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)
I evade, “I didn’t say I was—”
“Dude, you take thirty-second showers.” Tom interjects as he comes out of the cabinet with an armful of hair products. “If you weren’t masturbating, what were you doing?”
Fuck my life. “You want to know, then you’d have to tell me the last person you jacked off to.” This’ll get them to back off…I think.
Eliot opens his hands. “That’s only fair. Mine was a hate-jerking.”
I make a face. “What does that even mean?”
“It means I was jacking off to my enemy’s sister as a fuck you.”
Do I even want to ask who that is? Anyone who marginally slights our family, Eliot has written off and the list is long.
Tom acts busy reading a product label.
“And you?” I wonder.
“Hmm?”
Eliot shoves his arm. “Share.”
Tom shoots him a wide-eyed look. So…he doesn’t want to share with me? Great, he’s giving me an out too. I say, “We don’t have to tell each other anything—”
“It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s that, uh, it’s secret-ish.” Tom cinches one eye closed. “From Beckett.”
My brows jump. “You’re keeping a secret from Beckett? Why?”
Eliot’s lips drop in disappointment at Tom. “Brother, no.”
“I can’t fucking help it, Eliot. He’s hot. Like extremely fucking hot, and he winked at me.”
“That was one time, and it might’ve been an eye twitch,” Eliot refutes, then clues me in, “it’s Leo Valavanis.”
My frown heavies. “Beckett seriously hates him.” I’ve never heard Beckett curse someone out like he does Leo. Honestly, I’m not even sure Tom’s hostility toward Harriet is equivalent.
Eliot nods. “It’s one thing to hate-jerk to get back at an enemy. Another thing to fuck your brother’s mortal foe.”
Tom groans, “I’m not actually going to hook up with Leo. I know it’s probably not possible.”
“Impossible,” Eliot amends.
“Impossible,” Tom agrees, then stares me down. “Your turn.”
I’m really going to have to admit this. Telling them I was just standing in the shower wasting water will send off a million alarm signals. Eliot is already laser-focused on me, waiting for the answer.
I want to say the truth, but how the hell do I do that? There’s a war within me to even say her name. Tom’s not a fan of hers after she auditioned to be his drummer, and it’d only draw tension between us. I’m trying, trying, not to cause any further friction.
I run the towel against the back of my neck. “She’s a girl from college.”
Eliot rinses his mouth. “Do we know her?”
“You might.” I act like it’s unimportant, trying to throw them off the scent.
“Seems like we do,” Tom says, appearing satisfied with my answer. He’s half-reading the label to a hair product, then tossing the bottle back in a bin.
I reknot the towel around my waist. “I have a meeting with my advisor.” I wind past both their bodies to reach the exit, but Eliot quickly puts a hand on the door before I grab the knob.
“Why the caginess?” His brows furrow. “We’re brothers, brother.” He leans more of his weight on the door, impeding me from leaving. “Which reminds me, I’m creating a group calendar. We’re all going to share our schedules with each other. I’ll send you the link.”
I frown. “Charlie too?”
“He’s been informed.”
I laugh. “There’s no way in hell he’s going to participate.”
“We’re working on him,” Tom says, dumping the bottles and sprays on the sink counter.
Eliot chimes in, “And I, for one, would love to see where Charlie fucks off to every day.”
This can’t be about Charlie, or else they would’ve concocted this group calendar thing prior to me living here.
“I’m mostly just on campus,” I tell them. “It’s boring.”
“We’re not asking to be entertained, Ben Pirrip,” Tom says. “We just want to know where everyone is. We’re not nobodies. Luna was assaulted last year.” Mention of our cousin, their best friend, tenses the bathroom.
It wasn’t a random assault. It was targeted. She’s famous, and her attackers wanted a quick payout and sold the story to the media. Our parents have harped on us to “always have your bodyguard present” this year. It’s why Novak is basically superglued to my shadow now.
“We should be keeping tabs on each other,” Tom adds. “It’s safer that way.”
I let out a deep exhale. “Yeah, okay,” I agree. I’m mostly trying to conceal my bartending job. I can just omit that from the calendar.
Eliot still has a palm planted on the door. He studies me, but if Charlie feels like the king, queen, rook, and bishop on a chess board, then Eliot is only the knight. He’s far less threatening to me.
He straightens up so we’re almost the same height. “You know, we’d be much closer, you and I, without so much mystery between us.”
“Maybe I don’t want to be any closer to you,” I say without thinking. It’s not the truth, but it’s also not a total lie.