The Problem with Perfect: A Fake Dating, Age Gap, Small Town Romance (Cedar Point Book 3) by Jillian Liota

Author:Jillian Liota [Liota, Jillian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Love Is A Verb Books
Published: 2023-08-20T16:00:00+00:00

chapter sixteen

Rusty

I stretch out on the sand, catching my breath and enjoying the feel of the sun as it heats my body.

I swim several times a week, so the short distance from the boat to the shore wasn’t anything that tired me. The reason I’m trying to slow my breathing is because of how it feels to be around Bellamy, and the fact that she has this undeniable way of leaving me breathless.

God, I can’t believe I’m even admitting that to myself, but I almost kissed her again. I need to stop doing that. I need to remember what’s at stake here: my closest friendship.

There isn’t a bone in my body that could imagine a world where I’d betray the one man who stood beside me when my universe fell apart. When my parents died, it was just me against the world. Sure, I had Abby, but I had to be her support.

Boyd was mine, and through it all, he was there for me, listening to me cry or bitch or just sitting in silence with me as I fumed about how unfair it all was. Not only was he my greatest support emotionally, he was also one financially by investing in Cedar Cider when I was scrambling for a way to make our lives in Cedar Point stick.

I didn’t have many options. I know almost nothing about cars, so keeping dad’s shop was out, and I sold that off to liquidate so Abby and I could keep the house, which—by the time we got it all figured out—was months behind in mortgage payments. There were death taxes and my college debt, and I knew I’d need to come up with something if Abby wanted to go to college.

When I began fucking around with making my own beer and it tasted damn good, it felt like a possible saving grace, but it never would have gotten off the ground without Boyd. I approached both banks in Cedar Point, and neither would give me a loan. I even drove down the mountain to see if I could find some other way to make it work but ended up scrapping that for fear of ending up with a loan shark who would take our house or something. It was a mess.

Then Boyd said he wanted to buy in, said he believed in the product—believed in me.

I nearly cried when he said it.

So when I say Cedar Cider wouldn’t exist without him, I mean exactly that, and that’s why I can’t forget about my friendship with him, no matter how intoxicating each new moment is that I spend with Bellamy.

Damn if I don’t feel lit up by her on the inside in a way I can’t remember ever feeling before.

And I mean ever.

I’m not saying this is the best I’ve felt since Hailey. I’m saying this is the best I’ve felt, period. Hard stop.

She makes me feel light inside, like the world isn’t this heavy dark place that’s hard to manage and hard to face on my own.

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