Series: Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 241
Estimated words: 236417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1182(@200wpm)___ 946(@250wpm)___ 788(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1182(@200wpm)___ 946(@250wpm)___ 788(@300wpm)
The charity Fight Night has a star-studded line-up of celebrities, professional fighters, and famous bodyguards trained in either MMA, boxing, or Muay Thai. Donnelly tried to sign up, but the Tri-Force shut him down and said if he wanted to fight, he’d have to pass another psych eval and a sleep study in order to be thrown in the ring.
Both security firms are looking out for Donnelly these days. It’s clear to me they treat him like an asset, but they also care about his well-being like family.
And he’ll want to be in Vegas to cheer on that family. Oscar, Quinn, and Joana are all fighting, along with Thatcher, Banks, Akara, O’Malley, Farrow, and others.
“You don’t wanna support Maximoff?” he asks, confused.
The charity Fight Night is run through H.M.C. Philanthropies. My brother is the CEO, so naturally he’ll be there. He’s on the card as a celebrity—but even though he’s fighting, it’s not the main event match.
Most of our family will be in attendance, including my parents, aunts, uncles. The only one who’s really vocalized staying at home is Xander.
“I think he’ll understand I’m prioritizing college.” I shrug. “He’ll have a lot of people rooting for him, and maybe it’s a good thing you’ll be in Vegas while I’m here. It’ll be a test run.” My face is roasting.
Realizations jump his brows. “A test run for when we’re—”
“Long distance. Uh-huh.” I nod a lot. Too much. Anxiety sucks. I gulp the pineapple-flavored energy drink.
Donnelly rubs my thighs in comfort. He won’t be able to do that anymore. “Been getting this strange feeling this isn’t about Vegas but another city.”
I flick the aluminum tab back and forth on the can. “New York.” A city that I’ve had no bad feelings towards is suddenly shadowed with Dark Side energy. Worst part: I’m projecting said negative energy, and that makes me want to fling myself on my bed and wallow like an un-flipped pancake. “What are the positives again?” I ask him.
“There are lots,” Donnelly says. “For one, Xander chose it. That’s a good thing.”
He was between Penn and Manhattan Valley University. My brother had been worried about an Ivy League course load, especially seeing how much I study, but when Easton asked Xander to be his roommate at MVU, the decision was easier for him.
He wanted to go to New York to do college with his best friend.
Guilt sets in because I still wish Xander chose Philly. Even if Donnelly and I urged Xander to not consider us in the decision. He’d been torn for a while because of us. Donnelly said he shouldn’t be my brother’s bodyguard if he’s willing to alter his life for him—that Xander has done it enough trying to give him more time with me.
And my brother—he needs Donnelly in his life. Donnelly’s a calming force. I know that because he’s calming me right now.
“What else?” I ask.
Donnelly steals the energy drink, taking a swig. “You’ll be killing it at Penn. Getting a shiny Ivy League degree.”
That’s been the plan. I’ve already signed up for a couple summer courses, and I’m considering a double major. Business and Marketing. Despite the Roach’s surly ways and the targeted course material on my family, I’ve loved learning about marketing strategies and the TV business.
“Anything else?” I wonder.
“New York is barely an hour away,” he reminds me.
“It’s more than an hour.” More like almost two hours.
“Barely.”
I try to nod.
“We can FaceTime,” he says. “Every morning, every night. It’s like I’ll be right next to you, space babe.”
“I’m just greedy for your presence, your touch. I think it’s always been that way.” I melt into his hand that slides across my cheek, and I ask, “How are you so okay with this?”
“‘Cause I know we’ll survive it. After everything…this is nothing, Luna.” His thumb strokes the glitter beneath my eye. “My little cynic. Back in action.” His grin coaxes a smile out of me. “She’s cute though. Extra sparkly.”
I smile more, but a weird feeling wrestles inside my stomach. We can survive anything together—I don’t doubt it. Not one bit. But a part of me is sad knowing this next chapter will be something we’re trying to endure.
Don’t think about it.
The better distraction is our love story spread on the bed, and I hop off the desk to help Donnelly lay out the rest of the pages.
“You sure you don’t need to prep?” He’s asking me about Fizzle.
I haven’t received the email from Uncle Stokes about the Fizzle Gala yet, so I’m not sure how I fared. I could tell Gunther and Chett found me awkward, even though I had a decent time chatting with a shareholder about my grandfather. I liked hearing more about him from a new perspective. It filled in more pieces of who he was, and from what I gathered, he was very much cherished by his employees and his colleagues as a kind-hearted, benevolent man.