Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 121887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
And I couldn’t take any more.
Therefore, I turned, yanked open the door and raced out (so…yeah, I could flounce, fume, bounce, and additionally, I was prone to throwing a drama).
Javi was, indeed, standing in the parking lot, or more aptly, leaning against the side of the bed of his truck, arms crossed on his mile-wide chest, frowning impatiently up at the walkway.
He came out of the lean the instant he saw me racing down to the stairs.
“Harlow! Wait!” Jessie called, and I knew she was racing after me.
An aside: for three years, Mom was angry with me because I didn’t try out for the track team. I was a good runner. Fast with great form. My gym teacher was the track coach, and he practically begged my parents to get me to try out.
The thing was, I wasn’t a jock. I had no interest in it. My view of running was the same as Val Kilmer’s in Real Genius, I’d do it…only when chased (and to add my bit, only when graded on it).
Like, with the chasing part, kinda…now.
Thus, I got to Javi fast and panted, “Let’s just go.”
He was looking between me and Jessie, asking, “Are you okay?”
I pressed a hand into his chest and begged, “Please, can we just go?”
Javi stopped looking between me and my girls, stared hard at me, then his face got kinda scary.
Jessie was there, I could feel her. I could also hear the others running up to us, including the clattering of Jinx’s platform heels, and in another scenario, I would have liked to have witnessed Jinx running in those shoes. I bet she was good at it.
Now, I was stuck between two evils, at this juncture Javi being the lesser one, and I just wanted to get out of there.
Suddenly, Javi was not messing around. He scorched Jess with a scowl, included the rest of them in it, all while he dragged me to the driver’s side door. He had it open, and I was up and in because he picked me up and shoved me in before I could let out a squeak.
I scrambled across the cab to sit in the passenger seat as I heard Javi growl, “I don’t know what the fuck is happening, but right now, all you bitches are gonna back off.”
He’d barely got that out before he hauled his big body in, slammed the door and started up his truck.
I resolutely didn’t look at my gang as he backed out, headed toward the exit and then we were away.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Don’t make me talk about it or I might cry,” I answered while valiantly trying not to cry.
“I don’t give a shit if you cry. I give a shit if you’re okay,” he returned.
Really…
Why?
Why couldn’t this awesome guy like me?
I made one of those gross sobbing hiccup noises.
“Baby,” he whispered.
Really!
Why couldn’t this awesome guy like me?
I looked out the side window and tried to pull myself together.
“Lil’ mama, talk to me,” he urged gently.
He wanted to talk?
Okay, we’d talk!
I twisted toward him. “I didn’t tell them you were mean to me last night. And before you say anything, I get it. You don’t like me. Does that hurt?”
“Harlow—”
I spoke over him. “Yes, it hurts. Because you’re a good guy. But not everyone likes everybody, and eventually, I’ll get used to it. We’re both adults. We could figure it out. Even if we share friends, we’d figure it out.”
“Har—”
“And okay, so I was chicken and wiggled out of our dinner by leaving early to buy porn.”
He sounded like he was strangling when he asked, “Porn?”
“For Mr. Stupidhead, the receptionist at the hotel. We bribe him with porn.”
I watched him grin at the windshield as he muttered, “Gotcha.”
“But I also brought some of Willow’s cupcakes, and he really liked him, so I think we can wean him off porn and get him onto baked goods.”
“I wouldn’t hold a lot of hope for that, lil’ mama,” he advised.
Whatever.
“Anyway, it’s debatable I stood you up,” I continued. “Seeing as I didn’t agree to go to dinner in the first place.”
He hesitated a beat before he replied, “No comment.”
Again.
Whatever.
“But you showed up while we were talking to Jinx, and I had to admit to them that I kinda, but not really, depending on how you look at it, stood you up. And Jessie and Raye got mad at me because they look at it the way I don’t.”
“They got mad at you?”
At his frightening tone, I clicked out of my hurt and fully into the cab.
Oh boy.
“Not that you want me,” I started cautiously, “but say you did, this is why we can’t go there. Because we’re dragging everyone along with us. So if things didn’t work out, people would pick sides and someone would get left out.”
“They got mad at you?” he repeated.