Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 87181 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87181 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Penelope
I love you, too.
My chest was on fire, and I couldn’t see through the blurry vision hitting my eyes. The messages went back over nine months. Nine months of infidelity. Nine months of lies. Nine months of betrayal.
I wanted to shout. I wanted to cuss Penelope out and snap in anger. Then I looked at her lying beside me. Her body was so small. Her body was so exhausted. She was fighting for her life, and I couldn’t bring myself to lash out.
Instead, I placed her phone on the nightstand and headed to the bathroom. I undressed, stepped into the shower, and fell apart quietly as my unfaithful wife battled the hardest fight of her life.
HOLLY
Present Day
“You must love this restaurant,” Matthew mentioned as we walked into Mano’s for our dinner reservation. “You talk about it all the time.”
“It’s my Cheers,” I mentioned.
“Ah, yeah. Where everybody knows your name.”
I turned to him with a glimmer in my eyes. “Yes! Exactly.”
He took my hand into his before kissing my cheek. “Maybe one day it can be our Cheers.”
My heart skipped a few beats to the point that I had to remind myself to breathe.
The night of my date with Matthew at Mano’s went better than I imagined. Being with him seemed so effortless to me. We laughed, ate amazing food, and the conversation flowed easily. Each time I looked over at Kai for some sign that he approved of the relationship, I’d find him scowling, which made me a bit uneasy. Then again, he might’ve just been in a mood after a few employees had accidental mishaps of spilling menus and drinks. The energy of Mano’s felt a bit off, but at least Matthew and I were right on track.
After dinner, Matthew walked me home, and I said good night. He climbed into his taxi since he had an early morning, and right after he was out of viewpoint, I darted back to the restaurant to express my joy with Kai. I smiled ear to ear as I collapsed against the bar seat cushion. “That was great! It’s insane how perfectly that went. Did you see?”
“I saw,” he deadpanned. He had his grouchy look on, and I couldn’t for the life of me understand why.
“Are you okay? You seem grumpy tonight.”
“I’m not grumpy,” he snapped.
I tossed my hands into the air. “Okay, okay. You’re not grumpy.” I fiddled with the rings on my hands. “So what did you think about Matthew?” I asked, hopeful.
“He’s not the one for you,” Kai said, matter-of-factly when he surely should not have been so matter of fact.
I sat up straighter. “What do you mean? He’s perfect for me.”
“How so?”
“He’s big on giving back to the community.”
“He teaches swim lessons once a week for free at the YMCA. That doesn’t count as him being Mr. Giving.”
“Well, he likes dogs,” I echoed, trying to shake off the discomfort of Kai’s tone. I could already tell this conversation wasn’t going to go as I thought it would.
“Everyone likes dogs. Hitler enjoyed dogs. What’s your point?”
Why did I feel I’d been transported back to the rude Kai I had met weeks prior? “He calls me when he said he would call every single time. That’s follow-through!”
Kai delivered me the blankest of stares. “Try again. Besides, he’s fake. ‘Maybe this could be our Cheers,’” Kai mockingly said as he rolled his eyes. “Give me a break.”
I huffed and crossed my arms. “You’re in a bad mood tonight. I shouldn’t have even asked you.”
“You wanted me to be honest about Matthew, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” But not cruel.
“Well, this is me being honest, all right? He’s not the one for you. Get over it. Go back to the drawing board.”
“Why?” I blurted out. “Why not him? Why do you think he’s not the one for me?”
Kai crossed his arms over his broad chest, and his intense stare sent chills down my spine. “Because he looks at you like you’re nothing.”
“What? No, he doesn’t.”
“Yeah, Holly Jolly, he does.”
“Don’t call me Holly Jolly right now while you’re being a jerk.”
“You knew I was a jerk from the jump. Let’s not act like this is surprising.”
My heart shattered a little with his words. “Stop it, Kai. This isn’t you. What’s wrong?”
For a split second, I saw it—his eyes flickering with sadness. Something was eating at him, and he wasn’t sharing it with me. I needed him to give me more. I needed him to let me read his hard chapters so I could understand his current harshness.
“Nothing’s wrong,” he argued.
“Yes, there is. You can tell me.”
He shifted his stare from mine and grabbed a rag to wipe down the countertop. “Back to my main point, he’s not the one for you.”
“Why not? And what do you mean he looks at me like I’m nothing?” I asked, eager to get to the bottom of this. “He’s sweet and kind and asks me questions about myself. When I told him I didn’t want to rush into a physical relationship, he told me that he’d wait as long as I needed to get comfortable with him. He’s a perfect man.”