Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Except it wasn’t. I’d spent each day too messed up to do anything but bitch and moan about Briar’s absence.
I wiped away the slickness on her lips, parting the lower one enough to perk up my dick. “You have no idea what you do to me.”
Someone whistled. I was two seconds from scooping her up and giving the crowd a taste of real sex ed. But alas, my reputation as a gentleman already hung by tattered threads.
“Back to business.” Briar stepped away, tugging her sweater tighter. A faint pink rose to her cheeks as she struggled to collect herself. “Where are my things, Oliver?”
“In the penthouse.”
Her brows popped up as if I’d bottled up air and demanded she pay for it. “I can’t afford to rent the penthouse.”
“About that. I don’t think this long-distance thing is going to work.”
She paled. “Excuse me?”
“I’m not cut out for it.” I shrugged. “Things were … not so great after you left.”
“He was a trainwreck,” Dallas clarified from the sofa, popping popcorn into her mouth.
Briar jolted. She hadn’t noticed our friends sprawled out in the waiting room, passing snacks like they’d scored VIP tickets to a movie premiere.
Farrow nodded. “Like watching a reality show meltdown.”
Zach dug his fist into her popcorn bag. “Minus the commercial breaks.”
“I’ll never understand the appeal.” Romeo crossed his legs on the coffee table, tossing a stress ball up and down. “Too much drama. Not enough plot.”
Speaking of unwanted guests, the crowd never dissipated. If anything, it had grown larger since the kiss. Sometime in the past ten minutes, the Sweet 16 party had migrated out here. An army of teenyboppers held up smartphones like they’d caught a Kardashian in the wild.
“As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted …” I ignored our unofficial fan club, refusing to break eye contact with Briar. “I’m done saying goodbye to you and pretending it doesn’t make me miserable. This long-distance thing is bullshit.”
“So, what now?” She brought her fists to her sides, clearly ready to toss me out of the nearest window, but the tiniest tremble in her chin betrayed her panic. “Are you breaking up with me?”
“Hell, no. I’m moving in with you, sweetheart.”
“But—” Her eyes swung to our friends. “You have responsibilities.”
She meant Seb, of course. I loved how naturally protecting him came to her. She would make the best mother. Hopefully, to five kids who all looked exactly like her. And maybe one with my knack for turning everything into a disaster. Just to keep us humble.
“I do.” I looked down, struggling to turn the chaos in my head into something that made sense. “But I can’t help it. You crashed back into my life like an avalanche, unstoppable and all-consuming. I spent the past fifteen years in misery, but you pulled me out of the darkness and showed me how to live again.”
A shiver rippled through her body. “Oliver …”
“Hold up.” I held up a hand. “I need to get this out.”
“Or he’ll forget again,” Dallas whispered under her breath, nudging Farrow as if that wasn’t the whole point of rehearsing on the plane.
I ignored the peanut gallery, too determined to register anyone but Briar. “For the past fifteen years, I never imagined what happiness would look like. I never dared to. But the second you showed up, I couldn’t not think about it. Then, I found myself wanting it. Craving it. You make me want to be happy, Briar. You make me feel like … like maybe it’s okay if I’m happy.”
The words trudged up my throat like rusted gears, forcing themselves to turn after years of neglect. It would take some time getting used to this mindset, but the sentiment remained. I could be happy again. I could be happy again, and the sun would still rise, and the sky wouldn’t fall, and Sebastian would keep talking to me, and the world would not cease to exist.
“It is. You deserve to be happy, Oliver.” Briar held my gaze, unwavering. “It’s okay to be selfish sometimes. You can’t give, and give, and give all the time. That’s unsustainable. Sometimes, you have to be selfish enough to keep a part of yourself, so you’ll have something left to give.”
“I’m starting to get that.” I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling my cheeks warm up. “We all know I’m a colossal fuck up, but—”
She frowned, her voice soft but insistent. “You’re not.”
I loved when she stood her ground. It made me want to shut up, meet her lips, and prove her right. But later. I still had a mountain of groveling to climb before I could cash in on that kiss.
“I am,” I insisted, dead set on this honesty thing. “But I’m starting to realize it’s okay. Shit happens. It’s normal to make mistakes, and I don’t have to hate myself for them. I’ve fucked up before, and I’ll fuck up again. But if I’ve done one thing right in this world, it’s loving you.”