Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 95049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
My thoughts go back to the airport. As if Leo knew this wasn’t a quick goodbye, like when I ran to the grocery store, he clung to me, refusing to let go. Lorenzo had to pry him from my arms, and then he cried as they watched me walk through security.
More than once, I considered running back to them.
Going home and quitting school.
Who needs a degree anyway?
But I knew I couldn’t do that.
I not only need my degree, but I want it. I’ve worked too hard to get this far, only to throw it all away for a man—even if the man is someone I love.
I turn my cheap wedding band around on my ring finger.
Lorenzo never brought up getting the annulment, and I didn’t either.
I probably should’ve since it would’ve been better to cut all ties, but I couldn’t do it. That last string binding us is all I have left of our time together.
My phone goes off with a text, and I scramble to see if it’s Lorenzo.
He called me after I arrived to make sure I got home okay. Then again that first night so I could say good night to Leo, but I had to hang up, not wanting to cry on the phone with them. Seeing Leo over the phone and not being able to hold him was too hard. And I’ve been avoiding his calls ever since.
I feel like I’m in limbo—my body is in Seattle, but my heart is in Harbor Point.
Kora
Change of plans. We’re leaving in the morning. Driver will pick you up at five a.m.
I sigh in relief, thankful for the distraction.
Vanessa
See you tomorrow.
As I’m hitting Send, my phone rings with a video call from Lorenzo, and I consider ignoring it, but then I look at the time and see it’s nine o’clock here, which means it’s midnight where he is, and he’s probably calling to wish me a happy New Year.
So, I take several calming breaths, fix my hair quickly so I look a little less of a mess, plaster a fake smile on my face, and then click Accept.
“Happy New Year!” I exclaim, internally cringing at how fake I sound.
“Hey,” Lorenzo says. “Happy New Year.”
I was expecting him to be at a party of some sort, but the room is dark, and I can make out his headboard behind his head.
He’s home. Just like me.
And from the look on his face, he’s not doing much better than I am.
“It’s going to get easier, right?” I blurt out, tears blurring my vision. “Because this fucking sucks. My heart … it hurts, Lorenzo.”
I tried to hold it in, but seeing him crumbles the wall I’ve been trying to build by not answering his calls.
“I don’t know,” he admits, always honest with me. “I’ve never experienced this before.”
“How’s Leo?”
“He’s good. Sleeping. He tried to make it to midnight, but”—he shrugs—“he’s not much of a partier.”
I choke out a laugh. “Like father, like son.”
“I was thinking,” he says at the same time I say, “I’m leaving for LA in the morning.”
“Oh, you are?” he asks. “I thought that wasn’t for a couple more days?”
“Kora needs to leave early. What were you going to say?”
“What?”
“You said you were thinking …”
“Oh, nothing.” He shakes his head. “I hope you have a good time in LA. Are you ready for your classes?”
“Yeah. I need to pick up my books when I get back, but there isn’t anything I need to do before classes start.”
“Good. What time are you leaving?”
“Five,” I groan.
Lorenzo smiles softly. “Then you’d better get to sleep. I know how cranky you are when you don’t get your eight hours of sleep.”
“Yeah.” I chuckle. “But I’m having trouble sleeping.”
You’d think I’d be tired since I’m used to the time zone in Florida, but it’s almost like I’m overtired.
“Can you stay on the phone with me for a few minutes?” I ask, not ready to hang up.
Now that we’re on the phone and I’m able to see his face, I don’t want the call to end. It will suck once we hang up, but for now, I just want to pretend like we’re in the same bed, lying together instead of on the phone and three time zones away from each other.
“Wild Card,” Lorenzo murmurs, “I can stay on the phone with you for however long you want.”
He shuffles in his bed, most likely to get comfortable, and I do the same, propping the phone up next to me.
When he situates himself, the blanket slides down, exposing his bare chest, and I sigh in frustration, wishing I were there with him. How a hard chest can make such a comfy pillow, I don’t know, but it does.
“What’s going through that beautiful head of yours?” he asks, lifting his arm behind his head.
“I miss your bed,” I admit.