Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 89012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Rebecca laughs too, angling her body toward Sara. “Or Blue Shirt Chris. Remember him? I can’t imagine being reduced to the color of my shirt and first name.”
“Trust me—being Blue Shirt Chris was doing him a favor. It differentiated him from Green Shirt Chris. Huge difference, if you get the picture.”
“Oh, I got the picture,” I say, my laughter fading into a fake cry. “I learned the hard way to never—never, ever, ever—look at the pictures on your phone.”
Sara smirks. “It was hard, I’ll give you that.”
“I’m not opposed to some hard, that’s for sure,” I say. “But I’d like to tiptoe into that world. Dip my toe in, so to speak.”
“Take your time,” Rebecca says just as Sara speaks.
“Just hop back on and ride. It’s like riding a bike.” Her grin turns mischievous. “They both end with a sore ass sometimes too.”
I snort as our server reappears. After learning we don’t need anything else, she slips our bill onto the end of the table.
“I’m sorry I missed dinner,” Sara says. “I’ll make it up to you. Want to go out to eat this weekend? My treat.”
I grab my purse and dig around for my wallet. “Maybe. I’ll probably get my stuff together now that I’m fully committed to the Bahamas.”
A burst of excitement streaks through me. Salt, sand, and sun—just what I ordered … when I bought the trip.
“I can’t do dinner on Saturday. I have a late shift at Smokey’s,” Rebecca says. “I’m not sure how long I work Friday either.”
Sara nods. “I’ll text you guys later this week, and we’ll figure it out.”
“Perfect,” I say.
I reach for the bill, but Rebecca grabs it first.
“It’s my turn to pay,” I tell her.
She shakes her head. “I’m the one who suggested we come.”
My heart tugs for my sweet friend. Rebecca struggles, but she does it with so much pride. I love her so much.
“You aren’t paying for dinner,” I tell her. “You’re letting me crash with you, for heaven’s sake. I’m not your ward.”
Our server comes back and immediately understands the situation. She laughs at our friendly yet serious debate. “I’ll stand here quietly until you handle this amongst yourselves.”
“I’m paying,” I tell her, thrusting my card toward her hand.
“She’s not.” Rebecca extends her card across the table. “Take mine.”
“Just let me pay for it and ignore these two,” Sara tells her. “I’ll leave you the best tip.”
I stare at both of my friends.
“Keep glaring at me,” Sara says, smiling brightly. “But you’re still not paying.”
“No, she’s not,” a playful voice says from beside me. “Because I am.”
TWO
Ashley
Goose bumps ripple across my skin. Air laced with the faint scent of spiced cherries toys with my senses. Even if the smooth, flirty voice and ga-ga look on Rebecca’s face didn’t make it abundantly clear who was standing beside me, I’d know by the way the right side of my body tingles.
Maddox Carmichael’s lips flicker into a half-smile, half-smirk. “Hey, Ash.”
“Hey.” I grin as a familiar warmth floods my veins. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”
And that’s a shame.
His sandy-colored hair is cut close to the scalp, highlighting his ridiculous cheekbones. The angle of his jaw—one of my favorite things about him—is covered with a day’s worth of stubble, and his neck slopes to his shoulders in a way that makes me melt.
It’s not a bad look. At all.
He chuckles, the sound deep and smooth. “Miss me?”
“Oh, it was unbearable,” I tease. “I didn’t know what to do with myself. That’s basically why I’m here—hoping to run into you.”
“Sounds about right.” He slips his wallet out of his pocket, and then, for the first time since he approached us, he acknowledges my friends. “Hey, Sara. What’s up, Becca?”
Rebecca turns a bright shade of red.
“Hi, Maddox,” Sara says with a cheek-splitting grin. “Fancy seeing you here since Ashley’s car is parked outside and all.”
I roll my eyes.
My friends don’t understand my relationship with Maddox—a relationship that’s a harmless, flirty friendship more than anything else.
The two of us have a strange, effortless connection. It started on the first day of first grade when I got a piece of bubble gum stuck in my hair. I wasn’t supposed to have it but snuck it in like a rebel. Of course, it stuck in my hair while I was showing off, and I panicked. Maddox came to my rescue with his safety scissors and snipped the glob off in the back of the classroom.
He was a true hero that day.
Ever since then, we’ve been sort of stuck together.
We find each other in crowds without knowing the other is there. We’ve sat by countless bonfires and talked while our friends got wasted. If we’re in the same room and someone says something funny, our eyes snap together, and we laugh at the same time. On occasion, we’re the only ones.