Total pages in book: 176
Estimated words: 167257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 558(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 558(@300wpm)
“I’m not discussing my sex life with you.”
Ky seemed to think that was especially funny, swerving and nearly losing control of the car as he laughed like a hyena at my expense.
Christian turned in his seat to peer at me through sad yet sympathetic eyes. “Atlas, isn’t it?” I forced myself to nod. “It’s all over the city,” he confessed warily. At my confused look, he added, “Rowdy put the word out on you. Your property of the Kings.”
“His, to be specific,” Ky added gleefully.
“We probably signed our own death warrant just for giving you a ride,” Christian mumbled. He turned around and mercifully left me to process this news.
Rowdy, who couldn’t even define who we were to each other, had apparently told everyone I was his while leaving me in the dark as to where I stood with him.
Fuck…that.
If there was one thing I’d learned after my father died, it was that I was alone in the world. And now Rowdy knew it too. I’d bared my soul to him, and he’d decided to use the knowledge to take advantage. He wanted to keep me all to myself while letting me dangle hopelessly with nothing to catch me when I eventually fell.
I couldn’t decide which truth hurt more.
“I see you made it one piece.” Ruen was waiting for me when I walked through her front door.
Britain had taken one look at me and then Ruen before swearing and storming out the door, wearing a fierce scowl. A little mesmerized, I watched him eat up the distance to Ky’s car before climbing inside. They wasted no time taking off. I guess they wanted to get out of dodge before Rowdy figured out where I was, and shit hit the fan.
Their truce with the Kings was tentative, and Ruen and I were threatening it with our friendship.
“Yeah, no thanks to you.” I sat my purse on the kitchen counter full of baked goods and smiled softly at Remedy, who had just pulled a fresh batch of scones from the oven. “Hey, Rem,” I fumbled to sign.
Ruen had given me a crash course on sign language, and so far, I knew how to say “hi,” “bye,” and “this tastes amazing.” Remedy was an amazing cook and loved baking even more, so the last one had been crucial to winning brownie points with the cloistered beauty.
Remedy set the tray of cookies down and began a long string of hand gestures that I couldn’t follow after hello.
“She asked if you like snickerdoodle,” Ruen supplied after I threw a helpless look her way.
“Does Nick Cannon own a condom?” I wrinkled my nose at the perfectly round and yummy-looking cookies. It was too bad I hated the taste of cinnamon.
Ruen shrugged and reached for one. “More for me.” Remedy slapped her sister’s hand away before signing something that had Ruen huffing. “Who cares if they haven’t cooled yet? They’re going to break apart in my mouth anyway, Rem.”
Remedy answered with a withering look before transferring the cookies to the cooling rack. She then moved over to the cupcakes that had already cooled and picked up the piping bag filled with green frosting.
“What is all of this for anyway?” I asked, surveying all the delicious treats covering almost every inch of the counter’s surface.
“Oh, this?” Ruen waved a dismissive hand. “This is nothing. You should see our kitchen after Rem gets inspired and tries out a new recipe. She’ll spend all day and hundreds of dollars perfecting it, or she’ll get it right after a couple of batches and then bake whatever comes to mind until she scratches that itch.”
“Oh.”
Ruen took advantage of her sister’s distraction and snatched a snickerdoodle from the cooling rack. “Fuck, that’s hot,” she complained, bouncing the cookie from one hand to the other until her skin adjusted to the high temperature. She wasted no time stuffing her face before chewing happily.
I caught Rem rolling her eyes at her twin, all the while keeping her focus on the complicated-looking flower she was placing on her fifth cupcake.
“Want to go up to my room?” Ruen eventually asked around a mouth full.
“Sure.”
I started to rise which caught Remedy’s attention. She promptly abandoned the frosting to sign something to her sister.
“Relax. We’re not those kinds of friends,” Ruen responded. Oh, boy. I guess I was the cause of the worry lines now marring Remedy’s youthful appearance. Ruen’s gaze shifted to me, and I didn’t like the challenge I saw there. “Right, At-las?” She’d said my name slow and teasingly. “You’re not into girls, are you?”
“Right,” I confirmed. It felt not entirely like a lie.
Ruen Quintana had somehow made it seem less simple than preferring one sex to another. She was just too magnetic to stay away from.
“See?” Ruen shifted her focus back to her sister. “Nothing to worry about. She’s safe all alone with me.” Ruen left the kitchen and headed upstairs. I took one step to follow and stopped to look back at her sister, who was shaking her head.