Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 101662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
“Slow,” Kierra laughed, seeing how excited Ava was growing from sharing the details of her day. “This all sounds amazing. And rumor has it that a certain boss man is gifting you the programs for you to use,” she mentioned, gesturing toward me.
I’d texted Kierra earlier about the programs. They weren’t cheap, but I wanted Ava to have the best of the best. Over the past few weeks, she’d shown her passion for architecture, and I couldn’t help but want to give her all the keys to help on her journey. She’d be ahead of most people before she even hit sixteen years old.
“No way.” Ava’s jaw dropped open before she darted into my arms. “Thanks, Boss Man!” she exclaimed hugging me as tight as possible. “Oh man, I have to go tell Bobby before we leave! He’s going to be stoked that I can practice at home.” She then darted out of my office and hurried off to go tell Bobby the news.
Kierra’s smile didn’t slip after Ava’s departure. “I think you just made that girl’s life complete.”
“I’m glad I could do it. She’s extremely driven. I’ve never seen a fourteen-year-old as focused and talented as she is. She has a gift.”
“She’s much more organized than I was at her age, that’s for sure.”
“I’m not even that organized at my current age,” I joked. I leaned back against my desk and crossed my arms. “So I was wondering—”
“Can we be friends?” she blurted out.
I arched an eyebrow. “What?”
“Sorry. That was random, but the best nights I’ve had in a long time are going over to your house and sketching with you. The best I’ve felt lately is in situations where you and Ava are present. You’re a good person, and I have no doubt that you’d be a great friend, so I’d like that. I’d like to be friends with you.”
I chuckled slightly and shook my head.
She bit her lip again.
Fucking stop that shit, Kierra.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
“Nothing. It’s just that I thought we were already friends.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You did?”
“I did.”
“Oh. Well. Okay.” She grinned from ear to ear, and that smile was enough to make me want so much more than a friendship with her. I wanted to spend the rest of my life somehow making those lips of hers curve up in that way. I wanted to spend the rest of my life working to get a chance to taste those lips, to feel that smile against my own. I wanted her to be mine and mine alone.
But for now, friendship would work.
18
Gabriel
Seventeen Years Old
“Don’t push me, don’t push me, don’t push me,” Kierra cried out as she held the swing rope over the edge of the cliff. She stood in her yellow swimsuit on the verge of tears as she peered over the cliff and looked down at the water.
“Don’t overthink it,” I said, laughing. “You just swing and let go.”
“Oh, right, okay, Gabriel. It’s just that easy,” she sarcastically remarked, rolling her eyes. When she was scared, her sarcasm hit new heights. It was kind of cute, watching her lose her mind over rope swinging. Rope swinging was her idea, by the way. I told her she was batshit crazy for wanting to do it, and I knew she was a scaredy-cat and it would end up exactly how it was.
Yet that summer, she was determined to get out of her comfort zone, to try something new before we entered our senior year of high school. She was convinced that she’d spent her life being a loser who never took risks, so all summer we’d been doing the stupidest things together.
I didn’t mind much because I never minded hanging out with Kierra every day. Even if she came up with bad ideas and pretended they were mine.
“Listen, you’re the one who wanted to do this, not me. I wanted to go see the new Spielberg movie,” I joked. “But since we are here, you have to swing and let go, Kierra.”
“But…” She hesitated. “What if I fall?”
“That’s the whole point, I think.”
“But,” she said again, “what if I fall and break my neck?”
“Well, it will happen so fast, you won’t even realize you’re dead, so you’re all good.”
She shoved my shoulder with one hand as she held on to the swing with her other. “Don’t make jokes. I’m scared.”
I wanted to keep teasing her, but the fear in her eyes made me feel bad. So, I moved in, placed my hands on the rope, and held her close to me. “Okay,” I whispered, my voice low. “You don’t have to do it.”
Her eyes flashed with heavy emotions. “Really?”
“Yeah, really. You can be a little chickenshit if you want.”
Her mouth dropped open. She shoved me against my chest. I didn’t mind. A part of me liked whenever she touched me. A part of me teased her strictly so she’d react that way and touch me. I lived for her shoves. “I’m not a chickenshit, Gabriel Sinclair!”