Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 87275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
He picks me up and carries me out of the room. We’re upstairs when the smoke alarm goes off, reminding us of the bacon.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ripley
“Well, ladies and gentlemen,” I say into my phone. “She’s the one. And that’s the update.”
I end the video and leave the bathroom.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Georgia
Ripley’s hand rests on my thigh as he drives me back home. Every now and then he gives my leg a little squeeze, almost as if he’s quietly confirming I’m still here.
“It feels wrong to take you home,” Ripley says.
I rest my head on the window. “I know. It feels wrong to go home.”
“So don’t.”
I trace a muscle along his forearm and wish I didn’t have to.
“This is new,” he says, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. “But is it, really? It’s not like we met at a bar and went home together. I’ve known you for years.”
“And we’ve hung out for years, even if we stayed on opposite sides of the room.”
“Biggest mistake of my life,” he says, pressing his fingertips into my thigh.
I’ve thought about this a lot—all night while Ripley slept with a death grip on me. I’ve wasted so many years of my life holding on to perceived infractions against me. And, by refusing to let go of those things, I’ve kept myself in a holding pattern. My dreams died. I couldn’t progress, couldn’t continue with my life because I’d blocked my own blessings.
My blessings were designed to come through Ripley.
I believe that with all of my heart, even if it scares me shitless.
I don’t know what I’ll do if this doesn’t work because he already has my heart. I don’t want to admit that out loud, and I’m not sure if I even want to admit it to myself in a let’s act on this way. But that doesn’t change the facts.
I’m fucked—in more ways than one.
There’s still a little voice in my head warning me that his intentions might be cruel, and he might leave when things get inconvenient. And both things are possible. But I’m choosing not to let that small voice overpower logic … or my heart. I’ve done that my whole life. Look where it’s gotten me.
“I need to find a way to talk to my mother about this,” I say, my heart growing heavy.
“She really hates my whole family that badly?”
“Unfortunately, yes. I think it was a perfect storm of things that hit her hard. My dad left her, pretty much overnight. One of her closest friends was married to Dad’s best friend, so Mom lost her in the divorce, too. Then your dad really broke her heart.” I sigh sadly. “I think she put all of her hopes into a future with him—believed the things he said and really thought it was her happy ending, only to get crushed a second time on the heels of the first.”
She’s never been the same since.
Ripley frowns.
“She’s a very …” I bite my lip, trying to find a way to describe my mother without being disrespectful and sounding harsh. “She has main character energy. She is the star of her—everyone’s—show in her mind. You can argue with her and try to explain that her self-image doesn’t translate into other people’s worlds, and she wouldn’t understand. That concept doesn’t exist with her.”
He glances at me with many questions on his mind.
“Even if she’s dramatic and her feelings are extreme … even if we don’t understand them all the time, it doesn’t invalidate them.”
“I understand. But do you really think she’d want to keep you from being with someone just because their dad fucked her over?”
“Simply put? Yes. I do. I know that will happen.”
“That sounds selfish as hell.”
I sit up and sigh again. “She is selfish. She doesn’t understand boundaries. She has flaws like everyone else. But she’s a good person, Ripley. Even though she frustrates me to the edges of the earth most days, I love her with all of my heart.”
He squeezes me again.
“She’s the only family I have,” I say. “I haven’t spoken to my father since the night I was telling you about when he called me over my tuition.”
Ripley’s jaw sets and he stares at the road ahead.
“My mother sort of raised herself, and then my father took over parenting her when they married, really, and now … I guess it’s me in that role.” My heart sinks at the realization. “I know she’s going to throw a fit when she finds out about us. I hope not, but I know she will. But if I can sit her down with a bottle of wine and catch her on a good day, I might be able to smooth it over enough not to worry about it anymore.”
“It’s whatever you want. Whatever you need. You know that I’ll never come between you and your mother. Family is the most important thing in the world to me.”