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)
Shaking his head, he adds, “I thought she’d get teased a little, then in true Kayla fashion, she’d tell us all to get fucked and to leave her alone about it. I never dreamed she’d ditch the family. I really screwed up this time and I don’t know how to fix it.”
Thank fuck, Kayla’s right about him. Kyle can fuck up, but he’s got a big, big heart. If she’d been wrong, we’d be taking this a whole different direction. “Try talking to her,” I suggest, stating the obvious. “It often works.”
His brows climb his forehead, and he looks amused for the first time. “She doesn’t call you smart, does she?”
“Definitely not,” I say with a laugh. “I’m the brawn, she’s the brains.”
“What’s that make Brooks?”
“The party.” That’s not exactly true. Maddox is so much more than that, but he’s carefully cultivated his image as a happy-go-lucky guy and likes to keep his caring, observant nature under wraps as a secret superpower. At least until he trusts you.
Kyle grins, accepting my answer. I can see his mind turning, like the little hamster is getting carried away in there. “You love her?”
“That’s a complicated question,” I say slowly, knowing I’m on ground about as stable as the surface of my pool right now. “The last time I was in love, it ended with me crying in the fetal position, in the dark, with a near-zero bank balance and PTSD.” The dark humor pops out unexpectedly, and where before, it’d come with bitterness, now it’s just the truth. Pieces of my past that got me to where I am now… with Kayla.
“It wasn’t a question,” Kyle says, a man who apparently knows without my answering. “You love her.”
It’s a boldly plain statement that forces me to examine the hauntingly and terrifyingly familiar feelings in my chest. With a nod, I admit, “I do.”
“She love you… and Brooks too?”
I have to think about that for a second, but in the end, I truthfully answer, “I don’t think she knows. Her last relationship didn’t end well either, so she’s not exactly a romantic.”
“Kayla had a relationship?” he blurts out, his eyes widening. “Like with a guy and not a spreadsheet? I didn’t think she ever really dated. She’s always work, work, work, work.” He sings the last bit, sounding like he’s aiming for Rihanna but ending up somewhere closer to a military marching chant that’s honestly more representative of Kayla’s work ethic.
“There’s a lot you don’t know. You should ask her sometime. I think she’d like to share more with you,” I tell him. “Maybe not Chance. He’s a stuck up prick. But you.”
He chuckles, saying, “Yeah, that’s his problem to figure out, but I think me and Kayla are overdue for some deeper conversations after I fix this.” He holds his hand out, and we shake the way I wish we could’ve at a first meeting with Kayla’s family. “Thanks for the tough love. You gonna tell her I was here?”
“Do I need to?”
“Nah, guess I’m going to Blue Lake now to take my lumps.” He gets a devilish glint in his eye. “Haven’t been there in years. Might be fun to roll in like this, the forgotten son with dirty work boots and a sweaty tank top, see what kind of shit I can start.”
Disappointed, I growl, “Have you learned nothing?”
“I won’t start anything major,” he argues, holding his finger and thumb a solid inch apart. “Just minor, no big deal, fun stuff. Kayla might have a reputation to uphold, but so do I.” He winks like ‘you get it, right?’
“Black sheep?” I say, and he nods with a grin. “You want that shiner, then? It’d get tongues wagging.” I glance behind me like I’m looking for something, then tell him, “You’d have to sign a waiver first, though. Lawyer’s orders.”
“Lawyers suck.”
“That they do, but they protect us too.” I figure the Harringtons probably have an army of lawyers at their beck and call, so Kyle understands the necessity even more than I do.
“You’re alright,” he declares.
“Yeah, you might be too, depending on how your conversation with Kayla goes,” I reply. “I’ll reserve judgment until after that.”
He grins, understanding that. I’m pretty sure he has experience with being handed his opinion on things from Kayla before too. “Brooks here? I have some things to say to him too.”
“He’s out, getting his hair cut. You can come back later if you want? Talk to him and maybe have a beer? Or I could give him a message?”
“Just tell him I’m sorry for fucking things up and that I’ll do my best to undo it. I want to do right by Kayla. Fuck knows, she’s saved my ass too many times to count. Seems only fair for me to save hers this time.”
“Except she didn’t get herself into a jam,” I remind him. “You did. It doesn’t count as saving her if you’re the one who put her in danger.”