Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 142764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
I frown. “Thanks for the reminder. Can we not talk about how shitty my social life is, or how the only friend I had was secretly sleeping with this psychopath-obsessed man's dad in an attempt to get information about us?”
“It’s not meant to be an insult. I was actually hoping to use it as an opening to invite you to hang out this evening. Lee, Aries, and I are going to have some pizza and beer, then hang out and watch some movies. You're coming."
I shake my head. "You do realize you make decrees a lot, right?"
He shrugs. "It's my job to be decisive. I have no room for questions."
I mock his deep voice. "I have no room for questions. Only commands."
This earns me an eye roll, and he helps me gather my books. "Leave this here. I'll have the driver grab it for you and put it in the car while we walk over to The Mill."
I freeze. "The Mill?"
He tugs me along gently. "Don't worry, Drew isn't there."
"You're sure?" While I mean, it would be fine to see him, I know I don't exactly think clearly when he's around. Nor does Seb at the moment. Not exactly a situation for a relaxing evening.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on with Drew? I thought you were going to stay away from him?"
We walk, and I consider how much I actually want to tell him. "Drew is...hard. I can't just turn off caring for him. He wants to be different. He is different with me. But I also don't want to be an idiot and walk into things blindly."
He nods and tucks his hands into his pockets as the wind cuts through the trees heading up to The Mill house. "While I'd love to just say ‘stop seeing him,’ something tells me that wouldn't go over well. That you'd probably do the opposite just to piss me off."
"Hmm...seems you are getting to know me."
He chuckles. "Doesn't mean I'm not going to tell him to stay away from you. Not that he's been doing that very well either. Drew does what he wants. Always has."
"Sounds like someone else I know."
We enter the house, and a chill skitters down my spine. What if Seb is wrong, and Drew is here anyway? And I have to sit and endure pizza with him and his friends.
Seb leads me into a clean, modern kitchen I still remember from the party, and I plop at the countertop bar. I duck my chin to hide my blush as I remember that night and what happened after I left the party.
Lee stands on the other side, a pizza box in hand, his light hair mussed, his v-neck T-shirt showing off his golden skin.
Aries stands next to him, almost twice as wide, a big dude, his dark curls tucked back with a black elastic headband. They both eye me like a snake they accidentally walked up on.
"Hi," I say.
Lee recovers first and sets the pizza out on the counter. "Pepperoni? Mushrooms? What's your pleasure?" He slaps Aries on the chest. "Don’t be rude. Get the lady a beer."
Aries narrows his eyes in suspicion, but he still turns to grab a beer out of the massive stainless steel fridge. He opens it with one hand and plunks it down in front of me. Some foam escapes the top, and I reach to grab it and lick the edge of the bottle when Lee hands me a plate with a couple of slices of pizza on it.
Pizza is pizza in all its beautiful forms so I don't request anything else and finish cleaning up the beer mess while I nibble on the pepperoni and banana pepper piece I pick up first.
Sebastian sits beside me, tosses his jacket on a nearby empty chair, and greets his friends. "Look at us, doing normal happy family shit."
Lee chuckles, and Aries just stares between us like we might randomly attack him at any moment.
Eventually, Aries settles down and pulls a stool to the other side of the counter to sit on. He cradles a plate stacked high with pieces of mushroom and sausage against his chest.
Seb picks at a piece of pepperoni and cheese. Lee doesn't bother with a plate or chair. Instead, he sits on the counter and folds his slice in half, eating it bite by bite.
Once he chews, he eyes everyone. "Yeah, this is fun. Not awkward as fuck or anything."
We all chuckle and eat. Lee tosses another slice on my plate. "How's school going? Are you getting caught up?"
I groan. "Yes. It's easy to study when I don't have to juggle a job and money."
He nods. "Yeah. I can only imagine. We're all spoiled rich boys who've never had to deal with school tuition." He says it as a joke, but there's something under his tone that's darker and has a jagged edge I'm not getting near.