Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 158848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 529(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 158848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 529(@300wpm)
“I waited in the cafe. Same place Remy tricked us into meeting. I never told him I’d already been there.”
“What?” she practically shouts. “How did I not know?”
“I didn’t want you to know. I tried to blend into the crowd.”
She cocks her head. “How?”
“Brought my laptop and set up camp at one of the tables with my muffin and coffee.”
One corner of her mouth quirks up. “You didn’t get any phone numbers?”
That dims the fun of my story a bit. “No. But I went in disguise.”
“Disguise?”
I brush my hand over the top of my head. “Ball cap.”
“Great disguise. Why didn’t I see you?” She rests her hand on my chest. “You’re hard to miss.”
“I kept my distance. I didn’t want to do anything to upset or distract you from your classes.” I stop and can’t help smiling as a clear picture of that day comes to mind. “But the second I saw you, my heart fucking stopped.”
A hint of a shy smile curves her lips. “Really?”
“Oh, yeah.” I curl my hand around hers and bring her wrist closer to brush my lips against her soft skin. “Then to complete my stalker destiny, I followed you a little bit.”
“I wish I’d known.”
“Nah, once I knew you still loved me,” I shrug as if leaving that day hadn’t felt like dropping my heart on the sidewalk, “I decided to wait for the right time.”
“What do you mean? How’d you know?”
“You looked so cute that day. You were wearing these sexy green sweatpants.”
“Sexy sweatpants, huh?”
“On you—definitely. But that’s not how I knew.”
“How?”
And here it is. The sliver of information that kept me from losing my mind when I saw her with Torch. “You were wearing one of the many hoodies you’ve stolen from me over the years.”
“I was?” She covers her mouth and lets out a soft giggle.
“Yup. And right there, I knew if you had lost faith in us, and didn’t love me anymore, you would’ve lit those hoodies on fire. Not taken one to college with you.”
“I took more than one,” she admits with a coy smile.
“Even better.”
She presses her palms to my cheeks and pulls me closer for a kiss. “I love you,” she whispers against my lips.
“I love you too. Always will.”
“In a way you’re right. I brought your stuff with me because I still liked having that connection to you.” She drops her gaze. “In my heart, I kept hoping you’d come home and tell me it was all a lie. Even though my head kept telling me how stupid that was.”
I lift her hand and brush my lips against her knuckles. “Your heart was right.”
She shakes with laughter and smacks her palm against her forehead. “That fortune teller Hayden dragged me to at the carnival even told me to listen to my heart.”
“Is that what happened in there?” I lift myself off the floor and settle onto the couch next to her. “You and Hayden looked shaken when you came out.”
“Oh my God!” She playfully slaps my shoulder. “I forgot you followed me around there too.”
“Can’t keep my eyes off you, Muffin.”
She launches herself forward, hugging me tight, then quickly pulls back. An excited gleam brightens her eyes. “Did you hear how the audience reacted to you? You were the clear winner in their eyes. They don’t seem to like Naptime or Kiki at all.”
“Can you blame them?” I study her face for any lingering signs of distress. “I’m really sorry it turned into a shit show. I don’t know why she went after you like that, Molly. I swear I barely talked to the woman while I was at the house.”
“You underestimate your market value.” She rubs her hand along my jaw. “And I bet Naptime is a snoozefest in and out of bed.”
I chuckle and tilt my head to kiss her palm.
“Wait.” She gasps and leans in closer. “The show’s paying me for being here,” she whispers. “What if they paid her to pick a fight with me?”
“I wouldn’t put anything past these demon clowns,” I say, considering the idea. “I didn’t interact with her enough for her to hold that kind of grudge.”
“Maybe any rejection makes her freak out.”
“Seems so.”
“Let’s get out there.” She squares her shoulders and tosses her hair back. “I’m ready.”
“I’m sorry I made you do this.”
“You didn’t make me do anything.” She slides to the edge of the couch and stands. “I’m glad they finally set the record straight about you.”
“Me too.” I couldn’t stand the idea of thinking for the rest of our lives that people see Molly as some kind of doormat who took my cheatin’ ass back. And I kinda love that the whole world now knows not to fuck with her.
I curl my hand around hers and open the door first. The makeup artist who helped Molly earlier is leaning against the wall across from us.