Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 65913 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 330(@200wpm)___ 264(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65913 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 330(@200wpm)___ 264(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
“I did not say the pants cut off circulation to my brain,” I hiss.
Drew waves a hand. “Brain. Balls. Same thing with you, Goldilocks.”
I heave a sigh. “But the sleeping bag does suck. I can feel every damn lump in the ground,” I mutter as I kick the end of the bag.
“Aww, want me to get you a Serta mattress next time?” Drew teases.
“I doubt you’re comfortable either. This is the world’s smallest three-person tent,” I point out.
“There would be more room if you slept outside the tent, Milo,” Axel deadpans. “Maybe consider that.”
I roll my eyes, even though these fuckers can’t see me in the dark. “There would be more room if Drew didn’t crash the ride at the last minute,” I point out, because I’m an asshole.
“Dude, did you or did you not in-fucking-vite me? I had a break after training camp and I came back here at your request, dickhead,” he snaps.
Shit. I am a bad friend. I am a bad boss. I am a bad everything.
“I’m sorry, man,” I say, meaning it. “I didn’t mean to take it out on you. I’m just a mess.”
“There, there,” Axel says drily, patting the ground next to me. “Everything is forgiven when you have lady trouble.”
Hold on. How did he know? I jerk my gaze toward him. “Was it that obvious?”
The two of them snort in unison.
“Um, yeah,” Drew says.
“Like an open fucking book,” Axel adds.
I should just go to sleep. I should just shut up. I should just curl up and forget yesterday. But I miss Veronica insanely. I don’t know what to do about calling it good. I don’t want to call it good. I want to call her up and see her every damn day and night. Then there’s the matter of Callie. I shudder. Sitting, I scrub a hand over my jaw. “I need help. I need a lawyer again for starters,” I say, embarrassed my life has come to this.
Drew and Axel sit up too. With the shadows playing on their faces, I can see both their expressions shift to serious in the moonlight.
“What’s going on, man? Is this why you’ve been riding like there’s a hornet’s nest in your pants?” Drew asks, no teasing now.
“Callie threatened me,” I confess, then I tell them what she said when she showed up.
Axel shakes his head, huffing out an annoyed breath. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I did go to law school.”
“I guess I wanted to just ignore it. Also, you don’t practice stupid shit law,” I say.
He laughs. “I don’t practice at all, but I took the bar and I understand the law. This is spurious. We’ll send her a letter. I’ll sign it with my legal name.”
I snort out a laugh. “Don’t want her connecting the dots with my lawyer, Alexander Hendrix-Blythe, and the thriller writer, Axel Huxley.”
“And I’ll add the fancy esquire too. That always freaks people out,” he adds.
Drew shivers. “The esquire is terrifying.”
“I second that,” I say.
“But don’t let her threats get to you,” Axel reassures me. “You can’t patent a custom bike shop idea any more than you can patent a bike and flower shop concept.”
I breathe easily for the first time in more than a day. “Thanks, man. I should have brought it up sooner instead of stewing. I can’t even tell you how much I appreciate that.”
“No problem.” Axel takes a beat. “But I would still have more room if you slept outside the tent.”
Drew clears his throat. “I would too.”
“Oh, fuck off,” I say, but I’m laughing now too.
“Hey, we put up with your shit mood for the last day. So, now, ’fess up. What’s the lady trouble?” Drew asks.
I only scratched the surface there, so I dig deeper and tell my buds about the real hurt in my heart, finishing with, “And then she said we should call it good. So, maybe she didn’t want to finish the list, or see me on Tuesday. Which sucks, since I fell in love with her, but—”
“—No. Just no,” Drew snaps.
“No what?” I ask, confused.
“Whatever you’re going to say is wrong. You fell in love with her and she offered to fall on the sword. For you. You don’t get to turn that around.”
Damn. The dude’s intense with his love advice. “But wasn’t she kind of saying she wanted to end things?”
Axel smacks his palm against the ground. “Man, Callie did a number on you,” he says, in between laughs. “You are such a numb nut.”
I am. And I was the biggest one yesterday. Realization dawns fully as I replay the conversation in the shop one more time. Is it easier for you if we just . . . call it good? Veronica sacrificed us for me. “Veronica’s the anti-Callie. She did that for me. Oh, shit. I am a whole box of numb nuts.”