Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 67432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
“Come, come,” Tia said with a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s give you that tour.”
The rest of their house was just as well designed and homey as the living room. Tia’s home office was probably my favorite room, all exposed wood and bold colors with a porthole window that looked out to their tree-lined yard. There was a built-in bookshelf that was filled from floor to ceiling with books, their spines facing out and color coordinated so that it looked like a rainbow was dripping down the wall. The wall opposite that was covered in dreamy and surreal landscape paintings done by Jess, who was a master when it came to watercolors.
Just as we were wrapping the tour, a knock on the door signaled the arrival of another book club member. Tia went to open the door. I expected Yvette, who was normally punctual, but was surprised instead to see a smiling Colton standing there, holding a round metallic tin.
“Hi there, you must be Colton. I’m Tia.”
After hugs and introductions were exchanged, Colton stepped inside and handed the tin over to Tia. “I heard you guys just moved in here; Eric was telling me yesterday about it. I baked you some home-warming brownies. They’re cut in the shape of a little house.”
Tia and Jess both awwed at the same time.
I didn’t know Colton liked to bake. That had never come up when we were together. Was it something new he liked to do? What else about him had changed since our time together? I didn’t like to think of him as a completely new person, but six years was a lot of space for someone to change, to evolve.
“You really didn’t have to,” Tia said.
“But she’s glad you did,” I said with a wink.
It didn’t take long for the rest of the crew to show up. Noah and Jake were all giggly after having gone on a date night to a drag dinner that was set up as a murder-mystery event, while Yvette was happy because there appeared to be a new guy in her life. Overall, everyone in my little family of friends was doing good, and that was all I could ever really ask for. We’d been through some serious shit lately, so seeing us all thriving and together, reading books and talking shit, made my heart happy.
Something else that made me happy? Seeing Colton mixed into the group of smiling faces. We all sat in a loose circle in the living room, Colton perched with his legs crossed underneath him on a bench, both hands around his ankles, and the most innocent fucking grin on his face. He wore a bright blue shirt that made his eyes glow like they were royal jewels on display at some heavily guarded museum. In his lap was a copy of the book we were reading, A Family Affair written in bold text across the image of a suburban house, the shadow behind it depicting two people that could either have been making love or trying to murder each other.
It was a good book that started off with a bang: the discovery of a dead body during what was supposed to be a family reunion, except the identity of the body isn’t revealed, and the next chapter goes back in time to when the party first started.
“I don’t know,” Tia said, batting at Noah’s suggestion that the dead body was going to be someone from the family. “I think it makes more sense for the family to have murdered someone. They’re a big Italian family who stick together through thick and thin. We see that in the third chapter when Enzo represents his own brother in court and gets him off free of charge from a drunken hit-and-run. After Enzo possibly interfered with the evidence. This family seems to want to cover each other’s backs no matter the cost.”
“I agree,” Colton said, setting one foot down on the ground and looking around at the group. His leg bounced, drawing my attention to the way his shorts climbed up his thigh, giving me a good glance of thick muscle dusted in light blond hair. “Plus, there’s that moment in the beginning where the grandmother turns to everyone and says, ‘Well, what the hell are we going to do about this now?’ It gives me the vibe that they’re all in on it. If the body was one of their own, I think she would have been much more freaked-out.”
“Except the grandmother hates Emilio, the outcast brother, who isn’t seen in the intro.” It was my turn to point out something I noticed. “We see him a couple chapters later being an absolute mess. Even Enzo, who put himself and his career on the line for him, says he’s nearly had enough of his little brother.”