Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 63563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
“Maybe up in the head, your dad was the same way I was.”
I shrug. “I don’t really know. Things are still not great between us, but we’re slowly working on it. Sometimes, he reaches out through emails, and sometimes, I email back. I’m not blaming him. I turned out alright, and we had lots going for us. But I do hold more than a mild grudge against him for how he treated my mom, though. She’s a good person and didn’t deserve any of it. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive him for what he did to her even if he came to me crawling on broken glass, walking over hot coals, and all that.”
“Your honesty is commendable.”
I change lanes smoothly and take a left—only fifteen more minutes. Surprisingly, I don’t feel the urge to leap from the car. I feel a little bit like Ellis probably did last night—spilling my secrets without provocation—but it doesn’t feel wrong.
“I do have to say I think I like you. I get the sense you would never hurt my daughter.” Ellis’ dad makes the same scratchy noise in his throat again. “Although, if you do, I can promise you I will tear your nuts from your body one by one—yes, it’s possible—and feed them to the potbelly pig Mrs. Anderson keeps next door even though the city knows about it and has sent her no less than fourteen notices over the past two years, saying she needs to get rid of it. She’s planning on hiring a lawyer because there’s no way she’s giving up that pig without a fight. So, the chances are good that for the next while, at least, I could make good on my threat.”
I fight back a grin as that would hardly be an appropriate response at the moment. I turn toward him when we hit a red light. “I won’t hurt her.” I wish it were true. I want it to be true. It was never my intention to hurt anyone. I wanted to get the ring off Ellis because no one wants to walk around cursed, and it’s messing with our lives, but that’s as far as I planned on taking things. I’ll admit there were a few little blips here and there, the kind of unexpected blip one gets when their toast gets stuck in the toaster, and they stick a knife in to try and wedge the bloody thing out, but they get more than they bargained for. Nevertheless, I still have no intention of doing Ellis any harm.
I really should stop wanting to kiss her then.
She had her hair done in a messy bun at the nape of her neck today. The clothes she wore weren’t tight, but they looked amazing. I didn’t know boyfriend jeans and a loose-fitting shirt could be so deliciously arousing. Bottling those thoughts and cutting my brain off from sending signals to my happy stick and happy pucks would be vital in assisting my goal of not repeating our kiss. Or kisses. Since that was the second time in which I’d kissed Ellis.
This could all end up going wrong because I want to kiss her again. And I’m always going to notice she’s beautiful because she’s absolutely stunning.
“I can tell you’re thinking about tempting fate,” Ellis’ dad grumbles. “Right after I told you not to.”
“I believe you warned me against hurting your daughter, which I have no intention of doing.”
“Sometimes, intentions go to shit. Everyone knows that. Even the best of them.”
Thank goodness we’re nearly there because the urge to crawl under the dash is getting stronger and stronger. Not because I need to hide, but because I suddenly feel like I’m going to wilt. There’s something about a dad giving you the stink eye that is quite withering.
“She’s been through a lot,” he goes on. “You don’t know the half of it, no matter how well you know her. And I’ve been the biggest burden of all on her. I’m going to get this fixed, though I don’t know why I couldn’t do it on my own. I just…I couldn’t. I tried. I even bought all the self-help books. She told you we couldn’t afford real help, I assume?”
“Yes. She did say that.”
“And you have the means to pay for it and the desire to do Ellis a solid like this, which tells me you either want to have one over her and control and manipulate her, or you’re a good man with a good heart and want to do right by her. I’m going to go with the latter.”
In the living room, I just broached the subject, telling him Ellis loved him and how she was extremely worried. I told him I was a good friend of hers and that I knew a great therapist who was far more human than a robot and could make a difference. I told him my mom went through a rough period when she was on her own, and she’d seen Penny for years, which helped her get through things I’m not sure she could have overcome otherwise. Then, I said the cost was not an issue and that he could see her for as long as he wanted. I also said something along the lines of how being sick sucks, and sometimes, we don’t remember what it’s like to feel good or even think we can feel that way again. I think he was just ready because that’s all I said, and then he nodded, got out of the chair, and reached out to clap me on the shoulder, but the lamp cord got caught, causing the lamp to turn over and shatter, which brought Ellis running to us.