Total pages in book: 18
Estimated words: 16767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 84(@200wpm)___ 67(@250wpm)___ 56(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 16767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 84(@200wpm)___ 67(@250wpm)___ 56(@300wpm)
He smiled softly. “And then I want you to read what I wrote. Will you do that, too?”
I nodded again. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to read it for a little while, but I’d read it. I’d want every scrap of Jonah I could get my hands on.
My brother Ryan whistled to get my attention on the far end of the dock before making his way toward us. “Yo. We’re all ready to go. Anything you need from town?”
I shook my head and stood up. “Just don’t… don’t fucking crash.”
He looked at me funny before doing what we always do. “Bro. I told you I practiced. I watched all those videos you sent me and did the simulator a bunch of times. We’ll be fine.”
I grunted and turned toward Jonah. “Be safe,” I said in a low voice before grabbing him and yanking him to me in a death grip. He tucked his nose into my neck and inhaled deep.
I closed my eyes and tried to memorize the feel of him in my arms. I didn’t work.
The plane wasn’t even over the ridge before I felt like maybe he’d never been there at all, and the whole thing had been a figment of my imagination.
It took me three days to finally make good on my two promises to him. And ironically, the person who made me face what an idiot I’d been was none other than my ex-husband.
The first thing I did was crawl my ass out of bed and stand under a hot shower for twenty minutes. The second was to fly up to Kinley’s place to see the puppy with the heart-shaped spot in its back. But when I got there, Sutton was the one who came storming out to the dock to meet me.
“What the fuck were you thinking, Peter?”
I did not have the energy for this.
“Not a good time, Sutton. For the record, it’s never a good time.”
“So you’re just going to let him walk away, huh? Let him go back to Miami?”
I swung around to face him. “You don’t get to say shit like that. Not after you used me to get the job up here. You told me you loved me and I believed you.”
“What happened was way more complicated than that and you know it.” Sutton set his jaw. “I’ve been willing to let you treat me like the bad guy for years. Hell, you still can, if that helps you sleep at night. But the truth is, we were young. We didn’t know each other well enough. What we had wasn’t love, it was hope, and we were too stupid to know the difference then. But you know it now, don’t you?”
Fuck. Was I really going to take relationship advice from this guy?
“Have you even read the damn article?” Sutton demanded. “The man poured his heart out for you, Peter. He’s probably crushed that you haven’t reached out. Do you know what I’d do to have someone care about me like that? And you can’t even bring yourself to read it? Just how jaded are you?”
Apparently I was going to take his relationship advice. Damn it. When had my ex turned into a decent person who talked sense?
But the idea Jonah might have hurt feelings because of me was unacceptable. I pulled out my phone and opened my email right there on the dock.
I didn’t even need to scroll down to the one from Jonah. Three other friends had sent me the link to the live article on the internet. I clicked the first link I came to and waited for the page to load. When the headline finally popped up, it was too good to be true.
Never Have I Ever Fallen In Love.
CHAPTER 9
JONAH
My coworkers were throwing me a party in the middle of the office where we usually gathered for group project work. There was an assortment of deli sandwiches, chips, and bright yellow cupcakes from my favorite bakery.
I’d miss those damned cupcakes. Probably even more than my coworkers.
“Betcha they don’t have veggie wraps,” Robin said before taking another bite of her lunch.
“Or fresh fruit platters,” Eric added. “We’ll have to ship them to you. Do you have an address yet?”
I shook my head. “I told you. I don’t know if it’s a sure thing yet.” I didn’t tell him that I wasn’t about to be another Sutton Lavoy, sticking around in the same small town even after Pete was off-limits.
No, thanks. I was going to make a grand gesture by showing up and asking for a chance. But if the answer was no, I would take my sorry ass somewhere else to make a fresh start. One thing I’d learned about myself in Alaska was that I loved the wide-open spaces, the slower pace, knowing everyone’s name. I loved the lack of billboards, the cellphone dead zones, and the kind of loud, body-shaking vibration from a De Havilland Beaver that rattled your teeth and made you question your life choices.