Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 76082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
She looks up, and her eyes are full of tears. "That's terrible."
I try to shrug it off. I buried that fucking trauma years ago. At least I thought so, but when she looks up at me like that, it's hard to not still feel the cold slickness of blood drying on my skin in the alley that night. "It's why Badass is so fucking protective. I don't think he ever got over not being there when they came. He blames himself, you know? But fuck, sometimes shit just happens. Maybe if I’d let him train me, or fought back when they showed up—”
"No. No." She looks up, her expression tight and her fine brows knit in a deep frown. "You were seventeen. They knew what they were doing. If you’d resisted, they might’ve just killed you! The blame is on them, not you guys. You were doing the best you could. Both of you.”
I kiss her square on the forehead. "Listen to your own advice. You did the best you could when you had to fucking take over for your parents. I know you’re worried about Sandra, and I get it, but you gotta stop feeling like every single fucking thing that goes wrong is on you. We’re all just doing the best we can.”
“What if it isn’t good enough?”
I don’t have a fucking answer for that.
24
SANDRA
This is bullshit. So much for the Eagles being good on their word. Eric "if that's your real name" biker dude was supposed to have her keep in touch with me, and like the idiot I am, I freaking believed him.
I don't expect Nat to call me with constant updates, but she's obviously involved in something that she doesn't want me to know about, and I don't know how I'm supposed to try to ignore that little tingle in my gut that says something’s wrong.
I toss my math book back onto the table. It was never my best subject, even before I dropped out, but I'm not exactly finding it any easier knowing that my big sister is in trouble. After several years away from school, it's weird to be dealing with homework again, but I can’t do shit without my GED.
I pick up the book one more time, but I can't concentrate.
Argh!
Does she really think I'm so mad at her that I won't pick up if she calls? And that I won't worry about her like she always has about me? Talk about getting my own behavior smacked back in my face.
If her phone survived, a few days should be enough for it to dry out, right? Aren't phones mostly waterproof these days anyway?
Unable to sit still, I head to the kitchen to grab something to drink. The tray of burnt cupcakes from the day she took off is still on the counter. She’s usually so picky about cleaning up after herself, and I keep putting off scraping off the black spots.
It’s so not like her to leave her baking stuff like this. She might not be a master baker yet, but she knows what she's doing.
What distracted her so much that she forgot about the cupcakes in the oven? Even if she forgot the timer, which also wouldn't be like her, because at least to me it seems like she never forgets anything. She’s usually right there, watching like a hawk. There's a reason she likes working at the bakery.
And now, some kid came by and dropped off Nat’s last paycheck for a job she absolutely loved. I didn’t even get the feeling she was trying to fight to keep it at all.
I feel like the sister I know abandoned me and her entire life at the same time, and I can either be scared out of my mind, or angry as hell. I've got a job, and I'm studying, and for the first time in forever, my life might actually be on track, but I'm not ready for my big sister to let me go just yet. I still need her, and whatever she's up to with the Screaming Eagles, it's ruined that.
And I don't understand it. She knows that. And an MC? That's not her scene—like so, so not her scene. So why is she there? Do they have something on her? Did she really fall in love with… Eric?
Back in the living room with a drink to pep me up, I grab my phone off the table and find her contact. I haven’t tried to call her in a couple days, mostly because she pissed me off and she’s really the one that should be reaching out, but I’m worried.
I tap to call her.
It's ringing. That's a good sign, right? If it wasn't working, my call would go straight to some kind of message, wouldn't it?
It keeps ringing. And ringing. I hang up with a sigh.