Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 68143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“Thanks to me,” I teased.
“All thanks to you, yes.” She rolled her eyes. “I feel like I’ve been chasing after you since we met in high school. All I ever see is your back.”
I winked at her. “But it’s a really nice back, right?”
Parker scoffed. “Conceited much?”
I stood up and started to the sink with my dish. “If the shoe fits.”
Twenty-Two
A fuck must be earned. I can’t go around with a bucket of fucks, giving them out to everyone. If I feel you earned a fuck, I will give a fuck.
—Sutton’s secret thoughts
SUTTON
“This is a nonissue,” Malone said as she shuffled her papers into a neater stack on top of her desk. “I’ll handle it from here.”
After telling her thank you, I headed outside and immediately called my mom, knowing she’d want to hear the latest update.
She answered on the first ring. “How’d it go?”
I told her everything that the lawyer had said, ending with, “She doesn’t think that it’ll go past this point. There’s no reason to go to court for this, though she does feel like the lawsuit might shift to them suing me.”
“Great.” I could hear the frustration in her voice. “I guess we have that to look forward to next.”
My phone beeped, and I pulled it away from my face to glance at the screen.
I grinned hugely when I saw Lottie holding a bass up by the lips, the hugest, cheesiest smile spread across her face.
“Awww,” I cooed.
“What?”
I forwarded my mom the message, and Mom did the appropriate gushing over her.
“You’re different,” she said after a while. “You’ve been there for just over a month and some change, and already I can tell you’re happier. You love being there, don’t you?”
“I love it,” I agreed. “I love them. They make me happy. I had no idea how unhappy I was until they literally fell right into my lap.”
“I’m happy, Sutton,” she said softly. “I wish that you would’ve given him a chance in high school.”
“What?”
“Oh, you know what I am saying,” she grumbled. “That boy totally had a thing for you. He asked me if he could ask you to prom, you know. Daddy said yes. I was a resounding yes. Then he never did because you were you.”
I knew what she meant by that.
I was me.
I always saw the bad in people, and never could look at someone and think they were genuine.
No one was ever genuine.
Well, no one before I’d reconnected with Gunner.
I had a feeling that Gunner and his motorcycle club family were really genuine.
And scary.
And awesome.
“I wasn’t a super confident person,” I admitted.
Honestly, I probably never would be.
Even with a new face, I was still so anxious about anything and everything that had to do with my appearance that it was unhealthy.
Hopefully I could get that part of me somewhat under control so the little girl that I found myself wanting to spend the majority of my time with didn’t also pick up the unhealthy habits.
“Maybe I should go see a therapist,” I confessed.
My mom inhaled sharply. “That would be a wonderful idea.”
She’d been trying to get me to go for years.
Maybe if I’d listened to her, I wouldn’t have married a man that didn’t make me happy. One that had shoved my face in our wedding cake even if I’d begged him not to, and caused trauma to my eye and face.
And I wouldn’t be visiting lawyers’ offices at eight in the freakin’ morning because he was suing me because I didn’t keep the sperm he wanted to use with his new fiancé.
“Want me to find someone? I can go with you, too, if you want.”
I hesitated for only a second, then I passed a boutique store that had the cutest little girl boots that would look perfect on my favorite little girl, and said, “Make me an appointment. But I’ll go on my own.”
“I’ll make one right now,” she said. “Oh, baby. This is so good for you.”
I nearly rolled my eyes.
“And we’re going to come down this weekend,” Mom continued. “Daddy and I want to catch a show.”
I frowned as I came to a stop at the shop window and let my gaze wander. “What show?”
“There’s apparently this interactive movie theater that allows you to watch a movie, and the seat moves, and they spray you with water. Daddy looked pretty excited when he saw a video online, and I started looking up places where they offered that. Dallas is the closest place. And I want to try all the cheesecakes from The Cheesecake Factory.”
I couldn’t help the laugh that slipped free of my lips. “That’s the real reason you want to come.”
“Damn straight,” she agreed. “I’ll call you back with the place and time of the appointment. Let me know when would be a good time to show up on Saturday morning.”