Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 98487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
“Okay,” I say. Then I can’t help it, I have to ask, “Why are you being weird?”
He gives me a puzzled look. “Huh?”
“You acted as if you didn’t want to use my phone.”
“I thought girls didn’t like it when guys touched their phones.”
“Girls with something to hide, maybe. But what do I have to hide?”
I see his lip quirk a bit, and he nods. “I know you don’t. It just caught me off guard.”
I reach over, taking his hand in mine and bringing it to my lips. He laces his fingers with mine, and I lay our hands in my lap as I drive. I can feel him watching me, but I don’t say anything or look over at him. He needs to process, and I’m okay with that. When he looks away, I smile to myself as I drive.
“I got a room in Marion,” he says, adjusting himself. He doesn’t fit well in my Jeep. He’s rather large, but he’s making do and seems to be in a great mood. We’ve joked, we’ve sung to my playlist, and we’ve talked about everything. We’ve done us, and I can’t get enough of us. “My mom wouldn’t stay there since they don’t have a Marriott. She’s a bit of a hotel snob.”
“No way. I would never guess that,” I tease, and he laughs.
“I’ll probably fly back when it’s time for you to drive home so we can do this again.”
I send him a wide grin. “Aw, are you having fun?”
“Yeah,” he says, squeezing my hand. “A bit. But that’ll change if I don’t see Bigfoot.”
I love the sound of his laugh.
We make it to the Bigfoot town, as my sister calls it, and the first thing we do is send her a photo with one of the many Bigfoot statues. Within seconds, we make it a goal to get a photo with every statue in town. It’s absolutely ridiculous, but she eats it up. If I’m honest, so do I. After getting dinner, we head to the bakery for all things Bigfoot. The laughing we do is probably my favorite thing about the whole trip. We take goofy pictures with all the pastries and even eat some before packing everything up to head to the hotel to check in.
The town is quiet as we walk to where we parked the car. Lights hang over the street, and Christmas music is playing. It’s basically the setting for a Hallmark movie. I’m waiting for some uptight boss lady to come in from New York and meet that pain-in-the-ass boyfriend she left behind. Until I do, though, I cuddle with Evan as we walk. It’s freezing, but it’s tolerable when you’re engulfed in the arms of a super-hot stud. He kisses me on top of my head, and I cuddle into his chest as we walk.
We reach the Jeep just as I see a frozen pond that some kids are coming off. “Look, Evan!” He looks to where I’m pointing, and he actually smiles. “I’ve never seen a frozen pond! Have you?”
He nods, very reserved. “Yeah, I grew up skating on them when we would go to Boston for Christmas.”
“We should go skate!”
He doesn’t seem to think so. He looks between me and the pond and then shrugs. “We don’t have any skates.”
“We don’t need them,” I say, setting the bag in the back before jogging toward the front of the Jeep. “Come on. It’ll be fun.”
I wait for a second as he continues to stare past me at the pond. When he looks back at me, he says, “I don’t think I can.”
I take a deep breath. “You can,” I remind him. “No sticks, no pads, no rink, no pressure, no plays, no fans. Just us two having fun.”
He swallows hard before he meets my gaze. He doesn’t say anything, so I walk toward him, taking his hand in mine.
“Just us.”
Evan clasps our fingers together, looking out at the frozen water. “I don’t know.”
“Let’s try.”
He’s reluctant, but he walks with me. There is only a little light around the pond, but it’s enough for us to see what’s going on.
“Maybe we’ll get lucky and Bigfoot will join us,” I joke, but he doesn’t laugh. I can feel his anxiousness, and it’s making me anxious. I reach the ice first and turn to look at him. “It looks solid.”
He nods. “It is. You can tell by the center. You can’t see water moving.”
I look to where he is pointing. “Oh.”
“At least, that’s how my dad always told us to check.”
I don’t let go of his hand as he stares at the pond, taking in deep breaths and letting them out. When he looks back at me, I can see the fear in his eyes. My heart crashes in my chest. “What are you feeling?”
He chuckles with no laughter in it whatsoever. “I’m terrified,” he admits.