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)
“Uh, you think? And why is that?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I just snapped.”
“And why is that?”
“I just told you, Mano! I don’t know why.”
“Yeah, and that’s a lie. You know it’s a lie, too, because I saw the papers on the kitchen counter, Kai.”
My body tightened up. “That was none of your business. You shouldn’t have read those.”
“You left them in plain sight. It’s not like I was snooping.”
“Well, that had nothing to do with the situation with Holly.”
“Bullshit,” he huffed.
“Language,” I warned.
“Whatever, Kai. You know it’s crap. I’m sure getting the divorce paperwork from Penelope today screwed with your head, but that doesn’t mean you get to take it out on other people. Especially Holly, man. She’s Holly! She’s a freaking sugar cookie of a person who’s been nothing but nice to us.”
I swallowed hard, knowing he was right.
I was in a shit mood since Penelope showed up with the divorce paperwork. I felt blindsided, and I didn’t have a second to refocus before I had to go straight to work. So I took my anger, sadness, and confusion to work with me. Unfortunately, that meant anyone who crossed my path became my punching bag.
Holly didn’t deserve to be hit.
If anything, she deserved the complete opposite because of how kind she’d been to me.
Mano wasn’t pulling any punches, either. He continued his rant. “She freaking left her own family so you wouldn’t be alone on Thanksgiving, you jerk! And you made her cry!”
I hated myself.
I hated my anger.
I hated how I misplaced it.
But what I hated most was knowing that Holly cried because of me.
“I messed up,” I admitted.
“Yeah, you did.” He slugged me in the arm. “So fix it.”
“How?” I asked. I felt embarrassed by my outburst toward Holly. I felt like a complete moron for the way I spoke to her. I couldn’t even imagine her forgiving me. I wasn’t sure that I’d ever forgive myself.
“By telling her you’re a dickhead and you’re sorry,” Mano said. “And buy her a nice gift, too. People love apologies with gifts.”
I hadn’t slept in a few days. I’d been overthinking everything that went down with Holly. I’d been overthinking seeing Penelope again. I’d been overthinking the divorce paperwork sitting on my countertop. I’d been overthinking every corner of my life.
But mostly, I was thinking about Holly.
I made her cry.
That made me feel like complete and utter shit.
I knew I couldn’t show up with a generic apology because she deserved more than that. I was out of line for how I snapped at her. So, I ran out to the store to pick up a few items before heading to her apartment.
A wave of nerves hit me as I stood in front of her door. I paced the hallway slightly, practicing the apology. “Hey, sorry for being a dick.” No. Too direct. “Hi, Holly. Sorry for the other day. Here, have this.” No, no. Too flat.
I felt a massive amount of pressure sitting in my gut because what if this didn’t work? What if she didn’t forgive me? What if—
Before I could gather my thoughts and knock on Holly’s door, it swung open. She shouted, stunned to see someone standing there.
“Kai. What are you doing?” she asked, confusion swirling in her eyes.
I looked down at the items in my hands and aggressively shoved them in her direction. “I bought you some books.”
She raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“Books. I bought you books.”
She cautiously took them from my hands. “I’m still confused.”
I grumbled and cussed under my breath, realizing that shoving books at her wouldn’t help me. “I’m apologizing, Holly. For being an ass. I was in the wrong, and you didn’t deserve it.”
“So, you bought me random books?”
“You like to read,” I stated. “I thought it made sense.”
Based on her bewilderment, it wasn’t making much sense at all. That was until she looked down at the books. Her lips turned up into a small smile. “You bought the book you ruined the first day we met?”
I nodded. “From our meet-ugly.”
“How did you even remember the name of it?”
“I noticed you that day. I noticed everything about you that day.” I shifted in my shoes and slid my hands into my pockets. “I’m not good at this. I’m not good at opening up to people.”
“You don’t say,” she playfully remarked. She must’ve noticed the seriousness in my stature because she grew somber and nodded. “Go on.”
“I don’t have a lot of friends,” I confessed to her. “I don’t have anyone outside Ayumu and Mano…and then there’s you.” I cleared my throat, stared at the floor for a beat, and then raised my head to look into her eyes. “I don’t want to lose you, Holly, so I am asking for your forgiveness.”
Her lips pursed together as she stared down at the items in her hands. “You bought me books.”