Total pages in book: 230
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
“I know.” I stood up and walked over to her. “I just don’t want the paparazzi hounding you guys, and they will. The moment they find out about either of you, they won’t leave you alone.”
“They’d leave us alone if you’re honest about us. Besides, we take some photos, sell them to a magazine directly, let the story run its course and be done with it.” She shrugged.
“We agreed.” I paused. “You were the one who told me you didn’t want to be in the spotlight.”
“I don’t, but Ash is older now. I’m tired of playing dress-up every time we go out together. Or saying I’m your sister.” She shot me a look.
“That was one time.”
“One time too many, Ben.” She rolled her eyes and continued organizing things in the kitchen. “Are you scared she’ll like you less if you tell her?”
“No.”
“Are you scared she won’t like Ash?”
“No,” I said vehemently. “Who wouldn’t like him?”
“All I’m saying is, if you’re really serious about her, you’ll tell her. But then again, I thought you were serious about Sophia, and you never told her.”
“Sophia and I were never serious.”
“The media thought so.”
“The media is full of lies. You of all people should know that.”
“Does Pilar know about Kayla?”
“Yes.” It was something I hated to discuss with Tam, of all people. “Kayla approached her while we were in Ibiza and again the day of the accident.”
“Why was Kayla even in Ibiza? You invited her?”
“I had to.”
“I will never understand how someone so smart can do so many stupid things.” She rolled her eyes.
Thankfully, Asher ran back into the living room with some toys, and I busied myself playing with him. After bath time, I went back to my apartment, upstairs, away from the family I should be thrilled to have but had thrown away because of carelessness and selfishness. It was so the opposite of the version of myself I wanted Pilar to know, and I really wasn’t sure I wanted to tell her anything at all.
CHAPTER 21
Pilar
Whoever thought it would be a good idea to charge me with working with children was borderline insane. I was not cut out for this. Yet, here I was, cutting paper with a group of five-year-olds who barely knew how to wipe themselves. One of them was eating his boogers, the little blonde named Saddie—with an ie at the end—was sitting prim and proper, legs crossed and head held high as if she were the princess at this table. And the last one, Marcus, was stabbing at the paper so hard, I was sure he’d cut himself by the end of this little exercise, safety scissors or not.
“Remember to cut along the dots,” I said, my voice as chirpy as the forced smile on my face. “And please, Daniel, stop putting your hands in your mouth.”
It was the only thing I could say to not mention the fact that I’d been watching him eat his boogers for the last five minutes. I sighed. Why did people have children on purpose? I didn’t know. They were cute little rascals though, I’d give them that. And smart. Still. I couldn’t imagine having these little germ carriers around me all the time. It was probably why I had been assigned to do this to begin with. Likely my mother’s idea. She always said I needed to work on my maternal side because I had been born without an instinct. She wasn’t wrong. I’d never cared for dogs or cats or birds or any other kind of pet. When our family dog, Shaggy, died when I was twelve, I didn’t mourn for him the way the others did. Maybe I was broken. I bit my lip and chewed on that idea as I cut along the lines and folded the paper. We were making a row of hearts. Next, we had to color them. Saddie was already halfway there. I could tell she was a perfectionist, the way she made sure not to color outside the lines.
She was the girl I would have gotten along best with in school. I’d always liked everything to be neat and tidy in every aspect of my life. Until Ben. He made me want to give up all of those stupid pretenses. With him, I yearned to color outside the lines.
“Why are you blushing?” Saddie with the ie asked.
“Me? I’m not blushing.”
“You are.” She turned her nose up at me. “Are you thinking about Prince Charming?”
“Prince Charming?” I raised an eyebrow. “Definitely not.”
“I think about Prince Charming a lot,” she said. “You should too if you’re going to marry one.”
“I’m not certain I’ll marry a prince.”
“No?” she frowned. “But you’re a princess. That’s the best part.”
“Is it, now?” I laughed. “I wasn’t aware.”
“What’s the best part of being a princess?” Marcus sniffled, rubbing his nose with his hand. I watched where he put it next—on the scissors, of course.