Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 74379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Though, even if I had I wouldn’t have taken it from her.
I wanted her to have a reminder of me.
I wanted her to think about me.
Like she did every time she got into the car she refused to sell.
Her senior year of high school I’d helped her buy a car with the money that she was able to finagle from her father, as well as the money she saved from her summer job the last summer we were together.
It was a piece of shit. But it meant something to both of us.
Which was why she kept it even though she had been able to afford a new car for a while—and had a new car now. She drove it almost as much as her new one, and that was saying something since there wasn’t a promise that it would stay running the minute she left her driveway.
It was also why, every time it came into my brother’s shop, it had a permanent spot just for it. It was always kept open for the next time that she’d need it. And for four years while she was away with the Army, my brother kept it in his shop, in its exact spot, and I paid for the rent.
I paid the bill, even though she protested to Travis that she didn’t need the charity.
She likely didn’t know that I was the one paying for the parts or the space, though, because otherwise she really would’ve thrown a fit and refused to bring it there anymore.
We both knew that Krisney was a woman who would refuse the help based on principle alone, which is the reason my brother kept it quiet.
And I didn’t want her to do that.
I wanted to make sure she got it fixed correctly without getting shafted if she took it anywhere else.
The minute she started to cry, I couldn’t stand it any longer.
I needed to have her in my arms, if only for a little bit.
So, the minute the first tear hit her cheek, I was moving from the spot I’d occupied for the last few minutes, practically dive bombing her as I scooped her into my arms, pulling her in close.
I twisted so that we were both on the couch, and she curled further into me as she let the tears flow.
Having her in my arms again? It was like nothing I could’ve ever dreamed up.
I still remembered our first kiss. Our first date. Our first everything.
That feeling that hits you. The one full of nervousness, anticipation, and excitement all rolled into one.
I remember that day and those feelings just like it was yesterday.
Chapter 9
Life is soup, and I’m a fork.
-Krisney to Reed
Reed
Then
I stared at the phone number on my phone, biting my lip as I tried to decide what to do.
I’d been contemplating texting her for three days, but I couldn’t quite make myself press the send button on my Nokia phone.
“Just do it, pussy.”
I looked up to find my brother, Travis, staring at me like I was the king of losers.
“What if she doesn’t answer?”
“Then she doesn’t answer,” Travis countered. “But how will you know if you don’t pony up and do it?”
I grimaced.
“Fine.”
I hit send, and then had a mild heart attack while I waited for her to reply.
After the twentieth minute of just staring at my phone, I got frustrated and shoved the phone into my pocket.
“I’m heading out to the field,” I said. “Do you want to come?”
I was in my third semester of classes at the local community college to get all my basics set in place so I could enter medical school in exactly two years.
I had it all planned out, and had for a very long time now.
My last two years of high school, I’d started taking dual credit classes at the local college to get me a few steps ahead of the game. My freshman year of college, I started with over thirty credits to my name, meaning that I was actually considered a junior instead of a freshman.
Now, at eighteen, I was halfway through my sophomore year, and well on my way to getting all my classes done so I could start pre-med. Then, after that was accomplished, I’d start medical school.
Once I was finished with medical school, I would join the Army as an officer.
I had it all mapped out, every single bit of my life.
Which was what was throwing me when it came to Krisney Shaw.
She was everything I didn’t need. A distraction. A person who was well on the way to making me forget my duties, and what I wanted to make out of my life.
Did that stop me from thinking about her, though? Hell no.
It only made me think about her more, and I felt like a goddamn moron.
Which was why I’d contemplated sending the message in the first place.