Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55667 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55667 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
“She and Skye went home.”
He rolls his lips between his teeth. “Is she okay?”
“You honestly don’t remember anything? Do you understand how problematic that is?”
He nods again. “I only invited a few of the guys over. But then one of them wanted to invite his girlfriend. And I should’ve said no, but I didn’t. And then it snowballed from there. And someone’s brother brought a bunch of hard liquor over and well…things got out of hand.” He rubs the back of his neck.
I cross my arms. “There are condom wrappers all over the floor in the spare bedroom, where Violet was supposed to be sleeping.” Maybe Skye shouldn’t have left. Maybe this would have been better managed with all of us together, instead of the divide and conquer, especially since my son is having issues remembering what in the sweet shit took place last night.
His already white face turns green. He spins around and dives into the bathroom, retching like he’s exorcizing an entire team of demons from his stomach.
His phone buzzes from somewhere on the floor. I search through the random clothes strewn across the hardwood and see nothing that belongs to a girl, which is a relief.
I finally find his phone in a pair of shorts that somehow made their way under his bed. The most recent message was sent a minute ago from Violet.
I stalk to the bathroom, where Miller is hugging the toilet bowl. “I’m so sorry, Dad. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to throw a party. It was just supposed to be a couple friends. And I didn’t mean to get drunk like that. It won’t ever happen again. Oh God.” He heaves again. “I don’t think anything happened. I really hope nothing happened. I really like Skye. I kinda hoped she’d end up being my stepmom and that Violet would be my stepsister. And I know that would make her totally off limits. Sober me knows that she’s forbidden. Oh, shit.” He hurls again. “I think I might have said that to her.”
Between heaves I snap my fingers and use his momentary distraction to unlock his phone with facial recognition. I click on the message from Violet.
I’m trying not to throw you under the bus, but the house is in shambles, so that’s a hole you’ll have to dig yourself out of. Not sure what they think happened last night. I like yetis, but only as cute characters in movies or stuffies. Hope your hangover doesn’t kill you before your dad does.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
OH, THANK GOD
Skye
The stomach issues from this whole nightmare are going to be legendary. My hands are shaking as I climb into the driver’s seat and turn the engine over. It isn’t until I’ve pulled out onto the street that Violet speaks.
“Can I say something now?”
Every time she’s tried to speak I’ve told her it had to wait until we were in the car. “I need you to be honest with me.”
“Last night I came back to Sid’s after the emergency Mathlete’s meeting in which both Toby and Michael had full on meltdowns that included hyperventilating, which was fun, and the house was full of Buck’s friends. And apparently they call him that because his front teeth are missing. I think it’s supposed to be some kind of joke. Anyway, he was wasted and so were all his idiot friends. I mean, I guess a few of them probably weren’t idiots, but the booze definitely impacted the level of stupidity going on last night. It was a shitshow.”
“The red plastic cups and the horrible number of condoms made that pretty clear,” I grind out.
“I’ve never witnessed so much exhibitionism in my life.”
“Oh my God. Your innocence is gone,” I lament.
“Maybe we should stop and get me a milkshake. I don’t know that driving while having this conversation is the best idea,” Violet says.
I try to strangle the steering wheel. “Did anything happen between you and Miller? He was naked.”
She points to the right and I pull into the drive thru line up. There are four cars ahead of us.
“When I put Buck to bed last night he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. But I imagine he gets pretty hot with all that fuzz he’s sporting.”
“Why did you put him to bed? And what were you doing in his bed in the first place?” My voice is too loud. A teenage couple entering the restaurant stop to stare for a second. I roll up my window.
“Can you stop yelling? I’m two feet away. I get that you’re freaking out, but I feel like maybe the volume doesn’t need to be so high.” Violet pushes her glasses up her nose.
I drop my volume to a reasonable level. “I just need some answers, Violet.”
“I know. I’m trying to explain. Like I said, Buck was a mess. He started talking a bunch of nonsense and ended up throwing up all over the hallway. It was disgusting. I had to clean it up. And then he spent another twenty minutes in the bathroom regurgitating everything he’d put in his stomach, which was excessive and repulsive, but at least that stuff was flushable.”