Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 81584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Right, because standing outside with a security guard wouldn’t look conspicuous. I shook my head again.
The door had barely closed behind them when a vaguely familiar SUV pulled up to the curb. Ignoring the fact that it wasn’t an actual parking spot, Gray climbed out of the driver’s seat and rounded the hood.
“You didn’t have to get out,” I chastised, hurrying toward him.
“All set?” he asked, opening the passenger door for me.
“Yeah.” I gingerly climbed into the car and held my purse on my lap.
God, I was such an asshole. I shouldn’t have called him in the middle of the day to pick me up. We were barely even friends. I should’ve just gotten over myself and taken the car I’d ordered.
“You hungry?” Gray asked as he got into the car.
“Not really. Thank you so much for doing this. Seriously.”
“No problem,” he replied, pulling out onto the road. “You sure you’re not hungry? I’m gonna run through somewhere.”
“I could eat,” I replied, changing my tune instantly. The least I could do was buy him lunch. “Whose car is this?”
“My ma’s.”
“You told her?”
“No, I asked if I could borrow her rig,” he said, glancing at me. “She didn’t ask why.”
“Oh.”
“Didn’t think you’d be comfortable on the back of my bike,” he said softly.
“Oh,” I repeated. “Um, yeah, thanks.”
“Want a burger?” he asked as he pulled into a local fast-food restaurant.
“No, but I’ll take some fish and chips,” I replied. “With extra lemon.”
“Shit, that sounds better,” he said, turning toward the window. “Could I get two fish and chips, please? Four-piece.” He turned back to me. “Drink?”
“Iced tea, please,” I replied, stuffing my hand into my purse in search of my wallet.
“With two iced teas.”
“And extra lemon,” I said quickly.
“With extra lemon,” he said. “Thanks.”
“You’re so polite.”
“Costs nothin’ to be polite.”
“You should remind Rumi of that.”
“Rumi’s a lost cause,” he replied, his lips twitching as he pulled up to the window. He leaned up to pull his wallet out of his pocket as I held out cash.
“I’ll pay,” I said, flapping the cash up and down.
He handed his bank card through the window without a word.
“At least let me give you gas money or something.”
“Not takin’ your money.”
“You’ve gone out of your way for me twice now.”
He took back his card from the cashier. “Thanks, man.”
“Gray,” I called, waving the cash.
“Put it away so you can hold the food,” he ordered as he reached through the window for our drinks.
“You’re such a dude,” I grumbled as I stuffed the cash between the seats for his mom to find later.
“I saw that shit,” he shot back as he set the iced teas in the cup holders.
Once we had our food, Gray pulled over to a parking spot in the shade under some trees.
“Thanks for lunch,” I said, handing him his bag of food.
“Stop thanking me.”
“It costs nothing to be polite.” I threw his words back at him.
“Touché.”
“I’m sorry I called you,” I said as I squeezed lemon on my fish. “You were the first person I thought of.”
“Not Myla or Lou?” he asked curiously, watching me out of the corner of his eye.
“I didn’t tell them I had an appointment,” I confessed.
“You think they’d judge you?”
I jolted in my seat at his tone and turned to look at him. “How did you know?”
“At the same clinic a couple weeks ago. Came out lookin’ like shit. Called me to pick you up today, didn’t drive yourself, and came out lookin’ even worse than the first time.”
He was too perceptive. “I don’t think they’d judge me.”
“Then why didn’t you tell them?”
“I didn’t want them to baby me,” I murmured, going back to my food.
“Why not?”
“Because I didn’t want to make it a big thing,” I replied, taking a bite. I shook my head. “I’m not broken or upset or whatever. I just wanted to be done with it.”
“I can understand that,” he said quietly.
“I probably should’ve said something,” I muttered around the food in my mouth. “I’ll tell them at some point.”
“You should.”
We ate our food quietly, and I held back a groan as my stomach cramped. Pulling out the ibuprofen in my purse, I poured three out and took them with my iced tea.
“Sore?” he asked, crumpling his wrappers up into a ball.
“Just crampy. They said it would happen.”
Gray threw his door open and reached for my empty containers as I held back a wince. As soon as he’d stepped away from the car, I listed to the side and thumped my head against the cool window. The cramping was perfectly normal. Everything was fine. There was no reason to worry about it.
I’d opted for the in-office procedure instead of the pill because I’d been too afraid that something would go wrong, and I wouldn’t know it. The fear was irrational, and the doctor had assured me that the pill was highly effective and safe, but I’d felt more comfortable having a doctor take care of the procedure. She’d finished in less than ten minutes what would’ve taken up to twenty-four hours if I’d done it at home.