Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 69511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
So I turned back around and headed back to her place.
All the while I kept hitting redial on my phone, only for her not to pick up.
After still not finding her at her place, I decided to park my ass in her driveway and wait.
She showed up twenty minutes later in an Uber.
She leaned forward as she got out and reached for some paperwork, and it was then I saw the cast on her arm.
I lurched forward, catching up to her as she marched toward the house.
“What happened?” I gasped.
She glared at me. “What do you mean what happened?”
“What happened to your arm? Did that happen during the fall when Darryl pushed you?”
She ignored me and used her keys to get into her house.
“What are you doing here?” she asked as she pushed through the door.
The door started to close in my face, but I caught it, ignoring the way my side smarted.
“I’m here because I wanted to see you,” I told her. “Why else would I be here?”
She rolled her eyes and didn’t comment.
I followed behind her, making sure the door was securely closed, and missed being able to follow her into her room when her door closed.
The distinct sound of the lock clicking into place was enough to make me stop in the living room and take a look around.
With the house itself being on Eleventh Street, you wouldn’t be able to tell from the inside.
It was cute and quaint, and obviously well taken care of, even before Athena owned it.
I studied the picture frames on the mantle.
One photo was of her parents, sister, and brother with her smashed in the middle of them all. I smiled at how well blended they were.
The second photo was of Maven and Athena on her college graduation day.
I’d actually been present for that one, since it’d only happened a few months ago, but I hadn’t told her I was there.
I was still under the impression that I was too old for her.
The third photo on the mantle was of her and her brother. The most recent one she would have before he’d died.
He was in his DPD issued uniform, and she was wearing a familiar red dress that I’d fallen in love with the first time I’d seen it on her.
The door clicked open, and I grinned at the cut-off jean shorts and white tank top she came out of her room in.
She also had a laptop in her hands, as well as an old glass of water.
I moved toward her, but she brushed right past me as if I was an annoying fly that somehow found its way into her house.
“Please talk to me,” I begged.
Okay, so maybe I should have handled the situation with her earlier a little better.
But dammit, I was not okay.
Still wasn’t if I was being truthful.
Not only was I scared for my brother, but my heart was still pounding at the thought of anything happening to her.
I’d let my own fear get the best of me.
I went to follow her to the back door of her place, but stopped when she said, “Leave me alone, Gable.”
I ignored that and kept pushing toward her. “Just let me talk to you. I promise I can explain.”
“Just let me be mad at you, please,” she urged. “I’ve had a long day, and I really don’t want to talk to you right now.”
I ignored her request and followed her down the steps.
I came to a sudden halt when I heard the first buzz.
“Stop,” I pleaded. “Please talk to me.”
She ignored me and kept walking.
I watched her, knowing exactly where she was going.
I saw the box of bees, and remembered when she told me that she had them.
“Don’t you dare go over there,” I grumbled.
“Watch me,” she called out, flipping me the bird as she stopped at the fence line.
Then she sat her ass on a bench right beside them, turned her back to me, and started fiddling on her computer.
She was too far away to hear me without voicing my issues to the entire neighborhood. And remembering how fucking nosy they were when I’d come over during the porn fiasco from the night before had me holding my tongue.
With nothing else to do, I took a seat on her back porch and waited for her to come back.
Every once in a while, she would look at me over her shoulder and catch me staring, surprise evident in her eyes.
I didn’t know if she thought I wouldn’t wait or what, but every time her face froze in surprise, then went into a sneer when she realized I wasn’t budging, I had to laugh a little bit inside.
When it started to get dark, I ordered some pizza and breadsticks for us.
It arrived in record time, and I had to leave at one point to go grab it from the delivery guy.