Series: Cobalt Empire Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 234
Estimated words: 226965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1135(@200wpm)___ 908(@250wpm)___ 757(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 226965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1135(@200wpm)___ 908(@250wpm)___ 757(@300wpm)
Hurt flares in my chest seeing Harriet give him attention. It shouldn’t. Three days ago, I literally told her I’d be fine if she got with Xander—and saying those words out loud felt like shoving pushpins in my mouth. Witnessing this possibility now is like swallowing them.
“It’s not too hard.” Xander tosses her the dice.
She catches with a slight smile.
Jealousy hammers against my ribcage. They’re not even really flirting, and breathing already becomes painful. Fucking fantastic. I down a large swig of water.
“You’ll get the hang of it fast,” Xander sits back down.
“I love the vote of confidence.” She rests her elbows on the table. “Lay it on me.”
He describes the rules, then the goal of being the first to build the largest army or road, or the first to create the most settlements and cities. Soon, we’re all playing together. Rolling dice. Trading our resource cards—a critical component of the game.
“Either of you want to give me all your brick for a couple sheep?” Harriet asks us.
“All my brick?” Xander’s brows jump. “For two sheep?”
She nearly laughs. “It’s called shooting your shot.”
He laughs back. “Savage.”
My stomach knots. Cards. Focus on the cards.
Harriet pumps her bicep. Barely any muscle. I smile over at her, and I’m not sure she notices me until she says, “What about you, Friend?” Her ocean blue eyes dart to mine. I swear flush creeps up her neck. “Give me all you’ve got for a couple Bo Peeps?”
My entire hand is brick. “You run a hard bargain.” I lean toward her. “But okay.”
“Okay?”
“I’ll take the deal.”
“What?” Xander scrunches his face at me, especially as I pass over all my cards. “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” He spreads out his hands. “Pause the game.” He shoots a harsh look at me, reminding me of his dad, my Uncle Loren, who can kill with one glare. Xander can be soft one second and lethal the next. “You’re going to be left with nothing, Ben.”
“She’s giving me two sheep.”
“To do what with? Sheep are practically worthless.”
“Hey, they’re cute,” Harriet defends with not much fight.
“Cute but worthless unless you have brick, wood, and wheat.” He turns to me. “Which is going to be hard to get when you have nothing.”
I stare at little brick pieces on the colorful board. “I don’t think I have much of a chance here, anyway.”
Xander scoots his chair closer to me. “You care if I help him?” he asks Harriet, and I’m not sure who’s more surprised—me or her.
“You are family. I would only expect as much.” She chews on a smile. “Make sure he doesn’t pawn off his T-shirt too.”
“Jesus, if Ben strips, we have worse problems.”
I laugh and nod to Harriet. “You wouldn’t want this shirt?” It’s a white ringer tee that says love the planet in blue lettering.
“If you want to include it with the brick, I won’t complain.”
Xander cuts me another look like, please don’t show your abs in here. It will draw attention to our table, and since he’s allergic to the spotlight, I’m not trying to make my cousin go into anaphylactic shock. I just show him my cards, letting him help me.
Xander inspects them. “Ben will give you one brick for two sheep.”
“Cheapo.”
“We can’t let you make the longest road and end the game in two seconds, and he needs the brick to do literally anything.”
“Fine. I won’t leave him destitute. Here you go, Cobalt boy.” She slides over two sheep. “The Hale to the rescue.”
I wonder if she knows the impact those words have on Xander. If she can see him intake a deeper breath. He tries to play it off by concentrating on my hand and his. My smile widens, and we end up joking, laughing, trading cards, trying to thwart each other from building new settlements.
Xander helps me win.
I’m used to my brothers being out for blood during Candy Land. Don’t even talk about Monopoly. Eliot will buy up every property you need. Taking the W isn’t why my chest rises, my lungs fill, though. It’s feeling the ice melt between us for the first time in years.
I shouldn’t gamble with today. I should leave this one good thing exactly where it is. I could ride this feeling into the morning. The euphoria of knowing something has gone epically right.
Then Xander invites us back to his apartment to hang out and discuss our group presentation for Classical Mythology. Yeah, we’re presenting together and not by choice. Our professor chose groups depending on seat arrangements, and we were all sitting side by side by side.
I’m torn on being around him for longer.
The desire to hang out with Xander overrides the fear. Maybe because Harriet is with me. So I take the risk.
29
BEN COBALT
Xander’s apartment is similarly laid out to my brothers’ place three floors above, except Xander’s is a two-bedroom he shares with Easton and resembles more of a casual crash pad. Gray sectional, ginormous television, gaming system, and state-of-the-art surround sound.