Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46599 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46599 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
It’s definitely more difficult than any fight or business venture.
“Maybe I’ll see you in a couple of months,” she mutters under her breath, just about audible to me as I do the impossible.
I walk away from the woman of my dreams.
“Here you go.”
I place the glass down in front of Alex.
He smiles up at me as he takes it. “Thanks, Ben. I can honestly say you’re the best best man who’s ever lived.”
I swallow, masking my reaction, wondering what he’d say if he knew the truth.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Becca
“Are you packed?” Mom asks, standing in the doorway.
She’s already got her backpack on, her suitcase at her feet. Her gray hair is pulled into a tight bun, and she aims her sharp, dignified features at me.
“Yeah.” I gesture at the bed. “All ready to go.”
I hope she can’t sense the sadness in my voice, the sadness which has touched me every day since the wedding.
After we waved Tiffany and Alex off for their honeymoon, the pull I felt for Ben was so strong, so overwhelming.
It was – and it is – difficult to focus on anything else.
All I could think about was the near kisses, the one at the party and then the wedding. And then there was that moment at the bar, where we said more wordlessly than with our speech.
We were saying goodbye, admitting this could never work.
The thought of returning to England, of leaving Ben behind, makes me ache, physically freaking hurt.
As we leave the Air BnB and load up the car, I hide this all away. Dad stands next to the driver’s side, built more like me than Mom, with a kind smile on his face. He playfully taps on his watch when he sees me approaching, wheeling my suitcase.
“Chippy-chop.”
I giggle, shaking my head. “Don’t do that silly British accent, Dad. You sound like the weirdest James Bond ever.”
“Righty-o, then,” he says, grinning, waggling his eyebrows.
We load up the car, then I climb into the back, clasping my hands in my lap. It’s difficult not to wish I was back at the wedding, at the fountain when Ben’s hands were on my body, my hips, my ass.
When he messaged me, it was like he was hungry for me, for all of me. And his words were even sweeter than his touch.
He called me beautiful, all of me beautiful.
“Where are we going?” When Dad turns left instead of right, I ask, which would lead us to the airport.
“Alex isn’t sure he enabled his security system,” Dad says. “He called this morning. I guess he was too distracted to remember before.”
Mom beams. “He’s so in love, isn’t he? Our baby boy. I can’t believe how old he is, how grown-up.”
Dad chuckles. “He’s been grown for quite a while now, Cassandra.”
“I know,” Mom says. “But something about him being married – to somebody he loves so much– changes things.”
I clench my teeth way too hard, with way too much unfair bitterness coursing through me.
Everything they said is true. Alex is happy, and in love, and he deserves it.
He’s a good person.
I’m the one who wants to betray him.
I’m the one who wants to ruin it all.
“Parking around here is a bloody nightmare,” Dad says, the Britishism sneaking in as it often does after so many years.
“Do you want me to go up quickly?” I say. “If you give me the code, I can make sure everything’s okay.”
“Are you sure?” Dad says. “That would be a big help.”
“Honestly, it’s fine.”
It’s the least I can do; I don’t add since all I want is to be his best friend’s girl.
Once they’ve given me the code, I walk across the street and into Alex’s apartment building. With the spare key, I open the door.
The alarm starts screeching, making me jump, a cutting noise that blares through the apartment. I rush over to the display pad, quickly type in the code and then sigh.
“Guess you didn’t forget after all,” I say to no one.
“It makes me feel less crazy, knowing I’m not the only person who talks to themselves.”
I turn at his voice, the voice that hasn’t stopped whispering to me since we parted ways at the wedding.
He stands at the end of the hallway, wearing a T-shirt. It shows off his forearms and a hint of his biceps. His eyes blaze with that intensity I remember so well.
It’s only been two days, but it feels like forever.
“What are you doing here?” I whisper.
“Alex forgot to set his alarm. He called this morning.”
“He did the same with Dad. I guess he was getting paranoid about it.”
“Ah, that’s my fault. I was supposed to text him. I forgot. I only came back to check on something but I must have reset the alarm when I walked in. I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”
I’m not sure what to say to that, especially with his intense eyes searing into me, pinning me in place.