Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 133655 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133655 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
“He works at the Hodge Clinic, dude,” Finn explains. “He just came because he’s been working a lot with Scottie.”
Blake nods.
Finn laughs. “You know you sound a lot like a jealous boyfriend right now, right? For a girl who won’t give you the time of day.”
Blake smiles, and I know the edges of the secrets it carries. For all intents and purposes, I’m guessing he is the jealous but secret boyfriend. Or at the very least, secret hookup. Fucking hard to imagine with Lexi, but I’d say by the caliber of his glare, the lake house wasn’t a one-time thing. “We must not allow other people’s limited perceptions to define us, Finnley,” Blake says. “There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.”
“The fuck did you just say?” I ask, trying to follow his philosophical bullshit and getting lost somewhere in the middle.
Blake shakes his head. “Never mind. I’m going in.”
“You’re going in? What does that mean?” I ask, scared for him. Lexi is going to eat his fucking shit for breakfast if he fucks up whatever little secret agreement they have by outing their relationship in the middle of Scottie’s party. “What is he doing?”
“I think he’s asking her out.”
“Oh fuck,” I manage with a laugh, trying to play up Blake’s innocence with Finn. “Why do I feel like he’s going to crash and burn?”
“Because he is,” Finn says with a laugh.
We both stand there, watching from a distance as Blake interrupts Lexi and Hodge Clinic Dude’s conversation. It feels a little like watching a car wreck as his hands gesticulate and his face gives 99 of his 100 secrets away.
Lexi’s face doesn’t give anything back, which isn’t a shock, but in the grand scheme, I’m guessing neutrality is the best of all scenarios. It lacks blood. And gore. And Blake’s carcass sprayed all over the place. We’re too far away to hear what either of them says, but when Blake turns back around and heads in our direction, he has a big-ass smile on his face.
Mentally, I pat him on the back. I guess, this time, his bravado actually got him somewhere. I’m impressed.
I glance at Julia, wondering again if I’d do better to take the same approach—if I should just finally tell her that I’ve realized I’m in love with her. Whatshisface is still away, and I’d have time to prove my seriousness without interruption if I hid her phone…
It’s a path a lot of people would’ve already taken, I know. And yeah, it has merit, but it’s also such a shake-up from the status quo, and my worst fears are tangled up in that route. What if she cuts me off completely? I mean, fuck, we’ve been steady best friends for nineteen fucking years, and then I’m just in love with her? If she doesn’t feel the same, she might not even want to hang out with me anymore.
“Holy shit, did she…?” I question, looking at Finn and wondering if we’re about to hear the news of a lifetime from the man himself. Blake Boden and Lexi Winslow, an official couple?
Finn just shakes his head. “I don’t know, man, but he looks thrilled.”
Blake comes to a stop in front of us, his whole body a picture of relief.
“So…?” I urge, watching and waiting as Boden casually slides his hands into his jeans pockets and rocks back on his heels.
“I obviously asked her to share our love with the world, and she very graciously said no.”
“What?” Finn blurts out on a snort while I suck in a huge breath of air at the unexpected honesty. “Get real. You got rejected.”
I wheeze, trying to find the strength to go along with Finn to protect Blake’s little secret a while longer. Funny thing is, I’m a man of secrets—my own and everyone else’s. It’s not an easy load to carry, but it’s been one of my roles for my entire life. I’m just a vault like that. “Why do you look so happy about that and, please, even more than that, why are you talking like a fucking poet tonight?”
Blake smiles. “Because it’s only a matter of time.”
I look down, just barely meeting Finn’s eyes as he gives me the get a load of this guy look. I know it, I respect it, I am it. But it’s not my shit to tell. Not this time.
“Mark my words,” Blake says confidently. “That girl will be mine.”
I imagine this is his way of telling us without telling us. Of plausible deniability when we find out eventually and freak out that he’s been keeping such a big secret from us all.
It’s a great plan—one I’d utilize myself, to be honest.
“Finn. Help me out here. Bring this man back down to earth.” I play my part, just as a dutiful friend is supposed to—just as Blake has been doing for me since the moment I flipped out in the club nearly two months ago and had an epiphany about Julia.