Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 119852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Kyle full-blown laughs in the face of her indignation, to the point where he’s bent over, bracing himself on his knees and wheezing. “Kayla, things are never about me. You, on the other hand, are quite often the front and center star of the Harrington family show, and this is definitely gonna sully your Miss Perfect image. To be honest, I’m proud of you. Fuck family and societal expectations, amiright?” He holds up a hand for a high-five.
“God, if you’re giving me a stamp of approval, then I know I’m screwing up,” Kayla grumbles, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes, but there’s the hint of a smile trying to shape her lips. And slowly, she holds her hand up, not going so far as to return his high-five, but rather allowing him to smack her palm, which he does with gusto.
What is happening? Are they shit-talking each other or is this Kyle’s version of acceptance? It seems to be… both? It came surprisingly quicker than I would’ve thought. Especially given the shocking nudity this whole conversation started with.
Kyle looks to Riggs, then me. “The guy part of me wants to high-five you both too because, while I’m not exactly a hockey fan, I have seen you play so I know I’m in the presence of greatness. But the brotherly part of me wants to kick your asses for tag-teaming my sister.”
“You could try,” Riggs offers, so unconcerned with any potential attack that he doesn’t even tense his muscles.
“Who said we tag-team?” I mutter at the same time.
“Kyle!” Kayla scolds. “Maddox!” Somehow, Riggs gets off scot-free on that exchange. Lucky fucker.
Kyle drops his voice, leaning in like we won’t hear him when he asks Kayla, “Doesn’t that thing hurt?” He drops his eyes to Riggs’s crotch for a fraction of a second to clarify what he’s asking about, as if we didn’t all already know.
Straight-faced, she retorts, “Do you really want to know?”
He jerks back, shaking his head and waving his hands back and forth wildly. “Changed my mind. Nope. No, I do not wanna know. Didn’t ask a thing.” But then his eyes get a devious glint in them that I’ve seen before—in hers. “You know who will want to know, though? Samantha.” He nods with certainty, pulling his phone out and starting to click around. “She’s gonna want you to be a guest on her podcast so she can ask you all sorts of intimate questions, like what goes where and when. And Chance’s head is gonna implode. It’s gonna be great.”
“What are you doing?” Kayla demands, smacking his phone down.
“Telling Mom that we need a family dinner, STAT.” Sliding his phone into his back pocket, and out of Kayla’s reach, he tells us, “As the guests of honor, you two are obviously invited.” He holds up two fingers, wiggling them in our direction. Rolling his eyes in delight, he groans, “Fuck, I can’t wait to see the looks on everyone’s faces. Think Cole would help me set up hidden cameras so I get the whole thing on video, from every angle? Oh shit, I’m gonna love to see his dossier on you two!” He begins framing various views of the three of us in a rectangle made of his thumbs and index fingers like a photographer.
A family dinner? Like to meet Kayla’s whole family? That sounds… terrifying, if I’m honest. I haven’t done anything like that in… well, ever, but I can turn on the charm and make it work. Riggs, on the other hand, might end up grunting his way through the meal and punching someone before dessert. Possibly Kyle, given the way he’s currently glowering at him.
“You are not telling Mom we need a dinner,” Kayla proclaims, authority in every word of the order.
“Uh, I literally already did,” Kyle scoffs, not at all affected by her bossiness. “With how much you’ve meddled in every single one of our lives? It only seems fair to dish a bit back atcha. Besides, didn’t you literally do this exact thing to Chance and Samantha?”
“You mean, I helped you and the rest of the boys,” she corrects, staying away from whether or not she pulled a dinner invitation deal on her brother. I’m pretty sure that means she did and this is payback.
“Same difference,” he says, glancing at his phone again. “Dinner’s on Friday. Mom’s super-excited,” he informs us gleefully, but then frowns. “In hindsight, she probably thinks I’m announcing me and Dani getting engaged, which isn’t happening. Yet.” He holds up finger, warning Kayla not to start shit about that, despite riling her up in countless ways and continuing to press his luck. “Want me to give Mom the headcount?”
Kayla’s voice is tighter than her clenched teeth as she says, “I’ll do it.”
“Oh, and I already texted the sibling chat too. So your phone’s probably blowing up… wherever it is.” He makes a show of looking from one side of the living room to the other, remembering that Riggs and I went different directions for clothes.