Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 58150 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 291(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58150 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 291(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Wade eyes me as if trying to figure me out. Good luck, kid. He definitely doesn’t come across as a fifteen-year-old and not just the height. He talks like … like the old white people in my family. I mean, yeah, it’s accentuated with his Southern drawl, but where Char and Fern are more stereotypical, Wade seems … out of place. Like he was born into the wrong family.
“Saw your dad lost the presidential election.” He smirks.
And talking politics? Maybe Wade should’ve been born into my family.
“You say that as if I should care. Matt and I had no desire to be swarmed by secret service agents twenty-four hours a day.”
“So you decide to adopt genius white-trash kids instead?”
Ooh, living with this guy is gonna be interesting. Jet knows how to dish out attitude as good as he can play guitar, but he’s more sarcastic and light. Wade, while being overdramatic, I can hear the resentment in his voice.
Maybe we did make a mistake not doing this sooner—coming here and facing Matt’s family once and for all.
“You know your brother would never make you do something you didn’t want to, right?” I hope he can hear the sincerity in my voice, because if he’s anything like I was at fifteen, no way would I trust anything coming out of a Huntington’s mouth. “If you want to stay here and go to your Mont … whatever Academy, Matt will pay for it. And bail your parents out. Because that’s the type of guy Matt is. Offering you a better high school in Chicago and getting you out of Tennessee isn’t something we’re doing for us, kid. I personally like not having responsibilities.”
Wade’s eyes dim a little.
“Hey, that’s not to say we don’t want you to come live with us. Jet did it and now he’s as much a brother to me as he is to Matt. But what I mean to say is, this isn’t our opportunity to right wrongs or hand out charity—I have my own charity already. This is your opportunity to take hold of a future that Char tells us you really want.”
Wade bites his lip. “Mom’s right. Dad won’t go for it.”
“Your parents are addicts, Wade. It may not be an addiction that has visible effects like drugs or alcohol, but they’ve pissed away hundreds of thousands of dollars in seven years. They’re in a bind, and Matt can get them out.”
“Using me as a bargaining chip.”
“Like I said, that’s not for us. It’s up to you if you want your tuition paid for maybe a year here—if you’re lucky—or a secure future in Chicago with us. Matt would love to have you. Me, I think I’ll totally suck at being a parental figure, but hey, I can give it a whirl.”
Wade smiles. “You’re already better at it than you think.”
“Is that a yes, you want to come with us?”
His smile falters. “I still don’t see the parentals going for it, but I’m not stupid. I can’t pass up the opportunity.”
“Then we’ll make it happen.”
Wade purses his lips. “You know, I always wondered why we struggled for money when Matt’s a millionaire and married to a billionaire. Honestly, I thought you guys were assholes.”
I laugh. It’ll be nice to have that blunt openness back in my life. It seems to run in the Jackson family. “Matt’s always been there for you and always will be. If you do decide to stay here, we’ll make sure you get the education you deserve, but if you want out, we’ll make sure that happens too.”
He nods. “Thank you.”
The door to our suite opens down the hall, and Jennifer appears. Her cheeks are tear-streaked, her eyes puffy.
“We’re going,” she grumbles and gives me a dirty look. Maybe Wade is right. There’s no way in hell that woman’s going to let Wade do what he wants.
I trudge back to the hotel room and find Matt pouring a drink from the minibar. “Didn’t go well, I’m guessing?”
“It’s gonna cost us.”
“How much?”
Matt downs the drink. “Pay off their debts, which is more than I thought possible. I paid off their house with my NFL signing bonus.” He pours another drink. “They remortgaged it. They’ve got nothin’. Less than nothin’.”
“It’s just money.”
“But when does it fucking stop?”
“Probably when Wade turns eighteen and they have no one to hold over your head anymore.”
He shakes his head. “I’m gonna make them give up custody. Knowing them, they’ll let us take Wade and then call the cops on us or some bullshit.”
“Custody could take months.”
“He can finish out his sophomore year at his current school, and we’ll take him in September. We’ll have until then.”
Wow, he has it all figured out already.
“So … it’s actually happening.”
Matt holds out his drink. “You need this? I didn’t really discuss this with you.”