Series: The Laws of Opposite Attract Series by Vi Keeland
Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
The only way to describe this feeling was nervous exhilaration. I was both excited to see Alex and dreading having to hold back. What I’d done when she visited the City—pushing her up against the wall of that building and kissing the hell out of her—had to be a one-time deal. I couldn’t lose control like that if she wasn’t mine. That would be torture.
Needing to expend some nervous energy, I decided to go to the hospital to visit Will. It had been a while since I’d checked in on him.
After getting set up with my volunteer badge, I went to his room. Peeking through the door, which was cracked open, I found him in bed. He was looking out the window. It made me sad to think of all the things he was missing, the normal kid stuff that people like me took for granted when we were younger. At least Ryan hadn’t gotten sick until he was a bit older. Still too young, of course, but our childhood had been unscathed, filled with so many precious memories that didn’t involve a single hospital stay among us, from what I could recall. Will couldn’t have been more than ten or eleven. He deserved to be making memories outside of this damn place.
I knocked lightly.
He turned, smiling. “Brayden…”
“Hey, man, how’s it going?”
He struggled to sit up. “I finished the books you gave me. They were really good.”
“You enjoyed them? You can tell me the truth if you didn’t. I won’t be offended.”
“I wouldn’t lie. Life’s too short to read bad books. Trust me, I wouldn’t have finished them if I didn’t like them.”
“Well, I’m glad.”
“It felt good to get lost in that world. So, thanks.” Will stared out the window again.
“You seem kind of down.” I took a seat. “Everything okay?”
“Not really.”
My heart sank. “What’s going on?”
“There’s this girl from school. I really like her, and she wants to come visit me. We’re neighbors, actually. But I don’t know about her coming. I don’t want her to see me like this, not looking my best. But I also don’t want to tell her not to come. That’s kind of rude.”
“You want to see her?”
“Yeah. Just not…like this.”
While I was relieved that his news had nothing to do with his health, I wasn’t sure what advice to give him. I scratched my chin. “Do you like her?”
“What do you think?” He glared at me. “I wouldn’t give a crap if I didn’t like her.”
“Got it.”
“I wish I didn’t like her, though. It would make things easier.”
“I feel that more than you know, buddy. Right in here.” I patted my chest. “When we like someone…it makes us self-conscious, sometimes more than we need to be. You look good, considering all you’ve been through as of late. You don’t have hair, but anyone who looks at you can still see your handsome face and your bright blue eyes.”
He seemed to perk up a bit, then shrugged. “I guess I could always wear a hat.”
“Exactly. I can’t relate to having no hair, but I know when I have a bad hair day, hats always save me.”
“Do you have a favorite hat?” he asked.
“My friend Ryan’s Eagles cap. He had a few of them. And I got one of them when he…” Shit. I stopped myself from finishing the sentence. But Will knew who I was referring to.
“Ryan is your friend who died?”
Swallowing, I nodded. I always had mixed feelings bringing up Ryan to Will, since I never wanted him to lose hope. But he’d asked me why I was involved with the hospital a while back, and I’d told him all about Ryan.
Will sighed. “I guess I shouldn’t be overthinking the Caitlin thing.”
My eyes widened. “Did you say Caitlin?”
“That’s her name.”
I chuckled. “Ah...” I’d thought I was hearing things. Can’t escape Caitlin, I guess.
“Well, if you like this girl, Caitlin, it’s totally understandable that you’re nervous about what she thinks. Believe me, I get how you feel.”
Will smirked. “What about that woman I saw you talking to here that one time? Is she your girlfriend?”
“That’s Alex.”
“Cool name for a lady. Isn’t that a guy’s name, though?”
“Funny enough, that’s sort of how we met. I thought she was a dude when I met her.”
“You thought she looked like a man?”
“No.” I laughed. “Far from it.”
“I don’t get it.”
“I’d been corresponding with her via email and thought she was a guy the whole time—until I saw her in person.”
“No way.” He laughed. “What did you do?”
“After I got over the initial shock, I fell for her pretty quickly. I’ve been making a fool of myself ever since.”
His mouth curved into a smile.
It was nice to see his mood lighten up. “Anyway, Alex is someone I wanted to be my girlfriend. But…things are complicated with us now. Although, I’m supposed to see her this weekend—if she shows up—so I can relate to what you’re feeling, being nervous about seeing a girl and not knowing what to expect.”