Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 59236 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59236 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
“I have never said that in my life and don’t plan to start today,” I said.
“Good.”
“Listen, I’m glad you’re moving in and that you see the sense in being cautious.”
“Thanks, Dad,” he said wryly, “I live to make you proud.”
“It’s a lousy situation, but there’s no need to be a little bitch about it,” I said with a snort.
It had been a long afternoon getting everything in place. It was a relief to get comfortable with pizza in front of the TV. We didn’t bother with plates. Noah had brought home a bottle of wine and that was our nod to sophisticated family dining instead of cracking open a beer. We let Madison pick what we were going to watch.
Leo grudgingly agreed to one episode of Bridgerton. We all got into it and offered to watch more. By the middle of the third episode Leo was shouting at the TV like it was the NBA finals.
“That asshole cannot expect his sister to marry Berbrooke!”
“He thinks it’s the most respectable choice,” Noah countered.
“The devil does not need an advocate here, bro,” Leo said. “That dude’s ridiculous.”
“His name is Nigel. That was never going to play well, especially when his rival is the guy playing the Duke,” I acknowledged.
“There’s no one they could have pitted against the Duke. Nobody would have a chance. I mean… look at him. He’s so far above everyone else, even the good-looking people on that show. They’re all just mortals by comparison,” Madison said.
“Not to side with the woman who is raving about the hotness of an actor in a room full of eligible Foster men,” Noah said, “But she’s not wrong, objectively. He’s brooding and tragic, which when you add it to wealthy and being the duke of whatever… killer combination.”
We nodded in agreement. Triumphant, Madison offered to let us watch something else now that we were on board with the only possible opinion one could have about Bridgerton. One by one we shrugged. “I could watch some more,” I said. “I hate to admit it, but I’m invested in what happens to the boxer who’s throwing fights.”
“Thank God I’m not the only one!” Leo said, high-fiving me.
Madison laughed, “Like you’re not just watching it for the beautiful Daphne, right?”
“Too skinny,” Noah said. We all drank to that.
“Considering that I’m halfway through my fourth slice of pizza, I appreciate that,” Madison said.
“What do you think? Another episode?” Noah said.
“Eh,” she shrugged, “I’m okay. What about… and don’t laugh at me—do you guys ever play games?”
“We have Madden on Xbox,” I said, “and Leo’s a Call of Duty man.”
“I meant, um, board games,” she said sheepishly.
“We have those.” Noah said with a look of excitement that made me want to groan. “I get Ethan a board game every birthday. It’s kind of a running joke. Because at one point we were in a trivia tournament in our church youth group and our table won—because he answered every single question. We did nothing.”
“Not true. That was the night I got Sydney Hollaway’s number.”
“I meant trivia-wise. We didn’t help out the team.”
“Because Einstein there never shut up,” Leo chuckled.
“What can I say? I knew I’d have to carry the team if I wanted to win, and I always want to win.”
“That’s the other part of the board game joke,” Leo offered, “Ethan is competitive.”
“Like you’re not!” I shot back good-naturedly.
“We all are. So, it gets pretty heated with the trash talk even if we just play, like, Scrabble. Which should be the most boring game on earth.”
“I think nothing’s boring with the Foster boys,” Madison said.
“You say that now,” I told her, “But the fact is, you may find all of us juvenile and unattractive once you see us insult each other like pro-wrestling promoters on pay-per-view over a stupid game of Clue.”
“Clue?” she said, bewildered.
“It WAS the candlestick. On God,” Leo said vehemently.
“The candlestick was not in play!” I replied.
Madison started to giggle, “You guys are hysterical.”
“No, it’s an ongoing disagreement,” I said gravely. “Don’t even get me started on Monopoly and all of Noah’s illegal hotel construction.”
“And yet you hired me to manage your financial portfolio,” he quipped, and Madison laughed again.
“What you’re saying is that you all cheat,” she said with a side-eye in Noah’s direction.
“I don’t cheat. I win because I’m a badass and take no prisoners,” Leo said.
“Yeah, and who’s still whining about the time we played Boggle. At the Big Brothers program at the library. With the disadvantaged kids we worked with.”
“There are no words that start with x besides x-ray. You won with a fake word.”
“It was a real word, and my little brother won a bike, thank you very much,” I said.
“Yeah, an ill-gotten bike you won for him by making up words.”
“Xenial is not a made-up word. Neither is xenophobe,” I pointed out, “There are plenty of words that start with x.”