Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 121887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
“You’re in your first blush with Javi, and we need to give Arthur time to work, so we’re not gonna get together tonight. But tomorrow night, after you three get off of work,”—Luna bounced her head to Shanti, Jess and me—“we’ll meet at headquarters.” Her gaze came to rest on me. “It’s not a lot of time, I love it that you two are so loved up, you should have some space to settle in, but the show must go on.”
I agreed.
As much as I’d like to hole up and cuddle and watch movies and snooze with and pounce on Javi for two or three weeks (or months), the show had to go on.
“And we also asked Arthur for intel on Javi’s dad. So, if he can get anything, we can talk about that tomorrow too,” Luna concluded.
That, I needed ASAP. Because if my mom could make me feel small and meaningless by just hearing her voice say my name, I couldn’t imagine how Javi’s dad made him feel when he blew up his phone, demanding Javi give him something he one hundred percent did not earn.
And as Javi did with me (in his way), I was going to put a stop to it.
“Works for me,” I said.
“Great, we have a plan,” Luna said, and she put her hand in.
The rest of us were putting our hands in to do our Angel huddle break, when Tex boomed from the coffee cubby, “I don’t hear servers serving!”
Which meant we all smiled at each other before we said, “One, two, three, Angels unite.”
I decided to do it when Javi wasn’t around, but Jess and Shanti were.
That was, Javi was around, since he was sitting outside right then, waiting for me in his truck, because our shift was over, but he wasn’t right there.
And what I’d decided to do was listen to the three voicemails my dad left, and the one from Easton.
I wanted to get it out of the way so I could have a chill night with my guy.
But I didn’t want to do it alone. I needed bestie backup. And there was no time during the day, because we were consistently busy.
I started with Easton, because I knew whatever he said wouldn’t be a surprise.
And it wasn’t.
This being him biting at me, “Fucking uncool, Harlow. You should be ashamed of yourself. Didn’t hear you complaining when Mom gave you a Mustang to drive when you were in high school. Get over yourself. Apologize to our mother. Unless you do, I don’t want you at my birthday dinner or to see you at all.”
He had conveniently forgotten that Mom and Dad gave him that Mustang. Since he’d gone to Columbia, and didn’t need it due to it being easier to get around New York taking advantage of their mass transit system, he’d left it behind. And since he wasn’t in Phoenix, he didn’t know I only got to use it when Mom allowed me to, which frankly, wasn’t that often.
Though, every time she did, she reminded me to, “Be extra careful with that car, Harlow. It’s your brother’s pride and joy. It would devastate him if something happened to it,” which made me so nervous to borrow it, in the end, I didn’t even bother to ask. Instead, I bummed rides from friends or borrowed Dad’s car.
Everything that was me wanted to call Easton and explain this, take time to make him understand, give my brother one more shot at being a brother.
Everything that was me, though, was the old me.
The new me, the real me, knew he’d never understand, no matter what I said, no matter the pains I took to explain.
This made me get mad he was being such a dick, not to mention, sticking his nose into something that really didn’t concern him. It was between Mom and me.
Therefore, I opened my texts to Jessie muttering an alarmed, cautionary, “Babe.”
I ignored her and texted, That Mustang was yours. You still own it. I didn’t get a new car at age sixteen. So it isn’t me who has to get over myself. You never gave the barest effort to get to know me. If you never see me again, no skin off your nose, you’re not losing a sister, you never had one. And the same goes for me, since I never had a brother. You were too busy enjoying Mom kissing your ass.
I heard Shanti’s shocked hiss, but I sent the text, then I blocked my brother.
After that, I went again to voicemail.
“Maybe you should take a break,” Jessie suggested.
In for a penny…
I hit go and listened to Dad’s first.
“Harlow, honey, your mother is very upset. We need to talk. I’m not sure what got into you, but I think there are some wounds your mother inadvertently inflicted that we need to discuss. Call me.”