Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 142764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
"My, oh, my, doesn't your little wallflower clean up well? She almost looks...decent. It’s crazy how a little makeup, money, and dress can change a girl's entire appearance."
Hot liquid rage makes me clench my hands into tight fists.
"You’re a pig." I can’t stand to be in the same room with this monster, not with all the knowledge I know about it. “Let me know when the trash takes itself out. I’ll be at the bar until then.” I move to push past him, but he cuts me off.
His hand clamps tight around my bicep, circling it completely. "Please, you don't have to leave, at least not on my account. I only wanted to make sure my son’s date is well taken care of." I cringe, my skin crawling from his touch. He’s looking at me like I’m a side of beef at the butcher, and he might want a cut.
There's a noise, and I realize Drew’s practically vibrating as he surges to his feet, his knees having knocked into the table in his haste to get to me. The heavy, erratic beat of my heart slows once Drew reaches my side. “Let. Her. Go”
His father releases me and lifts his hands into the air as if to say he means no harm. “Don't get your panties in a twist. I was just ensuring your date doesn't abandon you before the first course, Son."
The server returns with bread and sets it in the middle of the table. Drew's dad snatches the woman around the waist, one arm anchoring her to him the other circling her throat, his touch possessive.
"Oh, two lovely women in one room. If only my son could handle the bounty."
I grimace and then snap at him. "Leave her alone. She's just doing her damn job."
His eyes flash to mine and then narrow. I can tell he wants to say something, but he doesn’t. Instead, he shoves the girl away, discarding her like trash. She skitters out of the room, her chin ducked low, but I don’t miss the shades of red painting her cheeks.
We are all standing, eyeing each other. Drew’s body is strung tight with tension. His father eyes us both, and it’s hard to tell what his next move will be. It’s like waiting for a bomb to go off. After a minute, Drew's dad lets out a boisterous laugh. It echoes through my head, and when he lifts his hands, taking a step back, I flinch.
Drew notices and grits his teeth, anger pulsing through him. He wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me tight to his side.
“I think it’s time for you to leave,” Drew orders.
After a moment, he senses that neither of us are going to give in to his fucked-up game.
"Okay, well, I'll leave you two kids to enjoy the rest of your evening. I just wanted to make sure things were going well."
It's on the tip of my tongue to ask him why he cares, but inviting conversation with him is like walking a tightrope. A tightrope with piranhas circling a lake below, and I’m not about to step out on that line.
Almost like he wasn’t here to begin with, he disappears from the room. The second the door shuts behind him, I release all the air from my lungs. I break out of Drew’s hold and walk back to the table. I slump against it, bracing both my hands on it to steady myself.
I turn to face Drew. "I’m trying really hard not to react, but I really, really want to react. So please, tell me. Was this a setup? Did you willingly agree to play your father’s game or…?” When he opens his mouth to speak, all I can do is shake my head. “Drew, I’m trying, okay? I’m meeting you halfway, but I’m struggling because as long as your father has control over you, there will be no us. There can never be an us. How can there ever be? He’ll always be there pulling the strings."
Drew reaches for me, his arm wrapping around my waist like a band of steel, refusing to let me escape.
“As long as there's breath in my body and yours, there will always be an us.”
“No, there won’t. Your father will use me against you for the rest of our lives. I won’t be a willing or unwilling pawn to him.”
“You don’t have to be. Just…I can’t lose you.”
I tense and force myself to breathe. “Then talk. Tell me what happened.”
He slumps forward, his body loosening behind mine as if in defeat, and I hate it so much. I almost turn around to face him but talk myself out of it. He doesn't need or want my empathy.
"It's not something we can talk about here. Can I take you on a real date? Please? Somewhere that is us and where there’s none of this bullshit. If you want to go home afterward, then I'll take you without any argument."