Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 73021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Ugh.
I stared down at the phone, waiting for a response, and after several moments of nothing, I decided I would go see if I could find him. I was pretty sure I could get back to the large room with the television that took up most of the wall. Someone would most likely be in there. We were adults. I was making this weird.
Shaking it off, I went over to my suitcase he had brought to me, like promised, and opened it up to find my toiletry bag. I took it into the large white guest bathroom and began to brush my teeth and then my hair. Once I was done with those things, I decided to change into something more comfortable and pulled out a pair of my favorite joggers and a tank top. Slipping them on, I took a quick glance at my phone, and still no response from Ransom. I doubted he was already in bed. It wasn’t that late.
I tucked my phone into my pocket and headed for the door. Stepping into the hallway, I glanced both ways, seeing no one, and all the other doors were closed. I turned in the direction we had come from earlier. Hopefully, this was what he expected me to do when I woke up. It would be super helpful if he’d answer my text, but I didn’t want to sit and wait since it had been almost twenty minutes.
My stomach growled again, reminding me that I needed food. The thought of that hotel room was really appealing right about now. Hesitantly, I listened for any other sign of life as I made my way through the spacious house.
The first sound I heard was a male voice saying something about a touchdown, and then several voices joined in, along with a shout. Football season. That was why he hadn’t responded. There was a game on the television.
Feeling slightly relieved by that, I picked up my pace to that of a normal one and went in the direction of the noise. The announcers’ voices got clearer as I approached. I didn’t try and figure out who was playing because I honestly didn’t care. Instead, I tried to listen for Ransom’s voice among the others. Gathe’s stood out. I recognized it from earlier. He was doing most of the talking.
He hadn’t changed much since high school. Being the one to stand on the sidelines of life during that time, I’d observed a lot. Gathe was always happy, talking, laughing. He was also a notorious flirt. Well, he hadn’t flirted with me, but I’d seen him wink at more girls than I could count.
He had always been oddly close with Saylor Rice though. She’d been Crosby’s, and everyone knew that, but she and Gathe were together as much as she and Crosby were. I was always confused by that, but never mentioned it to Ransom. It wasn’t my business. Then when Crosby died and there was another girl pregnant with his baby, I was curious about that too. I hadn’t realized he and Saylor had broken up, but then my only tie to Madison was Ransom.
When I reached the arched entrance that led into the room with the television—which wouldn’t have even fit into the door of my trailer, growing up—I did a quick scan for Ransom, only to find he wasn’t in there. Gathe was, along with Forge, and there was an older guy. I’d guess he was Ransom’s age, but he’d not gone to high school with us. Either he was someone not inside their families or he was older.
“If you’re texting Oz, tell him to double my money on this one,” Forge told the older guy, who glanced up from his phone and cut his eyes at him. That one look was so similar to Gathe that I was going to take a guess and say that was the older Bowen brother.
“You sure about that? They’re not known for a strong fourth quarter,” the guy replied.
Forge reached for a glass with amber liquid in it and smirked at him. “I got a feeling.”
The other guy rolled his eyes and went back to texting.
“Hey!” Gathe called out.
My gaze swung to him, only to find him locked in on me. He did a slow take over my body, then chuckled.
“Join us.” Then he motioned for me to come into the room. “Sit, watch the game with us. What do you drink? The bar is stocked.”
I wanted to ask where Ransom was, but didn’t. Instead, I stepped into the room and made my way over to the expansive U-shaped sofa.
“Sorry about earlier,” Forge said. “I wouldn’t have said that if I’d known it was you.”
I started to tell him it was okay, but Gathe spoke up. “Dude, that doesn’t make it better.”
Forge winced, and I genuinely felt bad for him.