Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 90337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Elaina takes my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “That sounds like fun. I’ve never been to a Broadway show. I’m happy to come play cards today, too, if you want. Or to give you guys time alone, whatever you’d prefer. I know you want to sell her on our happily ever after, but these might be some of the last memories you make with her. They shouldn’t all be fake.”
“Agreed,” I say. “I thought about that, and I—”
“Not surprised,” she cuts in with a smirk. “You’re always thinking.”
I huff. “I am. Yes. And I think it’s best I do the Wednesday visits alone for now. But thank you for the offer.”
“Of course, no problem.” She grins up at me as she chucks me on the bicep with one tiny fist. “Look at us! We’re so good at teamwork when we’re not being big babies about our feelings.”
“It’s impressive,” I agree. “Almost like we’re emotionally mature adults.”
She nods seriously. “Almost, but I don’t think I’m quite there yet this morning. I need something to help me reach peak emotional maturity. And that thing is…” She taps a finger to her chin before casting a pointed glance at the still-empty mug in my hand.
I roll my eyes, fighting a smile. “Caffeine coming right up, my little fiend. I’ll bring it to you in the bathroom. You need to wash your face. Your eyeliner smeared while you were sleeping, and you look like you got punched in your left eye.”
She gasps, hand flying to her cheek as she backs away. “What? Why didn’t you tell me? Geez, Hunter. This is not okay! You should have said something earlier.” She turns, fleeing into the living room as she calls over her shoulder, “Don’t ever let me have a serious conversation with ugly face again!”
But, of course, her face wasn’t ugly.
It was beautiful.
She’s beautiful.
She’s beautiful and strong and confident and tolerates zero bullshit. She’s also funny and clever and compassionate and seems to be the only woman I’ve ever cared for who can see the truth behind the mask I don’t even realize I’m wearing most of the time.
In my father’s house, that mask probably saved my life. Any show of emotion, any sign of vulnerability, was an excuse to attack. I disconnected the part of myself that makes a person’s heart show up on their sleeve when I was so young that I can’t remember a time when people didn’t comment on how composed I was, how unflappable.
How cold…
But I’m not cold. I’m not sure I’m even broken anymore, I’m just different. I was forged in a different fire than most people, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want a lot of the same things. I would like to have a partner, a lover, a best friend to come home to and plan a future with.
And if she didn’t want a family, maybe Elaina could have been that person.
But she’s not, and that’s okay. At this point in my life, I know better than to make “perfect” the enemy of good. Neither one of us is going to find our forever in each other’s arms, but we might find things that are just as important.
“Thank you,” I tell Elaina as I deliver her coffee.
She studies me over the top of her washcloth as she finishes wiping her face. “For what?”
“For seeing things other people usually don’t,” I say, finding it easier to open up to her than I ever expected. “It gives me hope that maybe I’m getting better at showing those things.”
She pushes up on tiptoe to kiss my cheek, sending another wave of sweet tightness through my chest. “I think you are,” she says as she pulls back, gazing up at me with a soft smile. “You’ve got potential Mr. M. We here at Fake-Girlfriends-Who-are-Now-Real-Girlfriends-But-Only-Until-it’s-Time-to-go-our-Separate-Ways, think you’ve got a bright future ahead of you.” She widens her eyes, her tone taking on that familiar sarcastic edge as she adds, “It’s not too late to find love with some child-hating monster like yourself.”
I laugh, swat her bottom, and head into my closet to find something to wear on my first date with my bratty new girlfriend, feeling more optimistic about the future of my love life than I have in years.
And it’s all thanks to the woman humming “Hit me with Your Best Shot,” as she gulps down an even more obscene amount of coffee in my bathroom.
fourteen
ELAINA
Four days later…
The Sunday morning sun streams through Hunter’s floor-to-ceiling windows, basking my yoga mat in a golden glow that’s giving serious main character energy.
Which is fitting.
I’m feeling very “main character” after spending the past few days being spoiled rotten by my sexy boyfriend.
I’m sure most people wouldn’t consider riding bikes in Central Park, hitting all the best hole-in-wall restaurants for Thai and Indian food, or spending an entire day at Coney Island taking cheesy pictures and riding roller coasters being “spoiled rotten,” but I do. Hunter cut down to the bare minimum at work this week so he could spend as much time as possible with me.