Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 81584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
“Sure,” I said, pushing to my feet.
“Birthday girl,” Harper sang happily, opening her arms wide. “We’re leaving! Epic party. This is the most fun I’ve had in like a year.”
“Thanks for coming, Harp,” Frankie replied, half skipping and half stumbling over to us.
They collided in a tangle of drunken arms and unsteady feet but thankfully stayed vertical.
“Come see us again before you leave,” Frankie said quietly, her arms wrapped tight around my baby sister’s shoulders. “We miss you when you’re gone.”
“I will,” Harper said emphatically. “I promise.”
“I’m going to hold you to that,” Frankie said, pulling away. She turned to me and gave a little half-wave. “Thanks for coming, Gray.”
“Happy birthday,” I replied, my guts clenching.
I didn’t want to fucking leave.
“Still too young?” she mocked with a laugh before spinning away.
“What?” Harper asked in confusion. She was quickly distracted by the line of hugs waiting for her. I waited patiently, trying not to look over at where Frankie had sat down on the boyfriend’s lap.
“Safe travels,” Bas said as we finally made our way to the front door.
“You’re stayin’ the night?” I asked quietly, following Harper.
“Yeah.” He gave a firm nod. “I always stay when they’re partyin’.”
“Always?” I asked in surprise.
“Only sometimes when they were livin’ with Cian, I guess. But two women plastered and livin’ alone?” He shook his head. “I can sleep on the fuckin’ couch for a night.”
“Good.”
I helped Harper out to my bike both wondering what the fuck was going on with Frankie and telling myself that it was none of my goddamn business. Yeah, I wasn’t happy her douche of a boyfriend was arguing with her at her own birthday party, but she’d chosen him. The woman was gorgeous and fun, she could’ve had almost any single guy I knew—and she’d chosen him.
I was a firm believer in people finding what they needed. From the outside, maybe you’d wonder why a man would stay with a woman who nagged him all the time, or why a woman would stay with a man that didn’t help her with shit—but you had no idea what went on behind closed doors or in those people’s heads. Whether it was healthy or not, maybe those couples needed that from each other to feel loved or safe or secure.
“I miss hanging out with everyone,” Harper said with a sigh as she rested her chin on my shoulder and her arms around my waist.
“Move home,” I advised.
I pulled out onto the road and tried to push thoughts of Frankie out of my head. It didn’t do anyone any good for me to concern myself with what she was doing. I had enough stress making sure that Harper wasn’t going to let go and fall off the damn bike as she chattered away inside her closed helmet, not realizing that I couldn’t hear a word she said. By the time we reached my parents’ house, I’d pivoted entirely from concern about Frankie to concern about Harper puking inside the helmet.
It wasn’t until weeks later that I’d realize that I should’ve turned around and gone straight back to Frankie’s that night.
Chapter 3
Frankie
Things were pretty foggy as I stumbled back from the bathroom. The next day was going to be a tough one. I’d had too much to drink. The dumbest part of it all is that I’d known when I hit the point where I should’ve stopped, and I’d just kept going.
It was my birthday party, and I’d been determined to wring every bit of fun out of it which meant trying to forget that Scott was acting like an asshole and Gray was watching me all night from across the room. I wasn’t sure why either of them showed up.
Parties weren’t Scott’s scene. He preferred more controlled environments where he knew everyone and felt comfortable—which was totally fine. If that’s your thing, cool, do it. I’d warned him that he wouldn’t have a good time. I’d given him an out and told him that I wouldn’t have any kind of feelings about him not showing up, but did he listen? No. And then he’d had the audacity to bitch at me for leaving him when I tried to hang out with the people who were there to celebrate.
Gray—well, there was no reason for him to come. We were barely friends, and the Harper excuse he’d been handing out was bullshit. Harper was older than me, she could’ve easily driven herself or caught a ride with literally anyone else at the party.
Climbing back into the bed, I let Scott pull me close even though I was still vaguely irritated with him. It wasn’t going to work with him. I’d known it for weeks, but I’d been too nervous to say anything because he was still at my office every day, and I didn’t want things to get weird.