Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 138683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Her tongue stroked over those rosebud lips, both nervous and bold. “I’m sorry.”
“What do you have to be sorry for?”
“I’m sorry that my friend is in pain.”
Understanding passed between us, the two of us there, hovering in this weird awkwardness that somehow didn’t feel all that uncomfortable.
Finally, I cleared my throat and shoved the clothes out in front of me. “Found these…they’re my mom’s. She probably left them on the dock or something. I hope they fit okay.”
Tessa eased forward, her eyes still on me when she reached out and took them. She smiled at me like it was okay I’d just revealed a jagged piece of my heart.
“Why does it feel weird for me to wear your mom’s clothes?”
“It shouldn’t. My mom’s the best. She lives on the property to the west. I’m sure she’ll be by to check in.”
She hugged the clothes to her chest. “Well, if she’s half as awesome as you, I can’t wait to meet her.”
Air huffed from my nose. “I’m sure she’ll be excited to meet you, too.”
That was sure to be a whole fucking fiasco in itself.
Tessa rocked back on her heels, staring at me, but somehow giving me privacy.
“Thank you for everything, Milo,” she finally whispered.
My stomach fisted just from the breathy sound of her voice.
I blew out a sigh because I didn’t think I had the first clue what I’d gotten myself into. “Get yourself a shower, Tessa. I’ll be out back if you need anything.”
FOUR
TESSA
“Thank God you answered. I am in desperate need of my BFF right now, and I’m not even kidding.” I whispered it all dramatic-like into the phone as I ducked around the gorgeous main room of the cabin. Why I found it fit to go stealth, I wasn’t sure, but somehow, having this conversation felt like a covert mission.
Especially when I kept peeking out the edge of the bank of windows that overlooked the sprawling backyard.
Milo was outside on his hands and knees as he sanded a piece of wood, working on what looked to be an elaborate fort.
He’d ridded himself of the atrocity that was his shirt, because holy crapballs, it was a sin to cover up all the deliciousness that was the man.
From this distance, I really couldn’t make out any of the designs, but I could tell his back was almost completely covered in ink, and the muscles in his arms and shoulders flexed and bowed as he manually roughed the sandpaper block over the planks of wood.
Power tools would have been an unnecessary invention if all men were made like him.
But what sent my spirit sinking was the knowledge he was out there working on a treehouse after he’d just confessed that his children didn’t come to visit. My heart was already in tattered shreds at the adorable room that had been set up, waiting for two kids to fill it.
There had been no missing the way the room ached, and in turn, I could only ache for my friend. But it’d also triggered a million questions.
Eden giggled from the other end of the line. “Uh-oh, tell me what kind of trouble you got yourself into this time. Do I need to bring bail money?”
If Milo would have been left to his own devices, I was pretty sure it was him who would have needed the bailout.
“Well, some things did go down last night,” I hedged, my nerves spiking.
I could feel the mood shift, Eden coming to the quick conclusion that my night hadn’t ended the way it usually did—with me giving into Karl’s demands. For years, she’d begged me to leave him, unable to understand why I’d stay. Maybe I’d been a fool not to give her the truth. I’d never been sure myself if I’d kept her in the dark to protect the arrangement or because of shame.
“What happened?” Her voice lowered in concern.
I inhaled a shaky breath. “I ended it with Karl.”
Shocked silence compressed the air, then she whispered, “You left him?”
Emotion gathered in my throat, anger and hurt and resolution. “He struck me last night, Eden.”
Pain infiltrated the small sound she released before she cautiously asked, “Has…has this been happening?”
I paced in a small circle, running my free hand through my hair as I tried to figure out a way to explain this to my best friend.
She was going to be hurt.
She had the right to be.
We were supposed to share everything with each other.
“It was the first time, and it was my breaking point. A person can only take so much.”
Confusion curled through the connection. “I don’t understand why you let yourself get pushed to that place, Tessa. You are the most amazing person I know.”
Affection pounded in my chest. “I know I’m pretty great,” I tried to tease, to lighten this moment, because crap, it was hard letting go of a secret I’d kept in my clutches, like hiding it would make it less painful.