Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
That knowledge causes my stomach to burn with fury, but I push it down.
She’s not my problem to worry about.
Chapter 6
Simone
I know it only makes me a glutton for punishment, but I can’t seem to stop scanning the crowd here in Hoolihan’s looking for Van. I have no clue if he’ll come over from the arena with the rest of the team to celebrate tonight’s win. The Cold Fury took game two of the second round, up 2–0 against the Pittsburgh Titans. I drove Jules to the game tonight in my brand-new used beat-up car that Lucas helped me buy. Well, he bought it so I could have job transportation and I’m paying him back. I’m going to hand Jules off to Max when he gets here.
“Here you go,” Jules says as she approaches me with two beers.
“Thanks,” I say, making another sweep of the crowded bar. It’s packed shoulder to shoulder with fans in the excited throes of play-off hockey. Many of the Cold Fury players come here after a win to celebrate with the local crowd.
True to my word, I’ve left Van alone over this past week. I was so sure that night he caught me at Lulu’s that he was finally going to take what I offered, and give me what I wanted. It’s totally bullshit he’s blaming this on my brothers, and I know it’s not due to a lack of attraction, because his hard-on tells me different. Fuck if I can figure it out, but sadly, I’m going to have to give him the space he’s asked for, because I cannot afford to have Max or Lucas find out where I’m working. I flat-out lied to them and told them I got a job working third shift in a customer call center over in Research Triangle Park.
If they knew, they’d go ballistic. There is no way they’d want their baby sister flaunting her goods like that. What really sucks is that even though the tips are fairly decent, they aren’t enough to let me pay my living expenses, pay Lucas for the car, and start to pay my parents back for the wasted Dartmouth education. This was something that they insisted I start with right away and I can’t blame them. Only problem is, waitressing at Lulu’s doesn’t give me enough to do all that, so I’ve actually thought about stripping. It’s not something I’d prefer to do, but I sure as hell will do what I need to do to start making this up to my parents. One of my coworkers at Lulu’s dances just a few days a week at an upscale place here in Raleigh, and she can make upward of a thousand dollars. I have to give that some serious consideration.
Not sure how my life got so far off track, but I think it started the day that I told my father I wanted to be a doctor like him. I think I was thirteen, and since then, it was just assumed by everyone—me included—that is what I’d be.
But at the start of my junior year I realized it was not what I wanted. I had no passion for medicine, despite the fact I excelled in all my math and science classes. I kept telling myself I just needed to tell my parents, but then I’d put it off. Days turned into weeks, which turned into months, which turned into another year of college under my belt. I had been so driven and focused on stacking up on undergrad courses that would look good to the best med schools that I’d pigeonholed myself. Add to that, I just wasn’t enjoying college, because I knew that for every course I completed, I was one step closer to entering a career I didn’t want. And truthfully, I didn’t want to disappoint my parents.
So yes, it was absolutely foolish to just drop out before the last semester of my senior year started. It was positively stupid not to tell my parents about it. I knew it was wrong, and eventually I fessed up to Lucas, who made me tell my parents and Max.
Let’s just say I’m lucky they’re still speaking to me.
It was only my promise to immediately get a job and start sending them money for the thousands and thousands of dollars they’d spent that I think I was allowed back into the fold.
My parents are great, though. They love me unconditionally and I’m not stupid…they still hold out hope I’ll go back and finish. I really wish that were true, although I just don’t know what I want to major in now.
Turning to Jules, I nudge her as she sips her beer and looks around the crowd for Max. “Let me ask you something.”
“What’s that?” she asks with a smile.
“What do you think I should do with my life?”