Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
He walked over and stood between my legs, which I wrapped around him. Law grabbed my face and held it so I looked at him. “I want you. It’s annoying as shit sometimes. You’re a bit of a handful.” He winked, then sobered. “I’ve always wanted you. Don’t you know that by now?”
“I love you.” I pressed my lips to his, and Law’s hands moved down to my waist. He held me, his strong fingers pressing into me as though if he let go, I would disappear. I slipped my tongue into his mouth and tasted the mint on his breath. He growled into the kiss, and I felt it vibrate in my chest.
We pressed our foreheads together.
He smiled.
I smiled.
He kissed me.
I kissed him.
“We’re ridiculous,” Law said. “Like, we’re in one of those romantic books or movies I would roll my eyes at and say weren’t realistic, but I feel it, so I know it’s real.”
“People often think something isn’t realistic if they haven’t experienced it themselves. So I guess we’re not total assholes.” Because I understood what he was saying. I could understand feeling the same.
“I love you too,” Law said just as my cell phone rang again.
He chuckled. “You talk. I’ll cook.”
This time when I looked at the screen, my heart dropped. It was Leslie, and that could mean a hundred different things. She could simply be calling, not giving a shit it was early, or she needed my help, or something was wrong. “Hey, what’s up? Is Mom okay?”
“Yeah, she’s okay. Fuck, I need your help. I wrecked my car, and I need some money for a new one.”
“What about insurance?”
“Don’t be mad…”
I dropped my head back and looked at the ceiling. “I give you plenty of money. How could you let your insurance lapse?”
“I hate it when you do this! We can’t all be as perfect as you, Remy! We aren’t all Mom’s special fucking child! I have shit I deal with you wouldn’t ever understand, and I’m trying.”
“And I don’t have shit I’m dealing with?”
I didn’t have to see her to know she rolled her eyes. “Millionaire problems? Worries from the guy who had all his fucking dreams come true? Poor Remy.”
She would never understand me, even if I told her. She didn’t take into consideration that we made different choices, didn’t think about how hard I’ve worked, and would never acknowledge things I’d lost. To her, I was the perfect brother. The one who had it all. “Were you drinking and driving?”
“Because of fucking course you have to think the worst of me. Never mind, I’ll figure it out on my own.”
“Wait,” I rushed out before she hung up, guilt twisting a tornado inside me.
“I wasn’t drinking and driving. I promise. You can see the police report. I’m trying to be better. I know it doesn’t seem like it to you, but I am, and everything always goes wrong.” She began to cry, making the tornado go faster.
“I’ll transfer some money into your account,” I told her, which made her cry harder.
“Thank you. I’m sorry I’m such a fuckup.”
“You’re not a fuckup, Leslie.” I made sure to keep my eyes off Law, not wanting to know how he was looking at me. “What else is going on?” We spoke for a few minutes, while Law finished cooking. When we hung up, he was putting our food on the table.
“She do that a lot?” he asked as we sat down.
“Yeah. I don’t know why she’s never been able to keep it together.”
“It’s not fair to you to always have to bail her out.”
Anger started in my gut and shot through me. “She’s my sister!” I snapped. “Fuck. Sorry. I don’t want to fight with you.”
“I don’t want to fight with you either. I know it’s not my business. But I worry about you. How are you supposed to take care of everyone? It’s not even just the money; they all come to you when they need something. You can’t be everyone’s savior, Rem. What about you?”
“I know.” It wasn’t anything I didn’t tell myself all the time. That didn’t change the fact that they were my family. It was one of the things about Law—with him I knew it was me he wanted. He gave me comfort instead of taking from me. “Thank you again for yesterday. It was…perfect. I like your friends. For the first time in a long time, maybe forever, I felt…normal.”
He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You’re normal, and I hate to break it to you, but you’re stuck with them now. They’re your friends too.”
Somehow, I knew he was right.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Lawson
I couldn’t stop listening to “Hotel Nights.” I played it in my car when I wasn’t with Remy, and listened to him tell the story about us. There was nothing like that feeling. It was dampened only by the fact that I knew he’d written it strategically, so he didn’t have to use he/him pronouns.