Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 178117 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 891(@200wpm)___ 712(@250wpm)___ 594(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 178117 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 891(@200wpm)___ 712(@250wpm)___ 594(@300wpm)
I gulp. “Did you tell them—”
“That he jumped off the ledge? Yeah. That he tried to kill my friends and me? No.”
Some of the tension in my body immediately dissipates.
“I didn’t want to make the pain any worse,” he adds. “So I just told her … we watched him jump.” He adds a loud sigh. “Mom will be okay. It’ll take her a while to get over him, but … I know her. She can do it.”
He caresses my face and smiles gently. “You make everything better.”
“Hey,” Alistair grumbles.
“And you too,” Dylan says, and he extends a hand. “Come here.”
Alistair joins in on the hug, and Dylan adds, “Thanks for being there for me.”
He kisses Alistair first, and watching them makes my heart flutter. But then he turns to me and kisses me full on the lips too, and that just made my pussy flutter as well.
“Well, aren’t you three getting cozy,” a familiar voice calls out.
My lips unlatch to smile at Lana as she playfully slaps her brother on the arm. “Don’t you need to join in on the action?” She winks at him. “You know, the more the merrier?”
“I don’t do men,” Felix retorts with a stoic face.
“You don’t?” she jests, curling the red ribbon that’s in her hair around her finger. “Aw … but you’d make such a good boyfriend.”
She presses her fingers to her lips and throws Felix a kiss right before she sidesteps to avoid his rage.
“Hope you trained your glutes,” Felix growls at her.
“Oh boy,” Dylan mutters.
“Why? What’s he talking about?” I ask Dylan, who begins to grin wickedly when he looks at them.
Lana’s eyes glimmer.
“Because when I fucking catch up with you,” Felix starts, and Lana bolts off, “your ass is gonna be mine to whoop!”
They run off, and Alistair and Dylan laugh.
“That’s gonna hurt,” Alistair says.
“Him falling to the ground, yeah,” Dylan replies. “She’s much faster than him.”
“Really?” I ask.
“Oh yeah,” Dylan says. “They do this a lot, and he rarely wins. But it keeps him humble.”
“Felix Rivera? Humble?” I snort.
“She matches his energy,” Alistair says as we follow them back to the Skull & Serpent Society house.
Their chase ends at the steps she beats him to, and she throws him a wicked look before she heads inside.
“Bitch,” Felix grumbles.
Alistair laughs behind his hand.
“You love her, though,” Dylan says.
Felix glances at him over his shoulder, butt hurt he can’t catch up with her in time. “Shut up.”
I laugh. “You two are funny to watch.”
Felix rolls his eyes and tucks his hands into his pocket, pretending not to care. “Whatever.”
We head into the building, where some of the guys have already started fixing up the shattered windows with cardboard and tape.
“Nice job, guys,” Dylan says, patting one of his friends on the back. “Let’s get to work.”
The cardboard isn’t permanent, but it’s a good temporary fix while we get ahold of a glazier. I’m glad my father’s willing to help out. The place looks beaten up, with chips and pieces of the walls coming off and broken-down furniture scattered all around.
“Well, this is gonna be one hell of a cleanup,” Dylan says, folding his arms.
“Yeah, good luck with that,” Lana says as she marches up the stairs. “I’m gonna go find Jason.”
“Lana,” Felix warns, but all she does is stick a middle finger up at him.
And it makes me laugh. Good for her.
“I’m gonna go put Nessie in her spare cage. Be right back,” Dylan says, and he retreats into the kitchen.
“Grab a broom,” Alistair says to Felix. “Let’s clean up the place.”
“Fuck no,” Felix says as he grabs my hand and drags me up the stairs. “We’ve got some unfinished business.”
“What are you talking about?” Ali asks as he follows us upstairs.
“Hey!” Dylan calls from downstairs, carrying Nessie around. “Where are you going?”
But I can’t even respond as I’m being dragged around.
Dylan quickly follows suit.
Felix heads into his bedroom and locks the door when everyone’s inside. The floor is still covered in shards of glass, and he grabs a broom and stuffs it into Ali’s hand. “Wanna sweep? Have at it.”
Okay, I guess we’re gonna do this right now.
Ali swiftly brushes most of the glass to a single corner while I grab some of the filling that’s burst out of the expensive seat and stuff it back inside.
“What are you doing?” Felix asks me with a raspy voice.
“Helping,” I reply.
“No,” he says, the look in his eyes deadly. “Don’t help. Don’t do anything at all. Just sit.”
What, why?
I frown but still sit down anyway. “Oh…kay.”
Felix meticulously starts to clean up his room until most of the debris is gone, and Dylan finally starts to help him too, even though I can tell he’s really not feeling it. When they’re done, it’s almost as if a giant weight rolls off Felix’s shoulders.
He sighs out loud. “It’s not enough.”