Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 65346 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65346 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
“No, no, that’s all good. And Tammy’s doing great, too. Your moms upped the security, there’s two twenty-four-seven guards now, plus a new fence. I don’t think anyone’s sneaking in here again.”
“Okay, good.” I could hear music in the background. Another party. Mav worked hard, but he definitely enjoyed partying harder.
“You know what, I’ll just call tomorrow,” I said. I already felt like I'd burdened one Gold brother; I didn’t need to bother the other.
“It’s fine, I’m just over at Kiki’s for a pregame. What’s going on? You sound really beat up.”
“I’m just not doing too hot right now.”
“Rex, you’ve got this. You’re going to come out of all this bullshit that much stronger. I’ve already got that detective working on the case, and he sounds like he’s making some progress. He should have some news for us tomorrow.”
“Is this the detective you’ve been seeing?”
“What? No, absolutely not.” I could hear Mav’s cocky grin in his tone. “I can’t see him when he’s plowing me from the back.”
I huffed a nonsurprised laugh. “Well, don’t distract him too much. I need him working this case.”
“He’s going to find whoever has that tape, Rex, and he’s going to nuke it from whatever hard drive that fucker is storing it on.”
I let my head fall back on the tree, the hard bark scratching me. “I really fucking hope so. I can’t pick up my life and start things up again when I feel like it can all end from one stupid fucking video.”
“Don’t think like that. Even if the tape gets out, it won’t end anything. People might talk for a few days, but that’s it. And whatever happens with your dad’s Senate run happens. You shouldn’t obsess over shit you can’t control, Rex.”
“I know, I know.”
“How’s everything else? Has Benji been all right? He didn’t sound like himself the last few times I’ve called.”
Benji, oh Benji.
I wasn’t about to update Maverick on everything that had just gone down. It didn’t feel like the right time to say I was catching a major case of second-chance feelings for his little brother.
“He’s doing okay,” I said, looking toward the house. Benji’s room had the curtains drawn without any light coming through the window.
“Keep an eye on him. I think that once Dusty’s life started falling into place, Benji felt left behind. He’s been so down on himself. Mia and Ash are talking about having a family meeting if things don’t start getting better soon.”
This was making me feel a thousand times worse about how everything went down. Benji was clearly going through it, and I just made things worse by making him think I didn’t want him, when the truth was the complete opposite. “We’ve been getting close. I’ll have a heart-to-heart with him tomorrow. See if I can help somehow.”
“You two were always great at making each other smile, so do what you do best: Make my little brother happy again.”
“I’ll try my hardest.”
A short pause and a chuckle on the other line told me Mav was biting back a joke.
“Don’t be gross,” I said, smiling despite myself. I joked all the time with Mav about shit like that, but the jokes never included his brother.
“I’m just saying, you’ve got my permission to make him smile however you can.”
“All right, I think this call’s over.” I hissed into the phone. “Driving through—tunnel—can’t hear.”
“Can you hear this: you and my brother should fu—”
I hung up the call before he could finish. I didn’t know whether Maverick was drunk and talking shit or if he’d really picked up on the connection between Benji and me. It did make me feel better knowing that he was at least comfortable enough with the idea to joke about it, although he probably had no idea how far we’d already gone.
13
Benjamin Gold
Electra neighed as I walked over to her with a brush and carrot in hand. She crunched into the carrot as I got to work brushing through the silky black hair. Penelope followed me into the pasture and lounged nearby. She chewed on a bone she bought with her.
It was a quiet afternoon. I spent the afternoon running laps around the sanctuary. I hadn’t properly exercised in weeks, so it felt good to get the blood flowing again.
My moms had gone with Rex to go get groceries, leaving me and a few volunteers at the sanctuary. Two of them hung out in the pasture next to this one, with the three rescue horses that wouldn’t fly into a murderous rage at the sight of a stranger. I could hear them chatting about school, the two college kids laughing and teasing each other about an upcoming party for their sorority.
Must have been real nice to have something to look forward to.
I set the brush down and rubbed Electra’s snout. Her huge, intelligent eyes appeared to peer straight into my soul.