Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 138526 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138526 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
She pulls me in for a hug, rocking us from side to side. “You poor thing. I always considered fostering children, but I never had the time. Now I wish I’d made the time.”
“You’d have been amazing at it, I can tell,” I mutter.
When she pulls back, she’s smiling again albeit sadly, but at least she’s smiling. “Please tell me you have someone to spend Christmas with?”
“I usually spend it with my best friend, Laurie, and her parents.” I had spoken to Pax about it kind of, he’s going to Washington until the New Year so I won’t be seeing him and I haven’t spoken to Laurie. I think she assumes I’d be spending it with Pax. We’ve hardy spoken since Halloween, she’s in too deep with Kyle, the man from floor five.
Still, I’m not about to spend Christmas with a stranger. That’s weird.
“Well, you’re always welcome to come to our home if you enjoy eating excellent food with a bunch of old folks. My son spends the day with his own family now and they don’t usually join us until after dinner. A shame because Maria would love it but her mother prefers the company of her own family.”
I frown at that but don’t comment, it’s not my place. “Thank you so much for the offer, that’s really kind of you.”
“Then it’s settled…”
“Oh no, I meant——”
“You’ll come to our house. Oh, it’ll be so nice having the extra company and I know Erika will appreciate it too when she joins us.”
Oh shit. “Yay.”
Mario joins us finally and gives me a smile when his wife hugs him and drunkenly declares, “Excellent news, darling.”
“What’s that, dear?”
“Rose is spending Christmas with us.”
I smile cringe because what else can I do at this point?
“Oh how lovely,” Mario replies. “Do you play chess?”
“Monopoly?” she asks.
“I play chess or Monopoly; I can play most things.”
He leans closer. “Can you play an instrument?”
“Nope? Can you?”
“Nope.”
I laugh at how random he is and sip more of my drink.
We chat some more but I see Pax coming my way, eager to get my attention.
“I think it’s time for me to leave. Why don’t you call the office tomorrow with the time and place and I’ll get back to you?” I suggest, knowing she’s probably just extending an offer based on the amount of alcohol she has consumed.
“Oh no, I’ll be sad when you leave,” Izabella whines like we’ve been best friends for years. “Must you?”
“I’m beat,” I mutter with a shrug of my shoulders. “And I have an early day tomorrow.”
“Our son working you hard?”
“Always,” I reply, smiling.
I hug Izabella and kiss Mario’s cheeks and turn to find Pax in the middle of a conversation with Ezra.
“You ready?” I ask him and he nods, his lips a thin line as he regards me.
Ezra looks between us both. “Thanks for coming.”
I pat his shoulder awkwardly because everyone is watching, and it felt like a good idea at the time.
“I don’t know why I did that,” I mutter to him and myself and he bites his lip to stifle his smile. “See you at work tomorrow, Mr. C.”
“See you tomorrow,” he replies, still smiling.
I leave their house with a skip in my step but that soon fades when we get to Pax’s car and he completely ignores me for the entire journey home.
My heart tingles and thumps in my chest, surrounded by painful spikes that stab me every time I try to make conversation and he ignores me.
My eyes burn.
I don’t know what I did.
“Please talk to me,” I beg him, hoping that he didn’t see me hug Mr. C.
No, it can’t be that, he talked to me after that.
Then what?
“Please,” I whisper, placing my hand on his thigh. “What did I do?”
“You fucking humiliated me,” he snaps when we pull up outside of my house.
I jump when he hits his hand against the steering wheel.
“You absolutely fucking humiliated me.”
“I…” I shake my head, lips parted, struggling to find something to say. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
“Because you don’t think of anybody but yourself.”
I look at him, still surprised by this. We’ve never argued before, not really. This is new. “I don’t know what I did, tell me what I did, and I’ll make sure to never do it again.”
“Forget it,” he hisses, leaning over me to open the door to the car. “Get out.”
“Are you… are you breaking up with me?” My heart clenches painfully, a thousand knives stabbing into it from all angles.
“I don’t know.” He keeps his eyes forward and his hands on the steering wheel. “Just go.”
“Please, Pax. I’m sorry. I don’t know what I did but I swear I didn’t mean it. Sometimes I get stuck in my own head. Don’t leave me mad. Please.”
“Stop begging!” he yells, slamming his hand on the steering wheel again. “Stop fucking begging. You sound so pathetic.”