Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
“I don’t feel bad for you,” I lied.
She rolled her eyes so far back I thought they’d get stuck. “Don’t lie to me. Have enough respect for me not to lie to me.”
“Fine, okay. I feel bad for you.” I almost forgot that for how well I knew her, she knew me too.
“Screw you, Nathan,” she muttered. She bit her bottom lip, and I knew it was because tears were trying their damnedest to escape her eyes. “Screw you and screw him. Oh gosh.” She paused and placed her hands over her face. “Everyone in town is talking about it, aren’t they?”
“Who cares?”
“I do. I wish I didn’t, but I do. This will be the worst thing for me to try to escape. Especially with the long weekend. Everyone’s going to be looking at me as if I’m a sad puppy, which will only piss me off more.”
“Let’s leave, then.”
She turned and arched an eyebrow. “What?”
“Let’s leave. I have a getaway car parked right outside the school parking lot. You don’t have to talk to anyone. You can escape to my penthouse in Chicago for the long weekend. I can even let your sisters know you’re okay. I can set you up in my apartment, and you can decompress.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You want me to run away?”
“Yes. I want you to run away.”
“And you want to run away with me?”
“I want to run away with you.” I gave her a half-grin. “I just want you to be okay, and I don’t think you can get okay around this damn town. We know how these people are.”
“Evil,” she scolded. “And judgmental.”
“Exactly. It’s up to you, though. Say yes, and I’ll get you out of here. You have my word.”
“Why would you do that for me? I’ve been a dick toward you since you started coaching with me. Why would you help me?”
“Come on, Coach…” I whispered as I rubbed the back of my neck. “You know I have a kink for people who treat me like shit and talk down to me.”
She smiled a little.
It was tiny, but it was there.
“You’re a dumbass,” she muttered.
“If you want me to get a hard-on, just say that, Coach,” I joked.
“God, I hate you.” She snickered, shaking her head.
I took a step toward her. “How much?”
“How much do I hate you?”
“Yeah?”
“A lot. Like, a lot a lot. But you’re sort of my saving grace right now, so yeah, let’s go.”
We successfully got Avery out of Honey Creek without anyone noticing. I informed her sisters of her weekend getaway, and while Yara and Willow slightly panicked about the whole situation, I calmed them down by letting them know Avery was safe and taken care of.
Avery didn’t say a word during the drive to the penthouse, but I didn’t blame her. I didn’t know what to say to her, either. The whole situation was uncomfortable and brought back many odd feelings.
The last time she sat in a car with me was when we ended things years prior. Now, seeing her sitting in my passenger seat—in a wedding gown nonetheless—sent me back into memories of us. Of who we used to be. Of how I’d wished we would’ve made it to the altar together. But that was a long time ago. We’d both changed so much since then. Still, some of my favorite moments in cars were rides with Avery.
The summer after senior year was one of the best damn summers of my life. That was until it wasn’t.
After parking my car, we headed up to the private elevator of my building to the penthouse. As the elevator opened, I unlocked the front door as Avery shyly stood behind me. Her arms rested at her sides, and she kept biting her bottom lip. A nervous habit of hers.
Most of the time, she had her tough face on. When she showed any signs other than toughness, I felt as if I saw glimpses of the girl I once loved. The one who was strong but still so soft inside. The one who dreamed big and had sparkles in her eyes.
I opened the door and stepped to the side so she could enter. She walked in, glanced around the penthouse, and muttered something. She turned to face me and raised an eyebrow. “I read that you lost your penthouse.”
“Can’t believe everything you read online,” I told her as I tossed my keys into the basket on the table in my foyer. “Especially when it comes from tabloids.”
Avery took off her shoes, and I did the same. We placed them beneath the front hall table and stood still for a moment. She took off her baseball cap, revealing the flowers in her hair from her wedding updo.
I felt a tightness in my chest. I couldn’t differentiate whether it was her aching or my own. All I knew was that I wanted to slowly pick those damn flowers out of her hair and tell her everything would be all right.