Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 69098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
“I want to go swimming,” Dakota whines. “Not fair!”
Declan, who’s three and also loves swimming, starts whining, “Me swim too!”
Mom ignores them to probe more. “Swimming where? The river by Rowdy’s?”
Raegan sits straight up and smiles sweetly at Mom. “The creek.”
The creek where she and Ronan got caught swimming naked once. The creek we aren’t supposed to go to. The swimming hole that’s off-limits.
Fuck.
“Unbelievable,” Mom cries out, voice shrill. “You three were told under no circumstances are you allowed to go back there.”
“Mom, relax,” Raegan sasses. “We kept our underwear on. No babies were made.”
I cringe when Dad’s hot glare is back on me.
“D-Dad, we didn’t do anything bad,” I stammer out. “It won’t happen again.”
He doesn’t get to answer because Mom’s voice has risen several octaves. “You’re damn right it won’t happen again. What were you all thinking? You’re all getting to that age!”
“The age we want to have fun?” Raegan snaps back, challenging Mom with a glare. “Oh no, heaven forbid we enjoy our stupid lives for once!”
“Raegan,” Dad roars, slamming a fist down onto the table, making everyone’s glasses slosh. “That’s enough, goddammit. You will not speak to your mother like that.”
If they’re this pissed about us swimming alone together, then they’ll lose their shit altogether when they learn we met some trespassers. What’s the big deal anyway if we swim together without supervision?
“You’re not allowed to go anywhere alone with your brothers anymore, Sunshine. Sorry,” Dad says, regret in his voice, “but that’s the way it has to be.”
Just like all our dinners, Raegan fights the hardest and the loudest, while the rest of us kids go silent. I just want this meal to be over so I can go back to my cabin and forget all this shit happened.
“So now I’ll be trapped cooking and cleaning and babysitting in this stupid prison until I decide to let Wild get me pregnant? That’s your vision for my life?” Raegan rises to her feet, sending her chair scraping across the wood floors. “Sorry, but I don’t choose that life.”
We all gape at Raegan’s bold words.
She glances out the window and then she curls her lips from a sneer into a pretty smile. “I’ll choose my own life and it’s not Wild,” she hisses. “I’m going to marry CJ.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Who the hell is CJ?” Dad grinds out, confusion in his words.
“Looks like you get to meet him, Daddy.”
* * *
* * *
“Raegan!”
Dad’s booming voice behind me does nothing to deter me. Now that I’ve dug myself into some deep shit, there’s no turning back. Literally.
I bolt out the front door, eager to meet my new friend and escape my parents’ unfair rules.
CJ, alone and no longer with his cousin, grins when he sees me leap off the porch. My heart rate speeds up as my legs carry me right into his arms. Because I launch myself at him, he loses his balance and I tackle him to the ground.
“Happy to see me?” he teases, eyes twinkling.
I barely get to enjoy the view because a strong arm hooks around my chest and jerks me back. I’m physically shoved behind my father, who aims his .45 pistol at CJ’s head.
CJ’s no longer smiling.
“Whoa, man, whoa,” CJ says, shooting a terrified look my way. “I know Raegan. She’s my friend.”
Dad tenses and then steps closer to CJ, who’s making no moves to get to his feet. “Get the fuck off my property.”
“Daddy!” I shriek, grabbing the back of his shirt. “Stop it!”
He doesn’t turn to look at me or even attempt to shake me off. Ryder, Ronan, and Rowdy all show up seconds later. Rowdy is the only one with his gun drawn too. I shoot Ryder a pleading look to fix this before our new friend gets shot.
“Dad,” Ryder mutters. “We, uh, kind of met them today at the creek.”
“Them?” Dad growls, head lifting toward the open gate. “There’re more?”
“They’re not bad people,” Ronan chimes in, starting toward the gate. “I swear.”
Our parents are definitely going to kill us, but I don’t care. I’m so sick of them keeping us trapped in their safe little box. I want to live and feel and experience things. I’m not like Mom. I don’t want to be some stupid kept woman.
I want to be free.
Two familiar faces walk through the gate. Logan and Jace aren’t carrying any weapons, which I’m grateful for or else I’m pretty sure Dad would have shot them dead on the spot.
“CJ,” Logan says, eyeing his cousin on the ground. “What the hell are you doing, man?”
CJ barks out a harsh laugh. “I had to see her again.”
Probably the wrong thing to say when my dad has a gun pointed at his face, but it makes my heart stutter in my chest. If I can’t have Ronan like I secretly crave, some stranger who isn’t Wild is fine by me. CJ and his family seem cool—a lot cooler than mine.