A Wild Ride (Jessica Brodie Diaries #3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

door to climb in, William said, "Wait, Jess. Um..." He looked at me with embarrassment.
    “A lady never says ‘um.’”
    William smiled, still looking uncomfortable. "So...being the ass that I am, I was thinking I would be a lonely loser about now."
    "Yeah, we still need to talk about that." I gave him a firm look, allowing no arguments.
     "Welllll, ah... you know how I like to spoil you, because, you know, I like to see you excited and you are so easily excited--"
    "—and because you can, uh huh?"
    "Right. Okay, well, I couldn't be outdone by Adam so I wanted to get you a little something else."
    "You got me plenty ! A new freaking car, William!”
    "Still. So I wanted to get you a little something else. And I was... worried that it was the last time I could make you happy..."
    "Okay, you are starting to sound ridiculous."
    "I'll explain someday--"
    "Today."
    "—but...well, I might have gone a little overboard."
    William’s normal gifts were overboard. I was nervous to see what he thought was too much. And a little excited.
    At his urging, I climbed into the driver’s seat. Immediately I saw sparkle taped to the ignition. It was two beautiful diamond earrings. I put them on immediately, only to spy a large box through the rear view mirror.
    It was a laptop! The latest and greatest! Even the box was light. High-tech!
    I turned to grab it but immediately got distracted by two handbags, both high-fashion. Each was filled with more presents.
    “William, what…’
    Gifts were everywhere. Jewelry boxes, lingerie, shoes—he even got me the romantic comedy I made him watch one rainy day. Among the treasure trove was a CD, homemade.
    Everything had a connection to me, my attitude, something we shared together, or something I had said. He had obviously latched onto all the memories he loved and bought gifts for them.
    I looked at him wide eyed for a second, not knowing what to say. He was looking back, love oozing around his obvious embarrassment. Way overboard. Unrealistically way overboard. Extremely touching, but too much. I wasn’t comfortable accepting this much money for any reason.
    “William--”
    “Don’t say anything,” he interrupted quickly, knowing what I was about to say. “I had hoped that you would go through each of the gifts and realize what you were losing. That you would remember all the things we had. I tend to get carried away when things don’t go my way...”
    “You are insane, do you know that?”
    “Yes,” he mumbled with a red face.
    “This is all going back, too, you know that, right?”
    “Half of it isn’t returnable. The other half...well, I won’t tell you what stores they’re from. I want you to remember the things I love about you; about us. I just wish I wasn’t such an idiot about the whole thing.”
    “In all fairness...you had really valid points. I would’ve been thinking the same thing. Difference is, I might’ve given you a flaming bag of dog poop instead of a collection of exquisite gifts, but you are a better person than I am. I accept that. But… not only lack of trust in me, but also in Adam? What gives?”
    William sighed. His clear blue eyes turned cloudy as they looked inward. “Let’s talk about this later. We have to get ready.”
    “I won’t forget.”
    “Oh. I know. Trust me. You’ll latch on this like a dog on a bone.” He walked back to his car, shaking his head.
    “As long as you remember that!” I yelled after him.
    By the time I reached his house, I’d listened to some of the mix and scanned over the rest. I was deeply affected by his choices. It was all songs from our most tender or memorable moments. Some were from before we were together, and I still remembered those dances or touches like they were yesterday. How different those small things looked from this side. How blind I had been for his deep regard for me. And how deep that regard!
     
    After we were showered and changed, and as we were in the car to pick up Lump, I went for