Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 64571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
“He’ll find me,” I say. “If I run, he’ll find me. And part of me...” I swallow because I have to say the next part out loud. If anyone will get it, it’s Teddy. “Part of me loves that. It’s sick, right? Wanting someone to be that obsessed with you?”
“It’s human.” Teddy’s voice is soft. “Wanting to be chosen. Every day. Even when it’s fucked up. I mean, we’ve lost people in our lives, and our families were never big. Now we have these men we know will always show up. There’s comfort in that, and as nutty as it sounds, it’s freeing.”
I nod in agreement.
“You know,” Teddy keeps going, “knowing that you’re his first too kind of gives him room to fuck up. I’m guessing with Tristan, he wasn’t out there dating either because if he wanted to get laid—”
“Don’t,” I cut her off.
“I didn’t.” She holds her hand up.
“Sasha.” How did I forget about her?
“He’s here, not there. He doesn’t want her.” She has a point there. “You need to talk to him, Lily. Like really talk. Those big tough guys? They’ve got feelings in there. Deep, scary, probably unhealthy feelings, but they’re in there.”
I know, and we will. Tristan and I need to clear the air, and I’ve been avoiding it. I hopped up out of bed way too quickly for breakfast when I could have told Teddy that Tristan and I needed to be alone.
“And now he’s here.” I shake my head, trying to clear it a little. “And out there planning a dome that he wants to keep me prisoner in.” We both laugh and then suddenly stop, staring at each other.
“Would they really?”
“I don’t know!” I laugh because as ridiculous as it is and we laugh it off, I’m not so sure it’s too far off course for them. “It sounds insane. But also kind of...” I search for the word. “Adorkable? Is that the right word for two deadly men wanting to construct an actual bubble to keep us safe?”
“Definitely adorkable.” Teddy sits up, suddenly serious. “But also, why? I mean, really, why? There is no threat.”
“That’s what I was thinking too. But Tristan’s paranoid. Killian too. They keep talking about threats, about protection, like someone’s actually coming for me.”
“Might just be the field they worked in?”
“I think they’re dramatic.” Not that I have room to talk. I can get all worked up.
I stand by the window looking out over the garden; it’s peaceful, empty, and safe. “Bet they just want an excuse for their craziness, and ‘danger’ is a convenient one.”
“Interesting.” The way she says the word has me turning around to face her. I know that tone. “So let’s prove them wrong.” Teddy’s grin turns mischievous. “They’re so convinced the world’s ending; let’s show them it’s not. Sneak out. Go to town. Buy something stupid and expensive and come back before they even notice. If we’re going to be in prison, we might as well do something worthy of landing us there.”
“Oh.” A thrill fills me. I might enjoy running from Tristan more than I am willing to admit to myself.
“I mean, you’ve been here for months. Killian’s been ‘protecting’ us the whole time. Nothing’s happened. Not once. They’re paranoid because of their jobs, not because of reality.”
I bite my lip. “They’ll be furious.”
“We have to keep them on their toes. When they find out, we tell them we were trying to help. We are testing their reaction time.” Ah, I love her.
Teddy grabs my hand.
“Turnabout is fair play.”
“Yes! That’s what I’m talking about.” Teddy acts like it took her forever to talk me into this. She pulls me toward the side door and down a hallway into one of the garage bays. “This will be legendary.”
And like that, we slip out, giggling the whole time like schoolgirls.
The town isn’t far away. We take the convertible, top down, wind in our hair. Teddy has a fleet of cars but no driver’s license, so I drive.
She turns the music up, and we sing as loudly and as terribly as we can. The loud part, one purpose; the terrible part, well, it’s us.
When we get to town, we kind of stand there. “What now?” I ask. Teddy appears to be thinking the same thing as me. We’re here, so?
“Ice cream?” she suggests, pointing to the small shop.
We grab a couple of cones and walk down Main Street just talking about nothing and everything.
“You know what, where the hell are they? This is ridiculous already.” Neither of us has said that out loud, but we’ve both been wondering and keeping our eyes peeled for Tristan and Killian. But nada. They’re nowhere in sight. They’ve totally shit the bed when it comes to protecting us.
“Right!” Teddy huffs. “Let’s head back, and then we can rub it in their faces. Not only did we get out, but we got back in too before they even knew.”