Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 102361 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102361 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
I chuckle and wrinkle my nose. I want to come. I want to so badly. I know that Harper and Ava attend, and I know some of the other girls, too, from back in the day.
“It’s Friday night at seven,” Billie continues. “And you’re more than welcome to join us. It’s fun. You already know most of the people. Even Jackie comes.”
I didn’t know that.
“She does?”
“Yep, and she brings treats with her.”
“I could bring some gluten-free options, if you want.”
“Oh, that would be awesome! Perhaps you and Jackie could alternate bringing the snacks. Or you each bring one. Honestly, you don’t have to bring anything, just come. Chat about sexy books and laugh with us for a while.”
I don’t remember the last time I truly laughed.
“Okay.”
Billie’s eyes go wide. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?”
“If you know for sure that your brother won’t be here, and it’s okay with the others if I come, then yes. I’d like to join you.”
Just thinking about it makes me sweaty. Justin would be so pissed. There’s no way he’d allow it.
He’s dead, Juliet. He doesn’t have a say. You don’t have to ask permission.
“Holy shit, this is the best day of my life.” Billie claps her hands. “I promise you’ll have so much fun.”
“I know I will. Thanks, Bug. I’d better get back over there.”
With a bag full of new books and a little bit of hope that book club might work out after all, I walk back across the street and around to the staircase to carry these upstairs before heading back down to get ready for the dinner rush.
But when I reach the stairs, I pause.
Because on each step, the metal has been covered with anti-slip stair treads.
Blinking back tears, I reach down to touch them. They’re real. I’m not hallucinating.
Brooks.
He’s the only one who knew I fell this morning. He’s the only one who knew it was because my stairs were slick.
He fixed them.
He made sure that I’m as safe from that particular injury as I can be, and he did it all without being asked.
Oh God.
What does this mean? Does it mean anything at all? He’s so angry with me, there’s no way he would do something for me out of the goodness of his heart. He’s made it clear that I’m nothing to him. I don’t exist in his world.
But then why did he do this? It’s so damn confusing. I loved him with all my heart. He was everything to me, and I did everything wrong. I let someone else manipulate me, lie to me, and ruin the best thing in my life.
I was supposed to marry Brooks. Have a family with him. Grow old with him.
Instead, I lost him because I believed a liar who convinced me that if he didn’t have my attention, he’d end his own life.
And Justin knew that he could do that to me because suicide is my trigger. That’ll happen to someone after they find their own father hanging in their garage at the tender age of twelve.
Brooks saw it as me choosing Justin over him, but that’s not what it was at all. I truly thought I was saving a man’s life.
But I lost the one person who’s ever truly loved me instead. Not just lost him but made him hate me with every fiber of his being.
And now, after all this time, he’s helped me, and I don’t know why. I should march myself right over to his garage and ask him.
I won’t do that, though. Because being on the receiving end of Brooks’s harsh words is almost worse than anything Justin did to me.
Okay, maybe not.
But it hurts all the same.
So I send out a silent thank-you to the universe and climb the stairs to my apartment, where I tuck my new books away and get back to work.
Chapter Four
BROOKS
Buying a second house was a dumb fucking idea.
Even if they are right across the street from each other.
When the big corner house came up for sale last year, I bought it without really considering the consequences. It’s Juliet’s dream home, and I couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else buying it.
She didn’t even live here when I made the offer. I just did it. I blame it on temporary insanity because that’s the only explanation for a spur-of-the-moment property purchase.
Now, Jules is back, and every time I walk inside this house, it’s just another reminder of her. I’ve never lived in it. I still live in the house across the street that I bought all those years ago.
It’s time I fixed up this big home and sold it. I don’t need it. I don’t want to be a landlord. I have no idea what I was thinking when I purchased it.
Again, temporary insanity.
And maybe a moment of feeling sentimental over a girl who didn’t choose me in the end.