Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 73462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
Darby stirs her drink. “I’m intrigued.”
June raises an eyebrow. “Why? None of us even know him.”
Darby shrugs. “Mystery’s hot. That’s all I’m saying.”
I’m getting the feeling there’s much more to Dr. Darby than meets the eyes. Still, I’m good at reading people, and she’s an amateur compared to June.
Time to change the subject. “Where are Ariel and Misty, I wonder?”
“Wedding stuff, no doubt,” June says.
“Hey,” I say, “we should give Ariel a shower tonight.”
“A shower?” June raises her eyebrows. “And where exactly would we buy gifts? And why should we? She’s marrying a billionaire. She’ll have whatever her heart desires from now on.”
“Okay, call it a bachelorette party, then. We can get some of the staffers to entertain. That sous-chef, Marc, is hotter than twenty hells.”
“I’m in, for sure,” Darby says.
June nods slowly, her gaze locked on mine. “That’s a great idea, Heather.”
There it is again—that look. That knowing. Like she’s analyzing every word I say, digging beneath the surface with some kind of unsettling nuance.
I swirl the ice in my glass, keep my expression neutral.
June doesn’t know me—not on the inside. But she sees too much.
I feel her watching me the way I watch everyone else—like she’s trying to decide what I’m hiding, and whether it matters.
It does matter.
And I’ll do whatever I must to make sure she stays in the dark.
EPISODE 203
THE WAY WE WERE
Brett
The resemblance between Jake and Misty is uncanny.
That’s the thought that went through my head as I lunged toward her and caught her before she fell to the sand.
She was panting, gasping, sweat streaking down her forehead and cheeks, her blond hair stringy and sticking to her skin.
Did Jake hear what Misty said? That he’s her brother?
Fuck. I still can’t even wrap my head around the fact that Jake is here. That Jake is alive.
Emotions coil through me. It’s too much. Too many feelings crashing into each other, none of them making sense.
I should be happy.
I am happy.
Somewhere beneath the chaos in my chest is relief so raw it aches.
He’s alive.
He’s alive.
After twenty damned years of believing he was gone—of carrying the weight of my secret love for him—he’s here. Breathing. Real.
I love him for it.
And I hate him for it.
I hate that he let us believe he was dead. That he disappeared without a trace and let us mourn him. That he let me mourn him. I hate that he’s just standing there, looking older but somehow the same, like two decades haven’t passed, like time didn’t break us all in his absence.
He was the heart of our group. The voice of justice. The one we leaned on to lead us the right way. The one who made everything feel like it was going to be okay, even when it wasn’t.
Then he was gone.
Now he’s back.
And I don’t know what to do with that.
There’s joy, yes—blinding, breathless joy—but it’s tangled in betrayal, in confusion, in the kind of rage that only comes from grief you never buried.
I want answers.
But more than that, I want the time back. I want the years we lost. The laughter. The fights. The stupid, mundane, beautiful moments that his death stole from us.
I don’t know if I can ever forgive him for letting us think he was dead.
Or if I’ll ever stop being grateful that he isn’t.
And then…River.
River, who knew…
My fucking best friend.
Will I be able to forgive Jake? I don’t know.
But Riv?
“Is she all right?” Alex asks.
Misty is still lying in my arms. Her breathing is normal, and her color is returning.
“Is anyone going to answer my question?” Jake’s voice. “Is this her, Riv? My sister?”
Jake’s grownup, masculine voice. So much richer and deeper than I recall.
They’re waiting for me to answer.
I was always the de facto leader of our tribe, and we’re reverting to twenty years ago.
But how the fuck am I supposed to answer Jake when I’m still reeling?
So I won’t. I’ll pawn it off to the person who seems to know more than the rest of us.
“Riv,” I grit out, “you want to take that one?”
River kneels in front of Misty. “You okay?”
“Like you care.” She scoffs.
“Of course I care,” River says. “We all do. Right, Brett?”
Seriously? He wants me to back him up? But Misty is Jake’s sister, and Jake is alive, and…
And I don’t fucking know.
“We care, Misty,” I say. “You know that. You and I had a great talk about…your brother.”
Misty blinks. “Is it really him?”
“Yes,” I say, trying to keep the tremble from my voice. “It's really him. I’d know him anywhere.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Misty asks River, but she’s looking at me.
“I’m sorry, Misty,” River says. “We didn’t know you existed until a few days ago, and”—he pauses, exhaling—“I’m the only one who knew Jake was still alive.”
“Yeah, and you have a lot of explaining to do about that,” I grit out.