Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 149606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 598(@250wpm)___ 499(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 598(@250wpm)___ 499(@300wpm)
She towers over me when I stand, and she pulls me into a painfully tight hug that smashes me against her boobs.
“I just can’t believe this,” she says. “My mind is friggin’ blown right now looking at you. How do you feel?”
Relieved to be out of her bear hug.
“I feel good. I don’t need a cane anymore.”
I suddenly feel sickly and awkward standing next to Sydni with her golden tan, waist-length hair, mile-long legs, and perfect nails and makeup. Unlike me, she actually looks like a female rock goddess.
“Shit, how sucky was that?” she says. “You look great, girl. You lost a ton of weight. Not that you were ever fat, but damn, what are you, like a size two right now? Maybe I need the coma diet.”
“Syd, really?” Asher says, his nostrils flaring.
She practically snarls back at him. “Lighten up, Ash. She knows I’m just kidding.” She flings her hair over her shoulder and rolls her eyes. “Men.”
“My therapist has me doing yoga now. Maybe you can try that too?” I suggest.
“Oh my God, you’re so cute doing yoga. You never would’ve done that years ago. So do you remember anything yet?”
“No, not really. Just a few scattered things.”
Her face contorts into an exaggerated look of concern. “That’s terrible. I can’t even imagine. I wouldn’t mind waking up to Asher fucking Valentine as my husband, though. Were you like, holy shit, this is my husband? Like take my ass home right now, Daddy!” She laughs hysterically at her own joke.
My cheeks heat, and I glance at Asher, who’s glaring daggers at my friend. “Um, not exactly,” I reply. “I was mostly just confused and surrounded by strangers.”
“We should really have lunch, maybe next week? I’m in town for a few months before we hit the road again. You should come by the studio, see all the girls, jam with us a little. We had to replace you, of course, but we still consider you part of the band. You can even come on tour with us if you want to get away for a while.”
“I can’t sing or play the guitar anymore, but lunch sounds nice.”
“Wait, what? Are you serious? You forgot what you do? How the hell is that even possible?”
“I—”
“Okay, let’s go easy on the fucking comments.” Asher stands up and comes over to put his arm around me. Protective and possessive. “Can you grow a filter, Syd? Or maybe some class?”
“It’s okay.” I laugh nervously. “It’s hard to understand what happened to me. It’s not her fault.”
He presses his lips to the top of my head. “It’s not hard to be polite.”
Sydni gives us a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry, Ember. I wasn’t trying to offend you or make you guys mad. I care about you. This is all just a shock for everyone. You can still come to the studio and hang out with us. And we’ll definitely grab a coffee or lunch. You should really let me take you to the salon. We’ll get your hair and nails fixed up, get your eyebrows done, get a Brazilian. The works. You’ll feel soooo much better.”
“That sounds great.” Kenzi’s been doing my nails and cutting my hair, but going to a professional salon would be awesome.
Sydni pulls a big cell phone out of the black leather purse hanging from her shoulder. “Give me your deets, and I’ll buzz you next week.”
“Deets?” I repeat, confused.
“Details. Your cell phone number, sweetie.” She tosses her hair and laughs while making flirty eyes at Asher. Right in front of me. Just like I wrote about in the journal. “Man, this must be crazy for you. Like how much has changed in eight years? It’s nuts.”
Embarrassment soaring, I recite my deets to her.
She cocks her head to the side. “So you can remember things?”
I rub the back of my head. “I can remember things since I woke up. Just not things before, and mostly things about my own personal life. I can remember what things are like colors, food, and objects like cars and flowers. It’s complicated.”
“Weird.” She puts her phone back into her purse. “I’m happy you’re alive and well. Asher and I got really close over the years. I don’t know how we would’ve gotten through it all without each other. He was so devastated, and I was heartbroken when Tor and I broke up, and I found out he was hooking up with a teenager. I know if you were here you never would’ve let Kenzi chase after a grown man.” She sighs dramatically.
“What the fuck, Syd? We didn’t get close, and you know it. And you better watch how you talk about Tor and Kenzi, or I’m gonna drag your ass to the street.”
Ooh. I kinda like aggressive Asher.
Ignoring him, she continues with her tirade. “I guess it’s a good thing Ash and I never hooked up. Like, what would we all have done if you woke up and we were married or something? Imagine the drama.” She pushes her hair out of her face with her claw-like nails. “I’m sure you two have enough problems as it is, right?”