Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
No.
She refused to let that happen.
Meg gave a tired smile. “Just stress about next semester.”
“Honey, you can’t start stressing about something that hasn’t even happened yet.” Cara propped a hand on her hip. She and Meg were roughly the same size, but her thinness was the result of model-good genetics and not of subsisting on ramen. She flipped her blond hair off one shoulder. “Do I need to stage another intervention and get you out of your head for a little bit?”
Considering it was Cara’s last intervention that got Meg in this mess with Theo—and Galen, even if he hadn’t showed yet—she wasn’t about to agree to another one. It had seemed so damn simple at the time, a welcome relief from her reality. Cara convinced her to go dancing for her twenty-third birthday. And then she’d met Theo’s gaze over a crowded dance floor and lost her damn mind. Meg forced a smile. “Thank you, but one wild night like that is enough to last me at least a couple years.”
“Gah, you’re twenty-three. Stop acting like you have one foot in the grave.” She angled her head sideways and frowned at the patrons filtering out of the bar. “It’s dead in here. Why don’t you take off? If you won’t let me talk you into going dancing, the least you can do is get some sleep. You look like shit.”
“Jeez, Cara, don’t hold back.”
“The bags under your eyes have their own bags.” Cara touched a gentle finger to the spot in question. She frowned. “Are you sure nothing’s really wrong? Because I’ve seen you stressed before, and it didn’t look like this.” She lowered her voice. “If you were in trouble, you’d tell me, wouldn’t you?”
“Cara—”
“Damn it, Meg, you aren’t alone. I know it feels that way, but you’re not. It’s okay to ask for help.”
A big guy ambled up to the bar and leered at Cara. “Hey, Blondie, how about a little extra sugar with my beer?” He licked his lips, as if the lecherous tone of voice wasn’t enough to get his innuendo across.
“Hey, Big Foot, how about you let the ladies talk?” Cara snapped. “I’ll bring you boys your next round shortly, but if you try to pinch my ass, I’m going to break your wrist.”
His brows lowered. “You can’t talk to me like that.”
“Weird. I just did.”
If Meg let this go on much longer, Cara would start another brawl, and then she wouldn’t be getting out of here until three. She hooked her friend’s arm and practically shoved her back into the kitchen. Meg couldn’t quite smile at the asshole huffing and puffing himself into a tizzy, but she managed a neutral expression. “What are you boys drinking?”
“That bitch can’t talk to me like that.”
She cocked her head to the side. “I’m sure you were just talking about actual sugar with your beer and not sexually harassing one of the bartenders here. Our manager doesn’t think too highly of that sort of thing, and he eighty-sixed the last guy who tried.”
That took the wind right out of his sails. He deflated a little. “It was just a misunderstanding.”
“Of course.” She waited a beat, and then another. “Your beer?”
“Bud.”
Naturally. The beer of the good ‘ole boys. Meg got to work filling new glasses of beer for them and then brought them out to the table. She managed to get out of there without anyone slapping her ass, which was just as well. In her current mood, she was liable to pull a Cara and start a brawl of her own. She poked her head into the kitchen and found Cara pacing. “It’s taken care of.”
“Appreciate it. Those kinds of assholes just get under my skin.” Cara gave herself a shake. “That’s neither here nor there. Get the hell out of here, Meg. Go sleep or drink or do something just for you. I absolutely forbid you to run anything related to numbers until tomorrow.”
That sounded great in theory, but there was one particular number floating around Meg’s head like her own personal demon. Two thousand dollars. That bastard just dropped two grand without even blinking, without even asking me if that was what I wanted. She untied her apron and fisted the fabric. Theo might have grown up playing god with the lives of the people in his country, but she hadn’t asked for his help.
She didn’t want his help.
And, damn it, she was going to tell him that to his face.
Meg clocked out and gave Cara a quick hug. “I don’t deserve you.”
“That’s bullshit. I am beautiful, but I am flawed.” She grinned. “By the way, that new rom-com is out this week. Want to grab snacky stuff and rent it next week on our day off?”
She opened her mouth to demure, but the truth was there wouldn’t be much time for their movie nights once school started back up again. The only time they’d see each other was when they were working, exchanging snippets of life updates and gossip on the go. “Yeah, that sounds nice.”