Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“Yeah, I know how that goes.”
“But when those bad days come . . . they’re a lot easier with you.”
After I climbed the steps and pushed through the mahogany doors, I saw Medusa run at a full sprint toward me.
And then I noticed the green tennis ball she was chasing.
She pulled off a full stop with ease and then wagged her tail at the sight of me, jumping up on her hind legs and putting her paws to my chest. She was well trained and knew not to do that with anyone else—but with me, it was okay.
“Hey, baby girl.” I gave her a rubdown and then looked down the long corridor to where Aurelia stood in jean shorts and an orange blouse that showed her stomach and the little piercing at her navel. “Playing fetch?” I asked with a laugh.
“I bought a couple balls for her when I was out earlier,” she called from the other side. “Hope that’s okay.”
I grabbed the ball, squeezed it to make it squeak, and then threw it back to Aurelia.
Medusa took off at a rocket-speed sprint and chased down the ball in the other direction.
I headed over, and a minute later, I made it to Aurelia.
“Are you mad?”
I hugged her and squeezed her ass in both my hands before I kissed her. “Do I look mad?”
“I was careful not to hit anything.”
“All I care about is my girls getting along.” I kissed her again.
“Your girls?” she asked with a smile, like she was happy to be Medusa’s equal rather than offended by it.
“Hungry?”
“Just assume I’m always hungry until told otherwise.”
No one made me smile more than she did. Whether she was being playful or just herself, it always made me feel . . . something. “Good, I’m starving. How does pizza sound?”
“Pizza always sounds good.”
We left the house, and I drove us to my favorite spot, a little hole-in-the-wall place visited only by locals. We were given a table right away in the back, and when the waitress came over, I ordered our drinks without asking what Aurelia wanted.
She never complained about that, so I assumed she liked not having to make decisions, that she liked being in a relationship with a man who took the lead so she didn’t have to. After fighting for a dead relationship, it was probably nice to be chased, to have someone order for her, to have someone drive her everywhere.
Someone to take care of her.
“How’s Cindy?” I asked.
Her good mood immediately soured at the thought of Timothée. “Devastated. She thinks he took off to Paris and ghosted her.”
I didn’t pity Cindy. Not when I’d done her a huge fucking favor.
Aurelia didn’t ask what I’d done to Timothée.
I spared her the burden of the details.
“I spent a couple days with her. She was there for me after Enzo, so I was happy to help her.”
I still hated hearing his name. Not because I was jealous or threatened. I just fucking hated him for how he’d hurt her. She was fucking gorgeous head to toe, and he decided to treat her like a plastic bag stuffed in a garbage can. “She’ll find someone else.”
“Of course. She’s gorgeous.”
“And find someone better.”
“Yeah, but she’ll be heartbroken awhile.”
“Then maybe you should tell her the truth so she won’t be.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t know which is worse, honestly. And if I tell her the truth, she may not like you.”
I shrugged. “I don’t care if she likes me or not.”
“Well, I’d like my friends to like you.”
“I don’t care what mine think of you.”
“You don’t?” she questioned. “Because you seem to care what Rocco thinks.”
She had me and she fucking knew it—and I liked that. “I guess I care a little.”
“So . . . does he?”
“He said you were cool.”
“Cool?” she asked.
I shrugged. “He’s not a wordy kind of guy.”
“I was afraid he wouldn’t.”
“Why the hell wouldn’t he?”
“I don’t know.” Her eyes flicked away to another spot in the restaurant.
“Why wouldn’t he?” I repeated, knowing she was hiding something from me.
Her eyes came back to me. “Well, I didn’t make a good first impression. Got mixed up with a couple assholes, let one spike my drink, left the restaurant with him . . . I looked like the biggest idiot in the world. And then I’m sure you told him Enzo left me for a woman almost a decade older than me with two kids. It’s just not a good look.”
This drop-dead gorgeous woman with a heart of gold was in front of me, but she talked about herself like she was the most worthless human being on the planet. “Why are you so unkind to yourself?”
“I’m not. I just know how the world works. I know how people think.”
“Maybe assholes, but not people. Because Rocco never once thought any of those things—and neither have I. What happened to you was a crime. Those assholes have run that same skit before, because it’s worked before. And Enzo is a dumbass. Stop judging your own worth based on how a prick treated you.” My arms folded on the table, and I came closer to her. “This is the actual story. Some dumbass miraculously gets the perfect woman but fucks it up because he was too stupid to know what he had. It’s his story—not yours. His mistakes are not a reflection of your worth, sweetheart. And I promise you.” My hand tightened into a fist, and I gave a slight thump on the table. “He regrets it now, and he’ll regret it forever.”