Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“He said… my labs didn’t come back as he hoped… and that if the new treatment doesn’t work, I have six months to a year left.”
Fuck. My mind goes blank for a moment. I glance over at my twin, hoping for some direction. But he looks just as lost as I feel.
“But there is another treatment option?” I question when I find my voice again.
Which means there is hope. There has to be hope.
“Yes, I start it next week.”
“Does your grandma know?” Easton asks.
Emma shakes her head. “I can’t bring myself to tell her.”
“All right, we’ll figure it out, okay?” I say because that’s all I can think of.
She nods, but when her tearful gaze connects with mine, I know she isn’t convinced. Part of her still wants to push us away, but I won’t let that happen again, and she has to know it.
“No more lying,” I repeat, keeping my tone stern, “and no more pushing us away. Easton and I want to be with you, Emma. Especially when you are going through something. We want to be here for you, no matter what.”
“And we will be from now on. No matter what you do or say. We won’t leave you again,” Easton adds, as if he was reading my mind.
“But what if…” Emma starts, but I don’t let her finish her thought.
“No ifs or buts,” I state. “This is happening. You, me, and my brother are meant to be together… however long that might be, I don’t care. While we can, we will be together.”
“We love you, Emma,” Easton declares for both of us. I nod in agreement.
Emma hiccups before she wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. “I love you too.”
Fuck, it feels good hearing that.
“So, what now?” Emma hiccups again.
“Now, we’re going to spend every minute we can together.” I want all the minutes I can get. “Also. You will be our official girlfriend, and you will let us take care of you—without complaining about it.”
She rolls her eyes. “I don’t know if I can promise not to complain about it, but I’ll try to keep it to a minimum.” She smiles and all I care about is making her smile more.
“We can handle that as long as you know it’s going to happen, anyway,” Easton tells her with a grin.
“Yeah, I got that part down.”
Good. Because she is ours now, and we’ll never let her go.
“What about what I want?” Emma asks.
“We’ll give you whatever it is,” I promise. “What is it you want?”
“I want to start living more,” she explains. “Do things I’ve missed, make friends and be normal. I don’t want to sit around until I die.”
“We can definitely make that happen,” Easton says.
“Yes, we will, together,” I add. I’ll do whatever it is, as long as we’re doing it as one.
28
EMMA
Two weeks have passed since I told the guys everything. They have kept their promise and spend every free minute with me. They took me to the new treatment, held my wig back when I got sick after, rubbed my back and took care of me. They even held my hand when I finally confessed the news to Grandma.
I told her what the doctor said, and we cried until we had no tears left. Then we decided that it’s enough with the sadness and time to fight. I’m not giving up, and I won’t let the doctor’s timeline haunt me.
It’s not even an hour into the party at Briggs’s and Wren’s house when I come to an unsurprising conclusion: I’ve been missing out on a lot.
I mean, I knew that. And it’s not like I didn’t deliberately lock myself away from the world so I could keep my secret safe. But sitting here on the back patio, surrounded by people, laughing and swimming and having fun… I can’t help but wonder how much more I’ve missed.
Except for a few curious looks when we first got here, everybody’s been pretty accepting. At least that’s how they seem. Like they were all following somebody else’s lead, and now that the Scott twins have accepted me, they can do the same.
I don’t really care about all those people. I do care about the twins’ core group of friends, though, who seem a lot more genuine. “Are you having a good time?” Elliana asks from where she sits on Carter’s lap.
“Give her room to breathe,” Carter murmurs, grinning my way. “Don’t shine a spotlight on her.”
“It’s all right,” I offer. It’s not easy to speak up, but the more I do it, the easier it feels to be a part of things. “And I am having a good time, thanks. This is the first party I’ve been to since we moved here.” I can’t remember the last party I went to before that, but nobody needs to hear my sob stories.