Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
He nods with a grave expression. “So true.”
I have an idea. I pop up and move to the other end of the couch, the armrest supporting my back, my legs crossed in front of me. “Let’s just talk.”
Bain gives a dramatic groan, letting his head flop against the couch. “Ugh… women… always wanting to talk.”
I kick his thigh. He laughs, latching onto my leg and dragging me across the couch. I’m powerless to stop him and next thing I know, I’m straddling his lap.
But he doesn’t touch me in any way other than to rest his hands on my thighs. “Okay… what do you want to talk about?”
“Well, you’re the one who opened the door to this whole friends thing. But it got me thinking… why are we the way we are? Let’s be honest… you and I were both cooling things off the last few days and we were doing it intentionally.”
Bain stares at me, almost as if he’s perplexed by my straightforward observation. His hands squeeze my legs. “Yeah… I was backing away.”
“And I wasn’t exactly scrambling to make time for you,” I say.
“And yet here we are, spending the weekend together as friends.”
“There was sex involved, though, and that was by far the better part of the day. No offense to either of us as friends.”
“No offense taken.” He laughs. “But yeah… why are we the way we are? I guess I’m just young and don’t want to settle down. My parents were a bit older before they got married and they always preached to me and my brother to live our lives to the fullest before we got married and had kids.”
“That’s fair. And probably good advice.”
Bain’s hands move to my hips. “What about you? Still sowing your wild oats?”
I snort. “You make it sound like I’m fucking half of Pittsburgh.”
“I wouldn’t judge if you were,” he says.
“No, you wouldn’t.” Bain is as progressive as they come and has never once made me feel bad for having a healthy sexual appetite. And I’ve made no apologies for it.
Bain stares at me for a long moment and I can tell he’s sizing up something. “Bad relationship,” he says with confidence and a smug smile.
Two words and he has me pegged.
“Yeah,” I admit with a dry, humorless laugh. “Really bad relationship.”
“Want to talk about it?” he asks, and I’m surprised that his question sounds genuine.
And yet… no, I’m not all that surprised. Despite us having a rocky patch where both of us floundered a little trying to figure out what we were to each other, I know Bain’s a good guy.
“It’s not that interesting of a story,” I admit. “His name is Peter and we were college sweethearts. He seemed perfect until he wasn’t.”
“Like how?”
“He became really controlling.”
Bain’s hands squeeze reflexively as his face darkens. “Abusive?”
“Not physically but mentally, verbally. He became obsessive and tried to cut me off from friends. If I went out, he’d accuse me of cheating on him and then call me names and scream obscenities. Always apologetic, but that was part of the cycle. His behavior got scarier and I finally broke up with him. He didn’t take kindly to it, so there was a bit of stalking after.”
“What did he do?”
My stomach pitches thinking about it. It was a terrifying time in my life. “It started as more annoying than anything. Calling and breathing into the phone. Then it was nasty letters, which turned into nasty phone calls until I changed my number.”
“How come I feel like that was the easy stuff?” Bain asks hesitantly.
“It got worse. My tires were slashed and there was a dead cat left on my doorstep.”
“What the fuck?” Bain snarls, sitting up straighter.
“He’d sit outside my house all night in his car.”
“Please tell me you called the cops.”
“Yeah… they don’t hand out restraining orders easily, but I eventually got one. I guess that scared him because he moved back home to Indiana.”
“Jesus,” he murmurs. “How long ago was this?”
“I ended things about four years ago. It’s all fine now. Haven’t heard from him in a long time. But it sort of put me off serious relationships.”
“It scared you,” he surmises.
I smile at him because he understands far better than I would’ve imagined. “Yeah. A lot. I know it’s not fair for me to think all relationships will be that way, but I can’t help it. The minute love came into the picture, things went downhill fast.”
“Sounds like he was mentally unbalanced,” Bain ponders.
I shrug. “It’s in the past and I don’t dwell on it.”
“I have a question.” Bain throws his head in the direction of the kitchen. “I saw an admissions packet for the University of Pittsburgh on your counter.”
“Nosy,” I chide teasingly.
He looks in no way abashed. “You thinking of going back to school?”
My gaze drops as I rest my hands on his. “Nah… not really.”