Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 135539 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135539 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
“We’re both guilty here,” she’s saying. “I feel like such a jerk.”
I give myself a mental shake and focus on a spot just above her head. “No, it was my idea. This one is on me.”
“I’m going around pretending to be your fiancée. I think I’m a little in it.” The dryness of her tone is unmistakable.
My skin feels too tight, my fingers itching to breach the distance between us. “I put you here. I only thought of the moment.” Of being close to you. “It was stupid. I should have thought of how they’d react.”
Her nose wrinkles in that cute way that makes me want to kiss it. “We both forgot.”
I know why I forgot, but for a fleeting instant, I want to ask her why she did too. Was it for the same reasons? But I bat that aside and blow out a long breath. “Okay, tell me what’s happened so far.”
Pen wrings her hands. “Where to begin? Okay, let’s see. They showed up at my apartment. Jan paid for their tickets as soon as they found out the news. According to them, he wants to know what’s up too.”
I wince. “I guess we should be thankful he didn’t come with them.”
“There’s that.” The way she gives me a sidelong look makes it clear Jan is the least of her worries. Then again, Jan wouldn’t kick her ass the way he would mine. Pen leans back against the door. “When they found out I’m moving back into Pops and Pegs’s house, it was suggested that the reason we’re doing this is so you can pay my debts—”
“What the fuck!” I cut in sharply.
Her expression turns so dry, I feel it in my throat.
“What are they supposed to think?” She lifts a hand in exasperation. “This is exactly why I didn’t want your help— What are you doing?”
Obviously, I’ve taken her hand in mine, so I don’t answer. Yanking back the drapes, I head for the patio through the French doors, a protesting Pen in tow. My fingers link with hers, securing my grip but keeping it gentle when I’m feeling anything but.
My sisters, lounging by the pool in bikinis, see me almost immediately.
“Oh, look, the happy couple is holding hands!”
“They don’t look happy to me.”
“True, June. True. Trouble in paradise—”
“Enough!” The use of my field voice has them shutting up. “Not another fucking snide word out of you two.”
At my side, Pen grimaces like she wants the ground to eat her up. I did this. They did this too. The Lucks strike again. Guilt crawls over my skin, but I ignore it in favor of staring down my sisters. We don’t usually fight—bicker, sure. But they don’t see me angry often. It’s enough to make them squirm now.
“Let’s get some things clear. We are aware this news wasn’t handled well, but that is the last time you talk shit. You’re hurting Pen. Your friend.”
“August.” Pen tugs my hand. “It’s okay.”
I keep my glare on my sisters. “No, Pen. It isn’t.”
June has the grace to look away, her cheeks coloring with guilt. May, however, grits her teeth and attempts to take control. “Listen, buddy, you—”
“No, you listen. Who paid your way to LA?”
She blinks in confused surprise. “Jan did. Because he—”
“Your brother paid your way. Not you.”
“Because he’s our brother.”
“Yeah, and Pen’s family. She’s been with us our whole lives, so if I offer to help her out with whatever I choose, don’t you dare suggest she’s taking advantage.”
Pen groans and thumps her head against my arm. “They didn’t really suggest that.”
“Oh, yes they did. I could see it in your face. And it hurt you.”
She lifts her head then and gives me the beady eye. “When I texted to get your butt here, it was to figure out what to tell them, not for you to go charging in and yell at them on my behalf.”
My ire bursts like a stuck balloon. Shit. I’ve been managing her. The dark look she sends me makes it clear she knows I’ve just realized this. “I made it worse, didn’t I?”
A glint lights her eyes. “I wouldn’t go that far. They were being kind of snide.”
“Hey!”
Pen ignores May. “Just don’t go all QB mode on me and start barking out commands like you’re the only one in charge.” Her smile becomes sly but somehow brilliant like she’s turned on a light inside her. “We can tell them off together.”
For a second, I swear my knees go a little weak. May and June are scoffing, and we’ll get to them in a second. Right now, it’s all I can do not to pull her close and kiss the hell out of that smiling mouth. She solidified us as a team. I’ll follow her anywhere she wants to go. She has to know that.