to change the subject.”
“Heather brought it up. You should be mad at her.”
“I’m mad at all of you.”
“Sarah,” Matt said in a soft tone, taking my cup of ice cream and setting it on the roof of his car before cupping my face with his hands, “we had sex. We’re adults. They’re adults. Who cares if anyone makes a comment about what happened? No one’s going to tell your parents. Are you embarrassed? Do you regret it?”
I wasn’t embarrassed, and I didn’t regret it. I simply hated sex and, therefore, didn’t want to discuss it with anyone ever again.
With a sigh, I shook my head. “I think it’s okay not to want to talk about it in a McDonald’s with your brother and Heather without it meaning I regret it or I’m embarrassed.”
Matt slowly nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“No.” I took a step back and retrieved my ice cream from the roof. “It was Heather who started it. It wasn’t your fault.”
He opened my door. “You must have told her in the bathroom.”
“Or your brother mentioned it when he blurted out the fact that you asked him to buy you a box of condoms.” I sat in his car without giving him a second glance. Of course, I told Heather, but Isaac wasn’t exactly innocent.
Matt sighed. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
“It’s fine. Just take me back so I can get my car and be home by curfew.”
CHAPTER NINE
THE TIME, “JUNGLE LOVE”
The next day, I started my job at the farm stand. Matt had baseball practice most days, and he was working at a camp for younger kids. Violet showed me the ropes and told me to call the house if there were any issues. Wesley stopped by mid-morning to check on me, and over lunch, Satan delivered several dozen eggs for the stand.
“Hey,” Isaac said, setting the crate of boxes on the counter and wiping his dirty brow with his sleeve before adjusting his cowboy hat.
I shot him a quick smile and arranged the boxes of eggs on the shelves by the coolers. “Listen, Heather is my friend, so aside from not getting her hooked on cigarettes, could you not impregnate her?”