Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
“And if I don’t reconsider?” she asks quietly.
“You will.”
“Oh, really?” She laughs, and it sounds light enough that I feel some of the pressure in my chest loosen. “How do you know?”
“Because I’m not letting you go.”
“Would you have me followed again if I broke up with you?”
“Yes.”
“No hesitation, huh?”
“Nope.” I open my eyes and stretch my legs out on the empty seats beside me. “I’d probably retire and do it myself.”
“No, you wouldn’t.” She laughs louder, and I feel my mouth twitch.
“You underestimate how much I want you in my life.”
It’s not even a matter of want at this point. She’s as vital to me as water. As air.
“I’m not going to leave you,” she says. “I’m a little weirded out about the stalking, but I think I can get over it. I just have a lot on my mind.”
I nod, even though she can’t see me, and I clear my throat. “I didn’t know you dated Max Gomez.”
“You saw … oh, that’s right! I forgot he was playing for Carolina,” she says. “I’m assuming he’s still good.”
The obvious smile in her voice makes me scowl. “He’s fine.”
“Just fine?” she asks, teasing.
“How long were you together?”
“God…” She pauses to think. “Like a year? He was my first boyfriend.”
“Hm.” It’s all I can say as a wave of jealousy crashes through me.
I try to remind myself once again that I’ll be her last boyfriend and none of them matter, but when it comes to Josslyn, there’s not one rational bone in my body. Suddenly, I wish I could turn back time and go back into that locker room.
“Please tell me you’re not jealous,” she says, obviously amused.
“What do you think?”
“It was a long time ago,” she says quietly.
“Do any more of your exes play in the league?”
“No. Not hockey anyway.”
My jaw tightens. “How many boyfriends have you had?”
“Hmm … actual boyfriends? Three, including Tate. Gomez plays hockey, as you know, and Russ is a tight end at Fairview, but he’ll be drafted in April.”
I remain silent. There’s not much for me to say on the matter anyway. It’s in the past, and even if I could turn back time and meet her before she started dating any of those clowns, I wouldn’t. I would’ve been too old for her back then, and too focused on hockey. I’m self-aware enough to know nothing would have changed.
I still would have wanted to escape Fairview and free myself from the expectations that come with being a Barlow—working in the family business, schmoozing people in positions of power, and settling down with a woman my parents approved of. Still, I wonder how my life would have turned out if the circumstances had been different and I’d met Josslyn sooner.
“Do you think I like the idea of you being with other women?” she asks after a moment. “There are blogs and accounts on social media dedicated to your one-night stands, which people tag me in, by the way, so if you ever get any ideas while you’re on the—”
“Don’t finish that sentence.” I straighten in my seat, a new kind of annoyance consuming me. “I told you I’d never do that to you. You’re the only one I want.”
“For now.”
“ForEVER.” I throw my head back and look at the roof of the bus, as if it’ll reveal a way I can get this through her head.
I’ve never paid much attention to those accounts. Some are just fan accounts, which I don’t mind, but the ones that are about my lack of a love life are ridiculous. They make it seem like I fuck every woman I see. A handful of times I was pictured having lunch and dinner with my cousin’s wife, and it became a whole thing since we’d met up multiple times. When they found out who she was, it went from “the woman who tamed Finn Barlow” to “Finn Barlow is having an affair with his cousin’s wife.” Fucking ridiculous.
Thankfully, Asher is a smart, secure man who knows I would never do that, but what the fuck? Then, there’s the fact that one of my lawyers is a woman. And my money manager. My accountant’s daughter had to deal with the circus multiple times. It’s fucking ridiculous, but I’ve never cared enough to do something about it. Right now, I wish I could. Right now, I wish I could—if only to give Josslyn one less thing to doubt. Though if she's keeping up with them, she’ll soon realize she’s the only one in any pictures with me.
“I can’t believe you were having me followed for so long,” she says after a moment. “I feel like you know me so much better than I know you.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is, Finn. You have pictures of some pretty intimate moments,” she says. “And for someone who claims he’s jealous of my exes, you sure looked at a lot of pictures of me and Tate.”