Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 70444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
The next thing I did was pull my phone out of my pocket and place it to my ear after dialing the number that I needed. “Parker?”
The Commons wouldn’t know what hit them.
Chapter 17
What the fork is for dinner?
-Hostel PD FB Page
June
My grandfather offered Johnny his hand once more and then smiled, a little bit wobbly this time. “I’m glad that you were here.”
I was, too.
I had no idea what it would feel like to have someone having my back.
It’d been a long, exhausting day, and if there was one thing I did not want to do when I finished dinner with my granddad, it was talk to the woman who had witnessed me losing my virginity.
But, my life was literally a joke most of the time, so why wouldn’t the universe bring me face-to-face with her after the longest day of my life?
So, when I saw Rosie spot us from across the parking lot, I knew without a doubt that she wouldn’t let this opportunity pass.
She was still dressed in the clothes that she had been wearing earlier that morning when I’d seen her in the gas station as I’d been paying for a pack of powdered donuts.
Even though I’d only seen her once across a crowded room, and again outside the VFW hall, it’d been enough for me to sear the memory of her into my brain. Especially when irrational anger and jealousy had reared its head when she had placed her hand on my man.
Sure, I’d been pissed at that man at the time, and I was sitting at a table with a stranger for a speed date myself, but none of that mattered to my heart.
I hated her on sight, and I had committed her face to memory.
To make matters worse, my grandfather hadn’t even made it into the truck yet, although the car door was wide open for him to get in. There’d be no hurrying him along, either. Tennessee Common did things in his own time, and nobody rushed him to do anything, not even his granddaughter.
I knew—I just fucking knew—that Rosie wouldn’t let it lie.
Therefore I wasn’t the least bit surprised when she walked right up to us and introduced herself as Rosie, Johnny’s ex-girlfriend, to my grandfather.
“Hello, y’all! Fancy seeing you two here! And who is this delectable male specimen?” Rosie asked, smiling wide at my grandfather. “I’m Rosie, this one’s ex-girlfriend.”
Bitch.
Couldn’t she see that this was a private conversation?
Then I snorted. This woman obviously had no boundaries, something she’d already proven to me.
My grandfather’s bushy eyebrows came up. “Nice to meet you.”
I could hear the lie in his voice, and it nearly made me smile.
My grandfather was my fiercest protector, my knight in shining armor. He wouldn’t like this woman based on pure principle. That, and he’d learned to read my body language a long time ago. If he hadn’t, he’d never have known that something was seriously wrong with me since I wouldn’t have said a word to him about it.
That was how, when I was ten, he knew that something was going on with my parents. That was also why, at the age of fourteen when I’d started my period, he knew that something was wrong, and wouldn’t let me go anywhere until I told him why.
Sometimes, it could be embarrassing that he was so stubborn and focused on me. However, other times, such as now, I knew that he was the best type of man to have as a protector.
And seeing Johnny stiffen? Watching him angle his body so that I was partially covered by him? That let me know without words that Johnny was on my side and that kind of man, too.
I swallowed and tried to blink away the stupid tears that had risen up at the knowledge and realized what a futile effort it was.
I’d already had a long day before any of this started, and it seemed that I was in for an even longer night.
This woman really was the last thing I needed to be dealing with right now.
I’d hit my limit.
Therefore, when Rosie opened her mouth with an evil smile on her face, I knew without a doubt that she was about to say something that was going to get her punched in the mouth.
“Did June and Johnny tell you about the night we met?”
I started to step forward, but Johnny grabbed my hand before I could throat punch her like I’d been intending.
Stupid cop self.
“I’m sure it was a pleasant meeting,” Tennessee, the best grandfather in the world, said. “But I’m an old man, and it’s well past my bedtime. If you don’t mind…”
With that, my grandfather got in the car, and I was left staring at a woman who clearly had no qualms about bringing innocent bystanders into private conversations.
Once the door was closed, Johnny turned and glared at Rosie. “You need to leave me alone.”