Total pages in book: 173
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
Why gamble my chance to get out of my hellish life on a couple of wild cards, when all I had to do was be patient, spend these final days with Omma, and then quietly leave after the funeral?
No, I thought, picking up the pace. It’s just not worth it. Let them think I’m Sue, because this way, we both get what we want. I get a new life, and they get a life free of Sue.
Rhodes ran a few yards out in front of me. Sprinting the cracked and overgrown stone path, he headed straight for the forest—escaping into the trees.
I followed after him. Not to be a nuisance, but because his path was my path. Back in high school, I ran our manmade forest trail night and day. There was something about running that made you feel like you were moving forward, even if you always ended up in the same place.
Catching up to Rhodes, I ran out in front of him, fell back on his right side, crossed to the other, and ran out in front of him again.
Okay, now I was being a nuisance.
Three more times of that, he snapped, “What the hell are you doing!”
“What I’m doing is literally running circles around you,” I called as I shot around him again. “Is this what became of the great rugby captain of Titan Prep? Fourteen years later, he’s beaten in a race by a flat-ass girl.”
“Nothing flat about your ass, girl—” Rhodes clamped his jaw shut, growling like he couldn’t believe he aimed any kind of suggestive, flirty comment in my direction. “We’re not in a race,” he barked. “I’m warming up and you’re getting in the fucking way.
“Run in the opposite direction, Sue. I don’t have time for your—”
A huge, lumbering black mass tumbled out in front of us. “Gaargh!”
We pulled up so fast we collided with each other, limbs tangling, and faces smashing into hard, damp chests—nearly bringing us both down before the bear.
“Holy fuck! Holy fucking fuck!” Rhodes bellowed, ripping another grunt out of the bear. He grabbed my arm—running and trying to take me with him.
“Rhodes, no!” Untangling myself from him, I spun to face the animal—throwing my legs out and arms high.
I didn’t know much about black bears or how big they should or could be, but I did know the hefty fellow in front of me could bat my car aside like a gnat... so what could he do to me?
A thick, black coat did nothing to disguise his girth, or the lethal claws sinking into the hardened, packed earth. Dark, beady eyes beheld us—fixing all his attention on the new creatures in his path. All of a sudden, wherever he was going, he didn’t need to get there as quickly anymore.
“Don’t scream,” I hissed through gritted teeth—desperately trying to obey the command myself. “Don’t run. Don’t act like prey, or he’ll treat us like prey. Just do what I do—”
The bear rose on his hindlegs, shotgunning my heart into my throat and making Rhodes break the first rule. I shook—my throat-heart thudding so hard it made every word out of my mouth vibrate.
“Hello, Mr. Bear,” I said in as calm a voice as I could muster. “We’re very sorry we disturbed you on your morning stroll.” I waved my arms above my head as slowly as I crab-walked sideways.
I swear the bear cocked his head like he was wondering what the hell this strange human was doing.
“We’re no threat or harm to you,” I rasped. “We—uh—we love bears. Black bears most of all. Clearly, you’re the best of all bears. The polar dicks can go fuck themselves.”
He woofed, snapping a growl that loosened my bladder.
“No, no, no, I really mean it,” I said quickly. “You’re much prettier and more elegant than those bleached bastards. That’s why you’re the state animal of four states”—tears leaked out of my eyes when the bear stepped closer, sniffing the air—“and the polar bear is the state animal of nothing—”
“Sue, what in the bleeding, bloody, fucking hell are you babbling about!” A waving hand caught mine, lacing our fingers together.
The shock of his touch reverberated through my bones harder than the thud of the bear dropping down on all fours.
“Stay with me,” he hissed. “We need to back away—”
“Garrgh!” Roaring, the bear charged.
“Sue!”
The world tumbled in a whirlwind of greens, browns, and fur. Rhodes pulled me behind him, snapping his arms back and around me to ensure I couldn’t escape from my human shield. Bending forward, he roared—bellowing so hard at the charging bear my neck hairs stood on end.
Ears snapping back, the bear whipped around at the last possible second and bounded off into the woods.
We stood there gaping after it for so long, my stiff and aching legs gave out from under me.