Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 87275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
It's a silver lining in a very dark time. But it’s a silver lining, nonetheless.
“What can we do?” I ask, stopping short of asking what I personally can do to help the situation. Gannon sliding over the question or telling me outright that there’s nothing in my capacity as an exercise physiologist that I can do to assist the family efforts won’t do either of us any favors.
My chest is heavy as I toss Waffles’s ball again.
“Bianca is coming home for a few days next week for a big-picture strategy session. Tate is doing all he can,” Gannon says. “Jason has put together a PR campaign for Brewer Air. It’s getting approved by the legal team now. And once Renn is in the Royals front office, we’ll devise a plan for them, too. I have people assessing how we can best use the Arrows and the Raptors hockey team. It helps to have you go to the facilities and interact with the players. They like you. It gives us a very relatable vibe—like we care about people. Which we do, but you know what I mean.”
“I do.”
There’s a long pause. “While we’re here, I was going to ask if you’ve had a moment to call Jonah Spaulding.”
“Yeah, I did. I left a message for him yesterday and haven’t heard back. Do you know what he wants? Tate acted like it was a big secret, and Jonah’s email was pretty nondescript.” I pull the phone away from my face. “Leave it alone, Waffles. It’s going to sting your tongue.”
The puppy turns and lifts one ear on top of his head.
“Jonah might’ve changed his mind,” Gannon says. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much if he doesn’t return your call. But, if he does call you back with a proposition, I’d appreciate you considering it.”
“A proposition, huh?” I laugh. “Is there something I should know? I only like women, Gannon.”
He laughs, too. “That’s not what I mean.”
“Good.” I take the ball from Waffles and chuck it away from the insect. “So that’s all I get? There’s a mysterious proposition?”
“There might be a mysterious proposition, but it was up in the air when I talked to him on Tuesday. He was floating an idea by me, and I thought we might be able to make it work.”
“And somewhere along the way, you and Tate decided I might be able to make it work?”
“Well, Tate, Jason, Bianca, and me. Renn was iffy, but we got him on board.”
“Fuck you,” I say, laughing again. “So everyone knows about this but me?”
A car horn blasts in the background. “It’ll probably never come to fruition, so don’t worry about it. We’re making it out to be more than it is.”
I’m not sure I believe that, but I also know pushing Gannon won’t net the results I’m after. And I highly doubt that it’s anything important, and if it were, he wouldn’t have talked to my siblings about it and not me. It’s not how we roll.
“I need to go,” Gannon says. “I’m meeting a few people at a restaurant for a business dinner, and I just arrived.”
“Have fun.”
“Sure.” He sighs. “Let me know if Jonah calls.”
“I might.”
He chuckles. “Talk to you later, Ripley.”
“Later.”
As soon as I end the call, the phone buzzes in my palm with an incoming text.
Jonah: Are you available for a call in ten minutes?
Me: Yes.
Jonah: Great. Talk soon.
“Can’t wait to see what this is all about,” I say, sitting on the edge of a lounge chair.
My mind spins with a million possibilities for why Jonah wants to talk to me. Each one is more far-fetched than the next. When I couple it with Gannon and Tate agreeing that I should be the one to handle the proposition, it gets me no closer to an answer. It only increases my curiosity.
“I just read a report that the public perception of our family hasn’t fully rebounded following Dad’s attempted implosion of Brewer Group.”
Our family’s struggles since Dad’s crimes, including the attempted murder of both Mom and Bianca, have only brought us closer together. Before Dad went to prison, Gannon never called me. He and Tate could barely stand one another. Renn didn’t bother to come home often, and Jason lived in his own world. But now? Everything has changed for the better.
I only wish I could carry a bigger piece of the load—that I could do something to help ease the burden of Dad’s sins on my siblings.
My phone vibrates in my hand. The group chat I share with my friend circle is lit up on the screen.
Georgia: Has anyone seen my sunglasses? I know I had them at The Swill this week, but I haven’t seen them since.
Tate: Nope.
Jeremiah: Let me look by the pool.
I smirk, my cock hardening as visions of Georgia’s beaded nipples rip through my mind.