Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66997 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66997 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
I didn’t say anything because according to my mom, people like them meant people who did unsavory business deals in even more unsavory places and then used money to manipulate people and outcomes they wanted. They weren’t part of a crime syndicate, but they were something worse. The big bad wolf hiding in plain sight. Jude just said that’s how business happened when we were little, but in high school it was harder and harder to shield me from men coming in and out of his house which is why we started hanging out at mine when we had to study. The term mafia was never used, but I realized it was like fight club, you just didn’t talk about it, because if you did, you’d end up dead.
His entire family was known around Seattle for having a monopoly on everything that had to do with commercial real estate near the water. They owned every pier, every warehouse, several hotels, and just recently decided to get into the weed business. It wasn’t hard to make the guess what they were using the ports for and what exactly they were moving. It seemed like everyone knew but everyone looked the other way, which meant his stretch was far, and probably included public officials. He was not a man you said no to. He was a man who was used to using money to apologize, ask permission, and make things go away.
Anyone with a minimal amount of logic knew. He was my best friend though so I figured if he wanted to talk about it he would. If he wanted to put on rose colored glasses then dig his head into the sand and say his dead liked to sell fish then who was I to argue that he moved drugs? When you’re friends like that, the privilege in having a person who knows your soul is that you don’t have to ask questions and you don’t have to give answers, not until you’re ready. , I vowed I’d be his shield even if he said he didn’t need it.
“Hey,” Jude stared me down, his blue eyes so intense I wanted to cry. “I lost you there for a minute, you okay?”
“I should be asking you that. Sorry, just thinking thoughts.”
“Oh, is that all?” He placed a hand on my hip then moved it lower. “Same.”
“Jude, remember the pact.” I barely got the words out, my heart skipped a few beats when his eyes moved to my mouth in that lazy way they always did when I knew he was thinking about crossing the line, kissing me, touching me, going beyond the safety of friendship into a zone both of us knew would implode.
“It was second grade.” He said.
“Right, and it still stands. Don’t ruin a good friendship.” My argument sounded so weak, my words even more so.
I wanted to. God knew I wanted to, but I was petrified that if I gave him the one thing we both wanted, he’d stop coming around, I’d become just like every other girl he slept with. And I had something they didn’t. I had his heart, as his friend, I had his soul, as his friend, I had his trust.
All they had was his body.
“Promise me something.” Jude said.
“Anything.”
“Don’t give up your V card to Jenson, he’s an asshole. If you want to lose it to someone, lose it to me, I won’t date you, I won’t force you into a relationship or make things weird, I just can’t stand the idea of any other guy touching you and taking that from you, so if you really do get desperate because you feel like a loser, please get desperate in my direction, alright?”
I laughed and held out my pinky. “Fine. I promise.”
“Wow, we upped the stakes,” He linked his pinky in mine and tugged me across his chest. Not falling in love with my best friend might be the hardest thing I’d ever do. “Let’s go to sleep.”
“I’m tired. I have a test.”
“I have practice.” He pulled me into his arms. “Night princess.”
“Night pauper.”
It was the opposite actually. He was the prince with all the castles and cars, and I was the pauper with a house falling apart around me and a mom with three jobs, plus a dad in prison. Real winners.
And yet he chose to stay in my bed whenever his parents fought or when his dad worked late.
My bed. My arms. My orbit.
I shake off the thoughts and stare at my phone. A message flicks across the screen. Manager A: “Need you to come in ASAP Steven’s got Strep. Nobody else can do it. The boss needs you now, extra money!”
Damn it, Axel. My boss, someone I barely interacted with physically, he texted—literally everything, I’ve seen him once in my life and it was a brief view of a white baseball hat. He was tall, he had a nice speaking voice, but other than that, he was all business, the only reason he hired me was because he had no choice and then after that, kept me on because I was a fan favorite.