Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
I chased her away.
But I found her.
“Thatty, why are you being so quiet?”
I tear my gaze from her to where Telly and Owen are watching me with curiosity. I swallow past the lump in my throat. “No reason, just hungry,” I grunt out, and they both know I’m lying.
Owen looks back at the counter, and I watch as his brows rise. “Hell, she could be Audrina’s twin.”
“Audrina?” Telly asks. “Your girl bestie?”
My girl.
What I’d give to be able to make those two words a reality.
I have spent years wanting just that. I’ve honestly always thought of her as mine. She never really dated, and neither did I. Of course, we hooked up with people, but we never had relationships. It was us. Just her and me. We were in a relationship minus the sex.
I flirted with her; I bought her things to let her know I was thinking of her. She cleaned up after me, and we lived together until the moment she left. We ate together every night, and even when I was gone on a road trip, we’d FaceTime or she’d go to my mom’s or hers for dinner. We depended on each other.
I don’t know how I resisted her for as long as I did. She has always been my walking wet dream. I think I feared I’d lose her if I did, and I was right. While it took over ten years to cross that line with her, nothing changed the fact that she was mine before I tasted her.
Wait. She still is mine.
No time, no space, not thirteen words in a letter—nothing can change that.
I thought not seeing her for over three years was hard, but being in her space, watching as she moves around with no cares in the world, looking so damn free, makes me realize I’m desperate for her.
I wish she were serving me.
Her pussy.
On a platter.
Wow, get yourself under control, Orlov.
There is a tightness in my chest that has me nodding, not trusting my voice as Owen leans in. “Have you talked to her?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“Why not? I thought you two were close?” Telly asks.
Owen leans back, shaking his head. “She slept with Dart and broke our boy’s heart.”
I swallow but keep my mouth shut. That’s what everyone thinks, but the truth is, we still talked for a while after. I forgave her, and even Dart, for what went down. They were drunk, and we were never exclusive. Maybe we were in my heart, but the only way Audrina would have known that would have been if I were honest. Plot twist—I was never honest.
Not even when everything went down between us.
I got mad and used my words to hurt her.
The one time my chirping was my downfall.
“Oh damn, I didn’t know,” Telly says with a low whistle. “That had to suck.”
“It did,” Owen says, shaking his head. “It broke up our friend group for a while, but then it all shook out.”
Shook out, meaning Audrina left right after Dart met and fell in love with his woman, Tennessee. Because of all that, there was no awkwardness anymore when we all hung out. Audrina was gone, and Dart was obsessed with Tennessee. Leaving me alone and aching for the girl I chased away.
Yeah, everything shook out just great.
I watch as she pulls the pencil out of her knot and writes down an order before moving to the next patron. I don’t move. I can’t even breathe as she moves around the diner with ease. She’s good at everything she does. Mostly because she puts her whole self into the task. She isn’t a half-asser. No, Audrina puts her whole ass into everything she attempts.
And what an ass she has.
I drink in her thighs when she bends over to grab an envelope from under the counter by the checkout. She has stretch marks along her milky skin that weren’t there before, and I’m struck by the need to trace them with my fingers and my tongue, over and over again. I swallow thickly as she moves back behind the counter, her brows pinched as she calls out orders and serves them. Owen and Telly are talking, but I’m unable to comprehend or even add to the conversation when my sole focus is on her.
I found her, and now I don’t know what to do.
Breathlessly, I reach into my pocket and bring up the text thread with my sister Ingrid.
Me: I found her.
It’s only seconds before the text comes through.
Ingrid: Bring her home.
That’s all, and while pride fills me at knowing my sister thinks I’m capable of that, fear replaces those feelings in mere seconds.
Because I might let my sister down all over again.
CHAPTER THREE
Don’t panic.
It’s fine.
Maybe he doesn’t recognize me.
Who am I kidding? He knows it’s me. Even with dark glasses and the red IceCats hat that’s low on his head, I know he is staring right at me. I feel his gaze like a trail of fire down my body. Only Thatcher makes me feel like that, setting me aflame with only one glance of those dark-brown eyes. It’s been like that since we were kids, and no matter how many years or how much distance has been between us, I feel his gaze. He looks as devastatingly handsome as he did when I left. All dark and brooding, his shoulders wide enough to break doorways, his hair curling around the brim of his cap as he sits with his corded, veined forearms on the table. There is something about the way his jaw is covered in hair, like he doesn’t want a full-out beard but also enjoys the feeling of the hair there, that drives me absolutely wild. His thick brows are nicely trimmed, and I know behind those glasses are dark eyes that can bring me to my knees.