Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 102355 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102355 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
“Proud of yourself?”
“God, yes. I just secured your future, babes! Bet he proposes by the end of the night. I might as well start planning your hen do.”
“My what?”
“Your bachelorette party,” Annika supplies for her, rushing to catch up to us. “Good work, Simone.”
They try to high-five, but I cut in front of Annika and wave my hands to break it up. “No! Don’t high-five her for that! I could have hurt myself.”
“Hurt yourself by falling into the sculpted arms of a famous DJ?” Simone snorts with laughter. “Not likely. Annika, did you see the way he looked down at her?”
“Just like how Cristiano looked at her the other night, don’t you think?”
“You two need a hobby,” I tell them point-blank before walking away.
They rush after me.
“Have one, actually,” Simone responds. “It’s called looking fit and fab.”
I hear Annika snicker, and I flip them the bird over my shoulder.
I’m about to make it to the top of the stairs when Simone calls out. “I don’t see what all the fuss is about. You need Boréal, remember? For your bucket list? It specifically said you had to fall in love with a man who’s smoking hot. Blokes like that are rare!”
“What bucket list?” Annika asks, trying to keep up with the turn in conversation.
“Oh… it’s nothing,” Simone says in a rush. “Shite. Forget I said anything.” She catches up to me and takes my hand, squeezing it tight. “Really, I didn’t mean to bring it up like that. I forgot Annika didn’t know about it.”
I shrug. “I don’t care, tell her. She’ll find out anyway if she’s going to help me accomplish everything on it.”
I actually prefer it this way. I don’t have it in me to explain Winnie to someone again so soon after telling Simone, and I want Annika to know about her. I was going to get around to sharing, but it’s not exactly a topic you can bring up any ol’ time of day. Do you have a second while you’re eating your morning cereal to hear about the saddest thing that’s ever happened to me?
Simone tugs my hand so I’ll turn and look at her. She doesn’t trust that I’m being honest. I know she feels bad about blabbing because I see the remorse written all over her face.
“I mean it,” I whisper. “Tell her.”
Fifteen minutes later, while I’m getting my first group of the night a round of waters, Annika walks right up to me with glassy eyes and a wobbly bottom lip. Oh god. Simone definitely told her. She holds her arms out wide and tells me to bring it in.
When I don’t immediately fall into her embrace, she forces me into it.
“Oh my god, your poor sister.”
“Annika…”
Her arms only tighten around me. “Simone said you two were really close. I just know she was the best because you’re the best.”
“Annika—”
“Life can be so unfair. One day, everyone you love is alive and well. Then the next—poof, they’re gone. My grandmother went just like that. At ninety-four, she had a heart attack while she was eating rødgrød med fløde.”
“What?”
“It’s like a berry pudding. Popular in Denmark.”
“Gotcha.”
“And I had this gerbil once when I was a kid that accidentally managed to get outside, and a bird swooped down and ate him. When I close my eyes, I can still see his little feet dangling out of the bird’s mouth.”
“All right.” I pat her hand and slowly extricate myself from her grasp. “Thank you. That’s… really helpful.”
My sarcasm goes completely unnoticed.
“I’m here if you ever want to talk about it.”
I smile tightly.
“Or if you just want a hug.”
She gives me another one now as if to prove her point. Now I know how Simone felt earlier when I tried to hug her.
“Okay.” I do a little shimmy step backward and point behind me. “I should get to work.”
“You are so brave!” she shouts after me.
Aura’s summer kickoff party is just as next-level as everyone promised it would be. Guests had to purchase tickets for the event, and I’ve heard whispers of what they cost. It’s enough that every person in here feels entitled to everything within reach. The drinks are flowing, food is getting passed by the waitstaff, and I’m just trying to keep my head above water.
I’m leaning down to better hear a group of women put in their drink orders when I feel the hairs rise on the back of my neck, and I know Cristiano is here even before I turn around to confirm it. Oh, look at that… he’s parting the crowd like Moses. His arrival has caused a barely contained commotion as people clamber to get out of his way just as much as they rush toward him. At his sides, there’s an entourage of adoring fans… fine, maybe they’re his friends. The girls are dressed as scantily as I am. One hurries to keep in stride with Cristiano, but his attention is on the man to his right. The two of them are grinning about something, and before Cristiano can see that I’m staring, I whip back around and get busy finishing this drink order.