Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 21955 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 110(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21955 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 110(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
CHAPTER TWO
2
Nick
I kept thinking that the dinner with Julia and the folks was going fine. Except for those few minutes with Julia at the hospital a few days before, I hadn’t seen any of my family for going on three years. It was so great to see my dad, to just hang out with him and laugh and talk. He looked older though, which is kind of scary. I could tell that Lucy, my stepmom, was a little nervous. Maybe she thought Julia and I would fight or something.
Julia looked smoking hot. When I saw her, I swear I lost the power of speech. That girl has a body that just…. She could be one of those Sports Illustrated swimsuit models. I sat across the table from her, and with that dress she had on, every time she leaned forward a little, the view was amazing. I mean, she looked like a lady, of course, nothing slutty about what she had on, but damn.
She didn’t talk much, though. Dad and Lucy kept asking me questions and making a big deal out of the Fitband app and my company, so I felt like a total braggart the whole time. I mean, yeah, it’s not every day that a guy my age has an idea that takes off and makes a bunch of money, and yeah, I worked my ass off for it, but I gotta say, more than a little bit was just dumb luck. Not that I say that too often.
I really wanted to get Julia talking. I wanted to hear the story of how she got out of that wheelchair. I mean, that’s some kind of miracle, right? I remember the day the doctor came into Julia’s hospital room with the bad news. Dad and Lucy had gone home for a while, so I was the only one with her. I never left her room after the accident. Julia was all doped up on painkillers, and I didn’t even know if she could understand when he explained that she’d never walk again. But she understood, all right. After the doctor left, she cried and cried until she was almost howling, squeezing my hand the whole time. I left town the next day. Go ahead, call me an asshole. I’ve called myself the same thing a million times. But, much as I wanted to hear from Julia about how she got better, she resisted all my attempts to ask questions.
In fact she would barely look at me. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. A few times I caught her looking my way before quickly cutting her eyes away from me with this Fuck You look on her face. Later, she started to joke around, but she was still super pissed at me. She had a right to be, of course, but I guess I was hoping she’d gotten over it. Nope.
When Lucy served the dessert and coffee, Julia started checking her phone every few minutes. I thought she might be expecting texts from a guy, and my gut twisted up at the thought. I had to get her alone for a little while, just to talk to her. It was like this fever inside of me. I didn’t want to let on, though, make her realize how obsessed with her I was. Though really, how could she not know? But still, I wanted to play it cool. Dumb, right?
“Lucy, this dinner was so delicious, I’m afraid to enter the calories into my fitness app! I need to walk off some of them. Julia, do you want to go for a walk with me?” Smooth, huh? Being around my stepsister turned me into a fourteen-year-old boy.
“Actually, I need to get to the library to study. Thanks for asking, though!” Julia said brightly, doing her perky routine that I remember so well. She used to use it on guys she didn’t want to go out with. Now I was one of them.
“Can I drive you to the library, then?”
“I thought you said you wanted to walk off all those calories?”
“Uh. Yeah. But I can go to the gym later, too. I’d really like to talk with you.”
Lucy chimed in then, god bless her. “Oh come on, Julia. Go for a walk with Nick! He’s your brother and you haven’t seen him for ages!”
“Yes, that’s true, Mom, I haven’t. Why don’t you ask Nick the reason for that?” Julia said this to her mom, but looked right at me while she did. The bottom dropped out of my stomach. In that moment I almost gave up the whole thing. Why had I come back in town, made all my plans? This was hopeless. She was never going to forgive me—I had no chance at all.
Then Lucy said, “Julia, may I speak to you in the kitchen, please?” with this absolutely take-no-bullshit tone in her voice. Julia heaved a big sigh and went with her.