Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Last night, I helped Forge with the bookie thing he and Oz do. Oz was gone for the night, and Forge needed an extra set of eyes on things. It was a lot of fun. Other than having to learn the lingo, I think I was good at it. I understood what was happening in the game and on the spread. You forcing basketball on me all those years came in handy. If I can use my knowledge with numbers and balancing to help them, it will make me feel much better about all they are doing for me. I know it is because of you, but I still don’t want to be a burden to them.
Oh, one more thing: I have seen your cousin naked. Forge. Not Oz or Kash. It was … impressive.
With love,
Elsie
I was smiling when I finished it. I wished I could see his face when he read that last line. Folding the note, I tucked it into the envelope and left it on the desk until I went back downstairs.
Breakfast had been lively with Hawkins back. He showed me his new toys he’d gotten on his trip and a picture of him sitting on the horse that had won. Winslet and Noa gave Halo a full recap of the party to celebrate Winslet’s pregnancy. But Forge didn’t show up, and I found myself disappointed by that. Oz came in to get something to eat and complimented my work last night. He’d said he hoped I’d do it again. Which meant he’d talked to Forge this morning, so he wasn’t still in bed. The niggling feeling that he was avoiding me was bothering me.
I hadn’t flirted or done anything to make him feel as if he needed to avoid me, had I? He’d laughed at my comment about his monster penis. Maybe he’d changed his mind and was offended now? I was overthinking this. Just because he hadn’t come to breakfast didn’t mean it had anything to do with me. He probably hadn’t thought anything more about me or last night.
The sound of a rapping on the door had me spinning around to look at it before going over to see who it was this time.
My heart rate sped up as I reached it. Thinking it might be Forge. He had mentioned the basketball games today and asked if I wanted to help. Maybe it was him?
When I opened it, the instant smile that lit my face at the sight of Forge vanished just as fast. He wasn’t smiling. In fact, he looked like he would rather be anywhere else. Had I made a mistake last night on his spread? My stomach sank, and I waited for him to say something.
“Hey, you busy?” he asked, his eyes flicking past me to inside my room, then back again.
I shook my head.
“I, uh … you want to go for a walk? Get out of the house?”
Why did this sound like a breakup? We were barely friends.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
He shrugged. “No. I just thought you might like some fresh air. It’s warm today. Spring is trying to show up. Sun’s out.”
Although I still felt as if something was off with him, I nodded. “Sure.” Going outside sounded wonderful. I needed a change of scenery.
“We kicked the heat on in the pool. Should be good to swim in by tomorrow,” he told me.
I opened my mouth to say I didn’t have a bathing suit, but there were two in my closet with tags still on them. Winslet had put them there when she brought me clothes. I’d not thought I would be using those, but swimming would be nice. Especially if the view was going to be a shirtless Forge, then I was interested.
“Let me get some shoes on,” I told him before going to the closet and picking out a pair of silver Adidas shoes, which had also been new when left in my closet. I happened to love them. Whoever had picked them out had good taste.
Slipping my feet in, I bent over to tie them, then turned to walk back out to go with Forge. He was leaning against the doorframe, looking at his phone.
He glanced up at me, and the smile on his face appeared forced. “Ready?”
I was starting to wish I hadn’t opened the door.
“You sure that everything’s okay?” I asked again, hesitant to go with him.
“I swear. Sorry, I’ve just been dealing with some work stuff. Sometimes, life gets”—he paused—“dark.”
I wanted to ask if he meant dark, as in cut people’s fingers off, but I didn’t. Although that might get a laugh out of him. He was tense about something. I didn’t know him well enough to read his moods. He might have gotten bad news about his mom.
He stepped into the hallway, and I followed him, then closed the door behind me.