Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 86367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
“You’ve been looking at the picture for over five minutes now,” Christopher observes. “Should I leave the two of you alone for a second when we get to the house?”
“Isn’t she fucking gorgeous?” I turn the phone toward him, ignoring what he just said.
“Um,” he says, “if I say yes, you’ll punch me. If I say no, you’ll punch me. So I’m not answering that.”
“Fair enough.” I laugh. “Also, if I see you even looking at her…”
“You think I need you on my ass?” He points at me. “And what’s even funnier”—he laughs—“you think Romeo isn’t going to kick your ass?” He shakes his head. “Better yet, you think she is going to want to date you?”
I think about the way she looked when I kissed her. “I think I can be very persuasive.”
“Remember, no means no.” He tilts his head to the side as we pull up to the house, but we’re stopped by security.
“Um, guys,” the driver says, “they aren’t letting me in. They say you need a password.”
“A password?” Christopher says. “I’m the brother of the bride.”
“I don’t think that’s a password,” I mumble to him as two guys dressed in black stand on both sides of the car.
The driver talks to one of the security guards, who just shakes his head. I take my phone, calling Uncle Matthew, who answers after one ring. “Let me guess.” I can hear him laughing. “You didn’t read the invitation, so you don’t know the password.”
“One,” I begin, “what invitation? I was told to be here at this time, and two, no.” I look over at Christopher. “Did you get an invitation?”
“Since when does our family dish out invitations?” he says.
“It’s Stone,” Uncle Matthew shares, “and before you think it’s for you, it’s not.”
“Stone,” I tell the driver, who tells security. He nods his head and presses a button to have the black gate open.
“Have I mentioned I’m not a fan of Hollywood?” I say to Christopher.
“If you’re going to marry Ryleigh, get used to it,” he jokes, getting out of the car as soon as we stop.
“Let’s not go that far.” I side-eye him. “I have to get her to date me first, don’t you think?” I get out of the car, expecting the same commotion as every family event we’ve attended, but instead, it’s calm. “Are we at the right address?” I ask, looking around and not seeing one person I know here.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Christopher replies as we walk in the front door. The spiral staircase hits you right away, along with the chandelier. The banister has what seems like a million flowers around it.
Two servers hold silver trays with glasses of champagne. “Sir,” the one on my side offers, but I hold my hand up at him. I might have a beer here and there during the season, but I stay pretty clean. “Thank you.”
“It’s bad luck not to drink champagne at a wedding.” I look to the side, seeing my mother standing with the woman of my dreams. She smirks at me before she sips the champagne from the glass in her hand.
“Is that really a fact?” Christopher asks, kissing my mother on her cheek, then turning to Ryleigh. My hands fist at my sides as I wait to see what he’s going to do. He smirks at me, and I know he’s going to lean in and kiss her, but instead, he just nods. “Congratulations on the big day.”
“I would say thank you,” she replies, “but it has nothing to do with me and everything to do with Romeo and my dad.” You can see her eyes light up with pride as she says it. “I’m just happy she said yes or else this would have been an awkward reception.”
“In our family,” I say, kissing my mother’s cheek, “once you live with a man, you’ve already said yes.” I turn to her, and unlike Christopher, I reach out and put my hand on her waist. I can see her eyes go big as I lean down and kiss her cheek. The almost silent gasp makes me smile even more. I’ve got to keep her on her toes. “It would just take a bit of convincing.” I move my hand from her waist, sliding it softly down to her ass, wanting to cup one of her cheeks in my hand.
“Or,” Christopher adds, trying not to laugh, “he’d just drag her there.”
“Would you two stop it?” My mother shakes her head. “You’re scaring Ryleigh.”
“Something tells me that she doesn’t scare easy,” Christopher mumbles. “Now, I’m off to find my parents and then the groom so I can, you know, give him the big talk.”
“What big talk?” my mother asks him.
“The ‘don’t fuck with my sister or I’ll break your face,’” Christopher deadpans, “and I’ll bring Uncle Max with me since he’s a monster.”