Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 91285 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91285 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
She frowns at the screen. “I can’t believe you’re actually doing this.”
“Believe it, Hollywood.” I don’t release the phone right away. “Hit share.”
“For how long?”
I pull my own phone from my pocket. “Indefinitely.”
Her brows lift.
“Now I’ll always know where you are.”
There’s no way in hell I’m going to examine why I find that thought so damn satisfying. She doesn’t comment as I check my phone, making sure the request went through. When her cell buzzes between us, she glances down at it.
“You’re taking this a little too seriously, McNichols.”
I shrug. “Guess you should have considered that before you involved me in this situation.”
She studies me for a moment longer than necessary, her gaze lingering, as if she’s trying to sort through something in her head. The elevator dings, and the sound slices through the growing tension.
With that, she pulls her phone from my grip. “Night, Knox.”
The doors slide open behind her.
“Text me when you get to the hotel,” I say automatically.
She rolls her eyes. “Sure thing, Dad.”
My jaw tightens.
That shouldn’t do anything to me.
So tell me why it does.
Maybe because it makes me sound controlling as hell, which is fair. Or maybe because she says it like a tease when I’m already hanging on by a thread.
“Chey.”
With a smirk, she gives me a little wave with her fingers before stepping backward into the elevator. Once the doors close, silence settles over the penthouse as I stare at the empty space where she stood a few seconds ago. The place already feels too damn quiet without her presence. Her beachy scent continues to linger in the air, as if she left a part of herself behind just to fuck with me. Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past her.
Zero-six-one-two.
I unlock my phone.
We picked the same numbers for the same reason.
It hits me all over again just how much trouble I’m in where this woman is concerned.
5
Cheyenne
It’s the buzzing of my phone that wakes me the next morning. I grab it off the nightstand and glance at the screen before swiping to answer.
“Hey.”
“How’s my favorite runaway?” my older sister asks.
I smile despite myself. “You heard, huh?”
“Oh yeah,” Britt says with a laugh. “Mom’s furious, by the way.”
Of course she is. I would expect nothing less from Sharon Benson.
Not wanting to talk about our mother, I ask instead, “How are you feeling? Baby number three is right around the corner.”
“Actually, I feel pretty good.”
“And the other kiddos? How are they?”
“Avery refuses to wear anything that isn’t pink, and Maddox tried to feed the dog a Pop-Tart this morning. So, to answer your question… it’s just another normal day in the McNichols household.”
I laugh, and some of the tension from yesterday falls away. “I miss the little hellions.”
“The little hellions miss you too,” Britt says. “So, what are you doing in Chicago?”
I hesitate. There isn’t much I keep from my sister, but I’m not ready to disclose the real reason for ending up here.
“Oh, you know. I just needed a little break.”
“A break from the Dakota situation or a break from everything else?”
Both.
The show.
The cameras.
The constant scrutiny.
The way everything in my life feels staged. Including my relationships.
“I don’t know if I want to do the show anymore,” I admit. “I’m tired, Britt. It all feels so fake and a little pointless.”
There’s a pause.
“I get it,” she says. “It wasn’t all that long ago I went through the same thing.”
I know she does. Except Britt didn’t just take off. She totally disappeared. She walked away after wrapping the season finale where her boyfriend at the time proposed and ended up enrolling at Western University where she met Colby McNichols. One drunk Vegas wedding later, and their love story is history.
“But you figured it out,” I say wistfully. “You were brave enough to carve out your own path.”
“You’re right, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t scary at the time. Or that I didn’t have second thoughts, afraid I was making a huge mistake. You’re allowed to do the same, Chey. You don’t have to keep living this life if it’s not what you want. Despite what Mom says, you’re old enough to make your own decisions.”
Thick emotion clogs my throat because deep down, I know she’s right.
But it’s terrifying.
Britt’s a talented singer, and the long-running reality show our family has become synonymous with was originally built around her. After she left, Mom shoved me center stage, pushing me to sing, as if I could somehow fill the void my sister left behind.
“I don’t know what life without the show looks like yet.” I barely remember what it was like before we started filming. In a way, it feels like I grew up in front of the cameras.
“The good thing is that you don’t need to have it all figured out right now,” she replies. “Just don’t let Mom force you into something you don’t want.”