Series: Webs We Weave Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 145038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
When his gaze latches on to mine, it doesn’t soften. It’s penetrating. Excavating. Digging so damn deep, I’m unsure if anyone else can see the love on the other side.
NINETEEN
Rocky
Witnessing Jake and Phoebe become an “it couple” has been like adding a pound of rock salt to my daily breakfast. Yet, I’d rather be here and watch it happen than be stuck anywhere fucking else.
So as soon as breakfast ended with Trent, I decided to join The Hunt.
I lean an arm against a pink garland–wrapped lamppost, and Jake sidles close, sans overcoat, but he dressed warm in a thick cable-knit sweater. Giving Phoebe his extra layer wasn’t a setup to add credibility to their fake relationship.
I saw her trembling.
I whispered to him, “She’s freezing.”
And he did something about it because I couldn’t. Part of me likes having Jake at my side—the other part is just very aggravated.
“Knight in shining armor,” I say coarsely. “So brave. So bold.”
He gives me a concerned look like a big brother worried about his kid brother’s mental state. “You really want to be here? At this event?”
Where he’s about to bid on my girlfriend.
Yeah.
“That’s exactly why I want to be here,” I whisper between my teeth. I can’t let her go. The idea that she’s being purchased by someone else—been there, done that for a Pay Up or Be Arrested job.
The idea that I’m not in reach?
Never happened. It’s not happening now.
Jake still studies me with worry. I should’ve known he wouldn’t morph this into a dick-measuring contest (that, I’d win). Instead, the monthslong fake-dating ploy has only turned his soft heart softer. He’s a marshmallow that has been standing too close to my burning irritation. Now he’s just goo that’s stuck all over me.
We’re inextricably intertwined these long, long days.
After I give him a harsher glare, he averts his attention to Katherine, who’s introducing last year’s Huntsman: Raul Garcia.
Jake surveys the masses and whispers, “I think you should be more concerned about who’s going to bid on your sister since we know I’m bidding on your ex-wife.”
Is he often more concerned about Hailey? If I had a Magic 8 Ball, it would say, Signs point to yes.
“Carter is bidding on her,” I tell him. “That’s what he told me when I found out about the auction portion of this silly shit.” I wasn’t shocked he’d pay money for Hailey. They have biweekly meetups at eight a.m., and whatever intel they’ve gathered about our parents, they don’t casually share.
Maybe he wants extra time with her to solve this mystery.
Maybe he wants extra time with her for other things, but you know what? I’m not going to go there in my brain. There’s not enough bleach in the world.
“Carter had to leave a half hour ago. His grannie needed a ride to the post office.”
I blink hard.
Great. Last thing I need is for Weston Burke, the worst widower and Sidney Burke’s father, to bid on my sister to spite me. Now that I’m rising in the social ranks, he despises me even more.
I send Oliver and Nova a group text.
Need one of you to bid on Hailey at The Hunt.
Nova: I’m not there. On the Salty Miss.
The speedboat.
I don’t wait long for another response.
Oliver: I can be there in twenty. At gym with Collin.
I pocket my phone. “Oliver will bid on her.”
“Oliver?” Jake does a harsh double take.
I cock my head, reading his tensed reaction. He doesn’t trust Oliver? He dislikes Oliver? He’s jealous of Oliver? “What’d Oliver do to you?” I ask.
“Nothing,” Jake says fast—too fast. He combs a hand through his hair. “I just didn’t think he’d want to bid on Hailey.”
I lower my voice and stare ahead. “You didn’t think he’d bid on her or you don’t want him to? Because you do know they’re close—”
“Phoebe said they’re not together.” He’s careful to whisper the next part. “Not even in a grifter sense.”
“Okay, how about you don’t utter that word in public, ever,” I grit out under my breath and try not to see who’s watching, avoiding appearing cagey as fuck.
“Sorry,” he apologizes with a frustrated sigh.
My temple pounds. “You’re okay with Carter bidding on my sister but not okay with Oliver?”
“Carter is my friend. Oliver, I hardly know.”
“She knows Oliver.”
“She knows Carter. They’ve even…” He cuts himself short, as if remembering I’m Hailey’s brother.
I roll my eyes into a sharp glare at him. He’s to blame for my next question. “They’ve hooked up?”
“Yeah. He said it was in the past. They’re just good friends now.”
I’d like to rewind to the part where I never knew my sister slept with Stuart Cartwright. But sadly I’m not a fucking TV.
I stare straight ahead again. “You’re jealous of Oliver.”
“I’m not jealous,” he says with the heat of someone trying to convince themselves.
Onlookers are journaling our frigid interactions in their heads for their next watercooler session at work. Jake Waterford and Grey Thornhall were bickering at the scavenger hunt! The town believes we only tolerate each other because I’m close with my ex-wife and he’s dating her.