Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 131888 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131888 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Bonnie used to set up the table along the opposite wall. Out of the way. Where it was easy for Nox to avoid.
His goal was simple. He came, he sat, he left.
He didn’t share. He didn’t cry. He didn’t socialize.
He tugged his baseball cap lower. What the hell was taking her so long? She needed to get the meeting started before someone tried to strike up a conversation with him.
Throw the cookies on the damn platter, and let’s fucking go!
This wasn’t an open house where she needed to impress home buyers. She wasn’t even getting paid to be here. The longer she futzed around, the longer this meeting would last.
A cookie tucked in a napkin appeared in front of his face. “Chocolate chip.”
“They’re so addictive, Liyah!” someone near him gushed. “You should open a bakery.”
Nox snorted softly. He doubted the woman would give up her lucrative real estate business that had her rolling in the dough to actually roll in dough.
Aaliyah shook her hand, encouraging him to take the cookie from her. “This is why my car smells so good,” she said under her breath.
He hoped like fuck no one else heard her. He didn’t want anyone in the group thinking something was going on between them. “I don’t want it.”
“I don’t care,” she countered and balanced it on his thigh before heading across the circle to her seat.
He stared at the precariously perched cookie for a few seconds before lifting his gaze to her. And as soon as their eyes met, she shot him a blinding smile.
The woman sure knew how to get under his damn skin.
“All right,” Aaliyah called out. “Let’s start off tonight’s meeting by going around the circle, introducing yourself and letting us know where you’re at tonight. In other words, how you’re coping.”
For fuck’s sake, did that mean she expected everyone to participate?
When his knee began to bounce, the cookie tumbled to the floor and broke.
“That was a waste,” said the woman next to him. “There are starving children in—”
“Then ship it to them,” he responded before she could finish.
Her mouth fell open as she looked at him.
“Don’t worry about the cookie, Nox, you can clean it up after the meeting,” Aaliyah said. Using her fucking mom voice again. “Okay, Linda, can you start us off? Then we’ll continue around the group.”
Great.
One by one, the members introduced themselves—even if they’d been attending for years—mentioned the name of the person they lost and how they were connected, then shared how they were doing emotionally.
Nox went back to concentrating on the spot on the floor. His eyes drifted from it to the broken cookie next to his boot.
Then he snuck another peek at Aaliyah.
She was watching him.
He did not drop his gaze this time, but instead met hers full on. He wasn’t going to break their locked gaze; he was going to make her break first.
When her eyes narrowed, so did his.
When one side of her mouth pulled up, his flattened.
She lifted a single eyebrow, her expression smug. “Your turn.”
Whose turn?
Damn it. He was the one who broke when he glanced around the circle to find all eyes were on him.
It was his turn.
Shit. He really missed Bonnie and her damn orthopedic shoes. She never forced anyone to participate.
He only needed to say something brief, then they could move on to the next person. “Nox. Fine.” A noise came from Aaliyah, but he ignored her. Other than that, the group was silent. To make sure they knew he was done sharing, he added, “Next!”
He breathed easier when the person to his left began to speak.
He snuck a glance at the time on his cell phone. They’d only been there less than ten minutes. Tonight was going to drag on and he would need to hang on to his seat by his fingernails to remain there the whole time.
Aaliyah’s smooth-as-honey voice filled the space between them. “Next, we’ll go around and share one good memory of your loved one. It doesn’t have to be long; it can be short and sweet. Simply a memory that makes you smile when you think about it. Maybe it’ll make us smile, too.”
She was purposely torturing him, wasn’t she? Her whole motive was to break him down and break him open.
She wouldn’t succeed. She couldn’t succeed. If she was declaring war, he was ready to go to battle. She wasn’t going to win. He would fight until he had no fight left in him.
Once again they went around the circle, but this time, Aaliyah started.
Normally, he either half-listened or blocked out the stories completely, but this was one story he wanted to hear.
“This is not only a good memory, it’s my favorite. We’d been trying to get pregnant…”
He tensed. Maybe he didn’t want to hear it after all.
“…and month after month, the test was negative. Every time I took one, thinking this was it, we were disappointed. Then it happened. The second the test turned positive, Mark grabbed the test stick, ran out of the house and into the driveway, yelling at the top of his lungs that he was going to be a dad. I’ll never forget his face and the way he waved that damn stick above his head. He was so excited and happy.”