Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 482(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 482(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
As the lunch crowd started to thin out and people began heading home for afternoon naps or holiday preparations, I found myself standing apart from Maya and Adrian, who were discussing the relative merits of different sandwich toppings with the seriousness of professional food critics.
Adrian was laughing at something Maya had said, his whole face lit up with genuine affection. In my old hoodie and worn jeans, one errant strand of hair still stubbornly sticking in the wrong direction from earlier, he looked like he’d always belonged here. Like this was his natural habitat instead of luxury hotel suites and fancy events.
If this were real—if it could stay like this—I’d be the happiest damn man alive.
“Earth to Maddox,” Maya called, snapping me out of my reverie. “Did you even hear what I said?”
“Sorry, what?”
She handed me Adrian’s phone. “Pick out whatever you want from the Pinecone, and he’ll call in an order for lunch.”
I glanced up, instinctively searching for Adrian, but saw he was being yanked down the plumbing aisle by Marty Kovach, who was in the middle of a basement renovation.
“What are we getting?” I mumbled as I scrolled through Sadie’s menu of specialty sandwiches. “Pastrami or the grilled chicken wrap?”
Before I could make my decision, a text notification popped up.
Vic
Stop fucking ignoring me!
Another popped up and quickly replaced it.
Vic
Do not turn down the offer of a lifetime because of your dick.
I blinked at the screen. And then I did something I’d never done before, ever. Not even when Maya was going through a tough time and wouldn’t talk to me about her feelings.
I snooped.
I didn’t intend to. I clicked the message notification on instinct and was taken to Adrian’s text conversation. I clicked out almost immediately… but not before seeing the details of Adrian’s job offer from Solenne, which Vic had recounted in an angry message an hour ago.
Luxury resorts, Vic reminded him. Jaw-dropping locations. Santorini, Paris, the Maldives, the freaking Alps. Celebrity sightings, Adrian! High-end shoots. This is the deal of your fucking lifetime. What the fuck more do you want out of life?
It was an offer that would make anyone’s head spin, but especially Adrian’s. Getting an offer like this was the entire reason he’d come to Legacy. And if he accepted it, he’d be traveling around the world full-time.
What the fuck more do you want out of life?
I felt the blood drain from my extremities and nearly lost my grip on the phone before handing it back to Maya. “I have to go,” I said in a shaky voice.
Then I ran out of the store as fast as I possibly could.
#YourDork #FallingFast #OhShit
25
#WILDGEESE
ADRIAN
I returned from helping Marty Kovach untangle his basement plumbing nightmare to find Maya standing behind the register, looking like someone had just told her Santa wasn’t real.
“Where’s Maddox?” I asked, glancing around the store. The rush had died down, leaving a young mother browsing the seasonal clearance section with a baby strapped to her chest and an older guy debating the merits of different snow shovels with Bonnie. “Did he call in the lunch order?”
Maya looked at me in confusion. “No. I don’t know where he went. He just… left? He looked spooked.”
As she handed my phone back, I noticed new messages from Vic marked as read. The blood drained from my face as I scrolled through them.
Vic
Stop fucking ignoring me!
Do not turn down the offer of a lifetime because of your dick.
Another offer like Solenne will not come around if word gets out you declined it.
“Fuck,” I breathed. “He saw texts from my business manager about my job offer.”
Maya’s eyes widened. “What job offer?”
“Global brand ambassador for the Solenne Collection. Travel the world, live in luxury resorts, basically everything I’ve worked toward for the past five years.” The words tasted like ash in my mouth. “Everything that would take me as far away from Legacy as possible.”
“Oh my god,” she breathed. “You’re actually leaving?”
“No!” The answer exploded out of me. “I told Vic no yesterday. But I don’t know if Maddox scrolled up far enough to see that.”
Maya’s face crumpled. “So he thinks you’re leaving?”
“How could he?” I sank onto the stool behind the counter. “If he honestly thinks, after everything we’ve talked about, that I’d just leave without so much as discussing it with him… he must still think the worst of me. That I’m a fancy city boy with a temporary life, always moving on to the next perfect thing.”
“He doesn’t,” Maya said firmly. “I’m positive Maddox doesn’t think that about you anymore.”
“How do you know?” I demanded. “He’s spent weeks reminding me—and you—that this was temporary. That I’d leave eventually.”
Maya bit her lip like she wanted to argue but couldn’t.
“Even if he thought I wanted the job, why the fuck would he just leave? Was this his way of protecting himself?” I tried calling Maddox’s number, but it went straight to voicemail. In deference to Maya, I tried to keep from biting out a curse. “That… jerk. Why couldn’t he have at least talked to me?”