Total pages in book: 188
Estimated words: 179812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 899(@200wpm)___ 719(@250wpm)___ 599(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 179812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 899(@200wpm)___ 719(@250wpm)___ 599(@300wpm)
I keep smiling. “I’m glad, Snow.”
Then, her eyes fill with worry as she says, “Do you think the media would come after us? Like Conrad said. Do you think they’d find out about Mom’s affair and m-me and—”
I grab her hand. “Hey, that’s not for you to worry about right now. I’ll deal with it. We’ll all deal with it.”
She swallows. “I just don’t want them to think we’re a burden on them or something.”
“Snow,” I say, squeezing her hand. “They won’t think that, okay? They’re good people. They’ve embraced us with open arms. I know you’re worried because we’ve lived with uncertainty for so long. But I promise you everything is going to be okay. You are going to be okay.”
She is. I’ll make sure of it. Conrad did tell us about the media circus that might happen. Although, even if he hadn’t, I’d still expect some sort of media interest in us. Especially, now that the season is approaching soon. The Thornes are famous—him more than the others—and this is another juicy story after the failed engagement and the cheating fiancée for them to sink their teeth into. Two sisters seemingly coming out from nowhere.
And to be honest, I do understand Snow’s fears because I have them too. We’ve never really had any support system so it’s hard to believe we’d have one now. Even though everyone’s been so nice and welcoming. But as I told her, I’d take care of everything. She just needs to worry about getting better.
“What about you?” she asks.
“What about me?”
“You know, maybe this could be your chance to—”
“No,” I cut her off.
“But you’ve liked him for so long and—”
I grab her hand. “It doesn’t matter whether I liked him or not. I should never have thought about him in that way. He’s my stepbrother. He’s your half-brother. But most importantly, we’re a family now. This is a fresh start for us, for you. I don’t want to drag my past feelings into it.”
It’s the truth, isn’t it? Tempest had the same worry about me and I told her the same thing.
While it was never okay to think about him in that way when I was only dreaming about being a part of his family, now I am a part of his family. My sister is a part of his family. A family that has welcomed us with open arms, despite me lying and hiding things from them for so long. I can’t take advantage of their trust anymore. I can’t go behind their back, start lying again, sneaking around with one of their own.
Him and I, we already have a history, a connection—and hence a secret—I’m not willing to share with anyone, I don’t want to make it worse. I don’t want to stress Snow out for any reason or make things harder for her than they need to be.
Not to mention, if something were to happen and then media found out about it, I can’t even imagine the headlines. He’s already in so much trouble for being on the news these past few months, this is only going to hurt him.
So no, this is not my chance. It was never my chance anyway because he never wanted anything more than a passing distraction from me. And it’s not now either because he doesn’t want anything to do with me.
Chapter Eighteen
It’s around 10 o’clock at night—way after Snow’s bedtime—when I hear the front door open and I spring up in bed.
After our chat, Snow and I watched a movie together in her bedroom before we ate dinner. I gave Snow her medication, then tucked her in like she’s five and not seventeen and she let me because she knows I’m still freaked out about everything that’s happened. And then, I went downstairs to finish the last of my unpacking and setting up my room before getting ready for bed. Since then I’ve been trying to fall asleep, even though I know this is too early for me. Over a year of working late nights at the strip club has turned me into a night owl.
Not to mention, there’s this other reason I haven’t really been able to sleep these past few weeks. The fact that somehow I got used to—more like, addicted to—him sneaking into my room while I slept. As if keeping a watch over me. While also watching me on his phone.
And now I know I definitely won’t be able to sleep, because he’s here.
Before I can overthink this, I throw the covers off and jump out of bed. I open the nightstand drawer, retrieve what I need, put it in my pajama pocket and run out of the room. I know I should walk slowly and pace myself a little bit, but my feet don’t listen. They carry me as fast as they can until I reach the kitchen, where I know he is because I can hear him moving around. I also realize how he’s trying not to make any loud noises by quietly shutting the fridge and the cupboard doors.