Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22634 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 113(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22634 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 113(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
She blinks up at me, eyes dazed and soft. “Wow,” she breathes.
“Yeah,” I manage, still panting. “Double wow.”
“I didn’t know it would be like that,” she says, quiet, almost shy.
I cup her cheek, force her to look at me. “It’ll always be like that for us,” I promise.
She snuggles in closer, her body curled around mine like she was made to fit there. My heart is still racing, but for once, it’s not anxiety—it’s just pure, unfiltered joy.
“I love you,” I say, before I can stop myself. The words just slip out, naked and raw and terrifying. She goes still in my arms, startled.
I panic for a split second. But then she drops her chin onto my chest and stares into my eyes, “I love you, too. Even though it’s insane.”
I grin because I know exactly what she means.
We fall asleep tangled together in her too-small bed, my arms wrapped around her and her cheek pressed to my chest. In the dark, I listen to her breathing even out, then let myself drift. Life just doesn’t get any better than this.
CHAPTER NINE
HAZEL
By the time Tuesday rolls around, I’m both looking forward to Sushi Night at Nonnie’s and dreading it, for the simple reason that Preston is bringing Jude to dinner. And while I know, rationally, that meeting the best friend is a totally normal next step, it feels terrifying.
At five-fifty-seven, I’m in Nonnie’s kitchen, placing the tuna, salmon, and California rolls on a serving platter, when the buzzer rings. Nonnie winks at me over her glasses, like she knows exactly how nervous I am and is living for it, then strolls over to answer the door.
Preston walks in looking outrageously good in a black Henley and dark jeans, his hair artfully tousled, smile locked and loaded. Next to him stands a slightly shorter, wilder-haired man in a button-down shirt and faded jeans. This must be Jude. Preston already warned me that his best friend has the energy of a caffeinated golden retriever. I can’t help but laugh when he steps in to hug Nonnie like they’re old friends and introduces himself.
Jude pivots to face me, all restless energy and that reckless, easy grin, like the world’s full of old friends and I’m just another one waiting to happen. “You must be Hazel!” he says, exuberant enough to turn heads. “So nice to meet you.”
I give him a smile. “You as well,” I say, just as he moves in for a hug—But Preston’s faster.
One arm slides between us, an unspoken claim, his mouth quirking up at the corner. “Look but don’t touch,” Preston says, voice low and satisfied, not even pretending to look at Jude. “She’s taken.”
Jude laughs, holding up his hands in quick surrender. “Selfish jerk,” he fires back, full of swagger and zero heat. “Now I get why you’ve been useless in the office for a month.”
Preston just rolls his eyes, but Nonnie, never missing a beat, waves us all to the table. “We can chit-chat while we eat,” she says. “The sushi is getting warm, and no one wants that.”
We shuffle around the table, taking our places—Nonnie commanding her throne at the head, me sliding in beside her, Preston claiming the chair next to mine, his knee immediately finding mine under the tablecloth. Jude slides into the chair directly across from me.
Jude immediately launches into stories—mostly about college and how Preston used to get lost on his own campus because he refused to use maps. “He has a photographic memory for blueprints,” Jude says, pointing with his chopsticks, “but couldn’t find the student union for an entire semester.”
Preston rolls his eyes, but the corners of his mouth lift. “I knew where it was. I just didn’t want to go.”
Jude leans in, confiding in Nonnie, “Don’t believe him. And don’t ever let him do the navigating.”
Nonnie takes this as an opening and tells them the story of how we ended up taking a detour through Dallas when we should’ve been heading south to Houston. “It all worked out, though. We found this great outlet mall in Grapevine.”
“The Grapevine Mills?” Jude asks, and I can see my shopaholic grandmother is impressed.
“That’s the one.” She goes on to tell Jude all about the new jogging suit and sneakers she got for a steal.
Before you know it, she’s got the two men trading stories so fast I can barely keep up, but the whole time, Preston is still hyper-attuned to me. Every so often, his hand finds my thigh under the table, or he nudges my knee with his.
At one point, I catch Preston staring at my mouth. I lick a bit of stray wasabi off my thumb and feel my cheeks heat up. Preston’s smile gets soft, and then he turns back to Jude, but I can feel his hand squeezing my knee a little tighter.