Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 68524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
“You’ve always been an attention whore, Bruce,” I said flatly. “Any time somebody flirts or offers you a compliment, you eat it up with a spoon. I doubt that’ll ever change, even if you get married at some point.” He frowned, but he didn’t try to deny it. After a moment, I asked, “So, whatever happened with the flirty guy at work?”
“We dated for three weeks, and then he left me for a thoracic surgeon.” I couldn’t hold back my snort of laughter. Bruce said, “I deserve that.”
“Oh believe me, you deserve far worse.”
After a moment, he asked, “So, where did you and Collie meet?”
“Nope. You and I are not going to sit here and dish like two old friends.”
“No, I suppose not. He’s surprising though, not at all the kind of person I’d ever picture you with.”
“Because you assumed I only date douchebags?”
He made a beckoning gesture with his hand. “Go ahead. Call me names if it’ll make you feel better. And I’m sure there’s a lot you want to say to me, so let it out.”
“Not really. I just want you to know you truly hurt me, and I hope you never do that to anyone else, because no one deserves to feel like I did. But there’s nothing else to say, because you’re in the past.”
He’d been trying his best to seem cordial and sincere, but a bit of the real Bruce slipped out when he sneered, “And you really think that weird, effeminate goth kid is your future?”
I got up and said, very calmly and levelly, “Collie is amazing, and it’s really pathetic that you’d try to take a jab at him. He’s sweet, and fun, and stunningly beautiful, and he lights up any room that he’s in. It feels good to be around him. And I completely admire the way he’s always his true, genuine self, with zero fucks to give about what anyone thinks of him.” I held his gaze steadily as I asked, “How much of that do you think anyone would ever say about you?”
With that, I turned and walked away. And wow, did it feel good.
I ended up doing a few laps around the block to clear my head. That conversation had been unexpected, especially the part where Bruce let me have the last word. He never did that when we were together.
He was still an ass, though. There was always an underlying note of smugness in him, even when he was trying to play nice. Apparently I’d just accepted it as part of the package when we were together, figuring the good in him outweighed the bad—although it really hadn’t.
I didn’t know what to think about this new revelation that he’d dumped me because some rando at work was flirting with him. But then, that wasn’t really what had ended our relationship. If he’d really loved me, he wouldn’t have used that as an excuse to cut and run. Bottom line, he didn’t want me. That was what it all boiled down to.
Even though I understood why he’d dumped me, and even though I was glad it was over, it still left a mark on me. It felt like a betrayal, and it had happened at the hands of the one person I’d trusted more than anyone else. How was I supposed to trust anyone else with my heart, after something like that?
Later that afternoon, the doctor found me in the waiting room to let me know Collie was out of surgery, and that everything had gone according to plan. I was overcome with relief.
It was a few more hours before I was told he was awake, and that I could go see him. Since he was in the ICU, I had to put on a paper robe and a mask and use some hand sanitizer before I was allowed to join Collie in his glass-walled room.
There were a lot more tubes, wires, and monitors now. There was also a large cotton pad on his bare chest, partially covered by his thin blanket. He looked fragile and tiny, and his complexion was ashen. But when he raised his lids and saw me, a big smile spread across his face. “Hey,” he rasped. “Check it out. I’m still alive.”
“I heard it went great.”
He nodded before whispering, “It’s hard to talk because there was a breathing tube down my throat. It felt super gross when they took it out.”
I gently brushed his dark hair back from his forehead. “You don’t need to talk. I’ll just hang out with you for a while, if you want me to.”
Collie nodded again, and I moved a chair beside his bed and took a seat. He slipped his hand out from under the blanket and reached for me, and as I held it in both of mine, he whispered, “I’m so glad you’re here.”