Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 135522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
“You’re being childish and wasting everyone’s time.”
“C’mon, now,” Nadine calls out with a clap of her hands. “Let’s stop the bickerin’ and get back to … to camera-flickerin’.” She appears amused by her own rhyme. “Anthony, take a step to—”
“We ain’t done,” clips Anthony, his face in Dean’s.
Nadine claps her hands again. “Hey, I’ve raised two boys of my own and a dozen others by extension, Mr. Myers. I don’t want to get snippy, but I will. In this building, we respect one another.”
Anthony spins to face her. “But he was the one who—”
“Respect,” she repeats.
He stares at her, eyes half-lidded, fuming underneath. Then he faces Dean indignantly, ready to say something else. Finally, he shakes his head. “Y’know what? Screw this.” He marches off of the set and heads for the door.
“Anthony!” calls out Nadine, but he’s already shoved his way outside, gone. After a moment, she lets out a tiny sigh, shakes her head, then throws her hands. “Oh, well. Y’know what? I think we got enough.” Her voice turns cheery. “What do you think, Noah? Do we have some winners in that camera of yours?”
I gaze at Noah.
His eyes catch mine.
For a moment, we’re connected. Perfectly. As if we can read each other’s thoughts somehow, completely in sync.
Then he snaps out of it and nods silently at Nadine.
Nadine lets out a breath. “Great, that’s good news. Dean, my dear friend, I’m sorry about that boy. He’s … We’ll just … I’ll talk to him.” She claps her hands together once again. “How about we call that a wrap? Call it a day? I’ll take us all out for a tasty lunch. Or is it dinnertime yet? A tasty dinner on me. How’s that sound?”
I haven’t stopped staring at Noah, clutching his camera and appearing strangely aloof, lost in his thoughts. Then he peers at me once again, seeming to come out of it. I offer him a smile.
He looks away.
I suck on my tongue with mounting frustration.
“Don’t know about anyone else,” says Dean, at once dropping his polite demeanor like a hot potato, “but I sure as shit could eat a whole goddamned cow right now.”
Chapter 9
Noah
It’s at two tables pushed together in the back corner of Gran’s Home Kitchen that eight of us sit to eat after the photo shoot. The rest of the restaurant is surprisingly crowded for a Monday night. Add to that the chatter from the helpers that came out today and the over-the-top energy of Nadine, it feels like the four walls of this poor place can barely contain us, just one accidental sneeze away from bursting open.
Also, I’m the one in the corner. Cole is two seats down from me on the other side of the table. Somehow, Nadine ended up right next to me, which removes any possibility of escape. Dean is across from me, too, sawing his way eagerly through a rib-eye. Behind me and to my other side are wood-paneled walls. I’m like a checkmated king in a game of chess I never agreed to play. That’s alright; my arms don’t need much space anyway. I don’t mind my elbow banging the wall every time I cut my steak.
I look up from my plate to find Cole glancing my way.
Our eyes meet.
It isn’t the first time since we’ve taken our seats that he has looked at me like that—like he wants to eat me instead of what’s on his plate.
And the second our eyes lock, my heart becomes a freaked cat scrambling out of a bathtub.
I have to look away at once, then quickly cut a bite of steak—bang, bang, bang, my elbow against the wall—and bring the juicy piece to my lips.
But then I stop with that single bite pressed to my lips, not quite parting them to let it in.
I close my eyes.
Meat against my lips.
As if it’s Cole’s lips against my lips.
Cole’s meat.
I pucker my lips slightly. I think I’m trying to recapture that sensation we shared on the sidewalk when he kissed me.
When he stole my breath away.
It might have been a simple kiss to anyone else, but to me, it felt like everything I had missed out on in my whole life. It felt like a door flying open with glittering treasures inside. It was ten night skies worth of New Years’ fireworks exploding at once. It was the first and last bite of moist vanilla cake fresh out of the oven. It was a winning lottery ticket and I had so many debts to pay.
I don’t think I’ve ever allowed myself to feel that level of joy before.
Honestly, I’m not even sure I expected it to feel so good.
But now that I’ve had a taste, everything else feels numb and far away. Photos. Interview questions. Burton’s griping. Even the disaster that became of today due to Anthony’s arrival. Nothing at all seems to bother me or affect me. It’s as if everything in my life up until this point has been a three or a four and I never noticed.