Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 138588 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138588 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Lucy’s jaw dropped open. “Holy shit. He is having a stroke.”
“I’m not having a stroke. It’s to protect Sabrina,” Sawyer explained. “Wyatt’s brother’s guys got a good look at her and he’s worried they’ll use her as leverage, so when he met with Wayne last night he mentioned it wasn’t Sabrina he was in love with. It’s me, and Sabrina’s a friend who helps us cover the relationship so the town doesn’t know we’re lovers. But I need the town to know we’re lovers. Well, fake lovers.”
No one in Bliss would blink an eye if he’d walked down Main Street holding Wyatt’s hand. Love was love was love in Bliss, but they were also excellent at going along with a plot. Especially if said plot meant protecting someone they all cared about.
They would do it for Sabrina. Not him. Maybe for Wyatt.
“But you’re sleeping with her, right? Not with Wyatt? The Wyatt part is the fake part?” River asked, and then her head shook and she flushed. “I mean it’s fine if you are. It’s lovely. I just… You were into women when we were growing up. Like in them all the time. I’m pretty sure you slept with all of the cheerleaders at our high school.”
And a whole lot of the pep club members, and both French horn players. They’d been startlingly good at oral. “I’m not sleeping with Wyatt.” It wasn’t entirely true. “I am, but we’re sleeping sleeping, not not sleeping sleeping. I’m not doing him is what I’m trying to say.”
“But you are doing Sabrina Leal?” River seemed to require clarity.
Well, it wasn’t like he could keep it a secret. Wayne might buy the whole Sabrina as a distraction thing, but no one in Bliss would. It’s not like Sabrina would keep it a secret. “Yeah. Apparently she’s my…” It was hard to say. It was just a word. He’d used it before. He was sure he had. He’d even said it yesterday, but these were his closest friends. He mumbled his way through. “Girlfriend.”
Lucy leaned in. “What? I didn’t catch that. You’re whispering, Sawyer.”
He glanced around to see if anyone was listening. “Girlfriend. She’s my girlfriend. And she’s Wyatt’s girlfriend. We’re sharing her.”
River’s face lit up. “This is the best news I ever heard.”
Lucy nodded her way. “It is. Sawyer is dating the schoolteacher. I always thought you would go for a… I don’t know. I didn’t see you with a schoolteacher. Don’t get me wrong. Ms. Leal is gorgeous and smart and charming, but I guess I didn’t see you involved with someone who wears so many cardigans.”
“She wasn’t wearing one when I did her on the pool table last night,” he said. It was kind of nice talking to his friends.
Lucy stopped for a minute. “Like on the pool table or like using the pool table as leverage? I’m trying to work the physics out in my head.”
He thought about it. “Both.”
River shook her head. “Nope. There’s math and there’s girl math and then there’s sex math, and we should just accept it. Also, we should steam clean the pool table. Now how are we going to get you ready for the school board meeting? What kind of popcorn do you like? Also, do we think Wyatt’s brother will be attacking the town hall? I want to know so I know how much popcorn to bring. I’ve never done a school board meeting. Also, should I bring pepper spray? If there’s going to be blood I’ll leave Buster at home because he’s sensitive, but Jax will be excited. Sometimes he misses the whole ‘we’re on the run and the world is out to kill him’ thing.”
Maybe there was a reason he’d never been to a meeting in Bliss. “Uh, if I thought we were in real danger, I would tell the mayor to call off the meeting.”
Lucy shook her head as they started walking down the street toward the Trading Post. His day was looking up because if Lucy and River were with him, he wouldn’t have to ask Marie about tampons. Or would she want pads? He hadn’t gotten around to asking about her menstrual habits.
“Don’t call off the meeting,” River argued. “I’m never going to be able to join the I Shot a Son of a Bitch club if we go all peaceful and stuff. You would think after years on the run with a paramilitary group I would have shot someone, but nope. And they have all the best snacks. I’m jealous of Lucy’s T-shirt. She didn’t actually shoot anyone, either.”
“We use the word shot because it sounds cool. I have, in fact, had a hand in murdering a cult leader who was trying to murder me. Oh, and I helped solve a murder. I mean, Nell figured it out, but she wouldn’t have been able to without me.” Lucy sighed and smiled. “Life really is better in Bliss.”