Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 84370 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84370 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
“That makes sense,” Baylor says slowly. “However, you can’t let the fear of the unknown keep you from trying, big sister. Look at me. I left for New York on my own. It was something I wanted, and I had to take the risk.” She pauses as I let her words sink in. “Let me ask you a question, Ellie. Is he worth it? Is Copeland worth the worry and the stress?”
“Yes.” I don’t hesitate with my answer. “He’s worth it. But am I?”
“You are,” a deep voice says from the doorway.
I gasp, drop the iPad, and sit up, staring at Copeland standing there, looking like my every fantasy. He’s in worn blue jeans, boots, and a black T-shirt. Nothing fancy. It’s not the clothing; it’s the man.
“W-What are you doing in here?” I ask, my eyes wide. I can hear Baylor asking what’s going on and the low hum of Courtlynn’s voice as she tells her.
“Kinzie texted me and told me to come on over, and that I should come upstairs,” he says, his eyes flashing to my best friend quickly, before coming back to mine.
“Well, my work here is done.” Kinzie slides off the bed.
“Kinzie,” I warn her.
She turns my way and smiles. “I know I was wrong. But I also know that you’re thinking too much. I know the past, I know the pain, but I also know what the view looks like from the outside looking in.” She steps in front of me and leans in for a hug. I hug her back on autopilot, my eyes still locked with Copeland’s. “Be happy, Ellie. We’re all here for you, no matter what,” she whispers.
“I do like the view,” Courtlynn muses.
“Me, too.” Baylor chuckles.
I glance over to see Courtlynn holding the iPad at an angle so Baylor can watch this all go down. Finally, my eyes land on Leighton. My quiet, reasonable sister.
“I don’t think Kinzie should have called him and told him to come up here.”
I nod, knowing she would be the reasonable one.
“However,” she says, and I groan, making everyone in the room laugh except for Copeland and me, “even after all these years, he still looks at you like you’re the air he needs to breathe.”
I take in a ragged breath at her words.
“I’m not saying to jump in headfirst, but allow your feet to get wet. Get to know who you are now as adults who have paved their own way over the years. Allow yourself to be open-minded, and if in the end it doesn’t work out, that’s okay. At least you’ll be able to move forward with no regrets. You’ll know you tried everything within you to make it work. And yes, you’re strong enough to endure it a second time, if that’s what it comes down to, because you’re Ellison Moran. Our big sister, who picked up all of our broken pieces and held us together. Allow us the opportunity to do the same for you.”
I nod, tears in my eyes.
“For the record,” Leighton adds, “I don’t think we’ll have to.” She glances over at Copeland, and when I follow her gaze, I’m met with the intensity of his.
No matter how hard I try, I can’t look away. I hear my sisters and my traitor of a best friend exit the room, and the soft click of the door as they leave us alone.
“You’re worth it,” Copeland says. “You’re worth every fucking thing, Ellison Moran.” In a few long strides, he’s standing before me. He lifts his hand and cradles my cheek in his palm. “I’m so damn sorry I ever made you feel like you weren’t enough for me.” I can hear the pain in his voice, in the rasp of his words.
“You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
“I needed to hear that, Ells. I don’t expect us to go from not speaking for seventeen years to happily together overnight. What I do expect is to work for it. I expect to give you every single piece of myself. I need to know what’s going on in that beautiful brain of yours so I can tell you my side of things. You think you’re not worth it, but to me, you’re worth it all.” He drops his hands from my face and pulls me into a hug.
I hesitate for maybe two seconds before I slide my arms around his waist and grip the back of his shirt. His scent and strong arms surround me, and I could stay here like this all night.
I don’t know how long we stand there. Neither of us makes a move to pull away, and I somehow know that he won’t. He’s waiting for me, and since my emotional madness started this mess, I need to be the one to finish it.
Lifting my head, I peer up at him as I loosen my grip on his shirt, let my arms drop, and step back. I open my mouth to apologize, but Copeland must be a mind reader now because he places his index finger over my lips.