Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 89324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
She placed her hand on my cheek. Just when I’d closed my eyes to savor her touch, she moved away. “I’m gonna go get showered and change. What time should I meet you for dinner?”
I looked down at my phone. It was five PM. A little early for dinner, but I didn’t want to spend too much time away from her. The addiction was real. “Can you be ready in a half hour?”
“Early-bird special, huh? That’s age appropriate for you.” She winked.
“Actually, wiseass, we can meet for drinks before dinner.”
She raised her hands to make quotation marks. “Drinks.”
I felt bad for policing her life. “If you decide to use your fake ID tonight, I won’t stop you. But I didn’t see anything.”
“Ohhhh, letting loose, are we, Tate?”
“I didn’t say I condone it. I just said I won’t snitch on you.”
She chuckled and rolled her eyes. “How nice.”
I winked. “Go get changed, pain in my ass.”
***
When I got down to the restaurant, I snagged a table and messaged her through the hookup app that I’d be waiting for her.
Fifteen minutes later, and she still hadn’t shown up. But unfortunately, someone I recognized did.
Shit. Langley Munson.
Langley’s parents were friends with my mother and father. She and her family had frequented the resort over the years. Langley and I used to hook up when we were younger, but I hadn’t seen her in ages. My mother had told me she’d gotten divorced and was on the prowl again.
She’d already spotted me, so I couldn’t pretend I hadn’t seen her.
Langley approached my table. “Well, well, well. How long has it been?”
I cleared my throat. “Langley, good to see you.”
“Did you just arrive?” she asked.
“No. I’ve been here since last weekend. Leaving Saturday, actually.”
“Did you come here alone?”
While I hadn’t felt alone for a while, the only correct answer was, “I did.”
“Well, basically me too. I’m here with my parents. They’re around somewhere. I tried to lose them.” She laughed.
I looked over her shoulder to see if Doris-Delores had arrived. “How are your parents doing?”
“They’re great. They’re probably playing around in the casino right now. You know how old people like to gamble.”
“Right...” I craned my neck to see behind her.
She pulled up a chair and moved it uncomfortably close to mine. “Do you still come here a lot?” she asked.
“It’s been several years, actually.”
“How lucky to have run into you, then. This is our first time out this year.”
The look in her eyes told me Langley had some ideas for us. I needed to let her know that she shouldn’t get her hopes up. My last day here was already accounted for.
“Actually—” I began, but I barely got a word in.
“I mean, seriously!” she interrupted. “What are the chances? Here I was, thinking I’d be lonely on this trip.” Sooner than I could blink, she randomly moved in and kissed me on the cheek.
What the hell?
Before I could lean away and break the news to her that I wasn’t interested, I discovered Doris-Delores standing nearby. Her expression was sunken, melancholy. I’d never seen this girl sad until now. She must have witnessed Langley throwing herself at me.
My chest tightened. Before I could explain that this wasn’t what it looked like, she started walking away.
Without saying goodbye to Langley, I rushed after her.
I vaguely heard Langley behind me. “Where are you going?”
I didn’t bother turning around, instead focusing on nothing but the girl who had made my entire day earlier with her kind and reassuring words, only to be humiliated by this misunderstanding.
“DD, stop! That wasn’t what it looked like at all.” I grabbed her arm, but she turned and whipped it away from me.
“It doesn’t matter. Nothing is going to happen between us, so you might as well fuck a woman your own age before you go home,” she spewed.
“I’m not gonna be fucking her. She’s someone I knew when I was younger. She just happens to be here with her parents. I’d only run into her a couple of minutes before you showed up. Her kissing me on the cheek was unexpected and uncalled for. I have no interest in her whatsoever.” I wrapped my hands around her face and looked deeply into her eyes. “I promise you. That’s the truth.”
Her eyes glistened. “What’s the point of explaining? You don’t owe me anything. Soon you’ll never see me again. Why don’t you go wet your whistle and get it out of your system with this age-appropriate woman who clearly wants you?”
“Because you’re all I can think about,” I blurted.
I surprised myself with that admission, but it was the damn truth. After that fiasco, I owed this girl a hell of a lot more than a proper explanation.
Her breathing had quickened the moment I put my hands on her. Fuck. She was starving. And I’d been denying her. She’d been an amazing travel partner, putting in the time to get to know me, and I’d given her nothing. But perhaps most ridiculous was my attempt to convince myself that what I was about to do was for her benefit when I was the one dying.