Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“Here, Harpy,” my dad said, handing me the mug. “You good?”
“Yeah?” I looked up from my coffee. “Why?”
“Your face is funny.”
“Gee, thanks.” I scowled at him.
“You’re pretty as ever,” he clarified. “But you look like someone kicked your dog.”
“I don’t have a dog.”
He shot me a look telling me he didn’t find me funny.
“I’m fine,” I said, shaking my head. “Everything’s fine. I mean, I got fired from my freaking job and I’m homeless because the apartment came with the job and I have no car because that also came with the job, but you know. I’m peachy. Just great. Fabulous, really.”
“You’ll find a new job.”
“Of course I will,” I replied automatically. “But it still sucks.”
“Not worth riskin’ prison time,” Dad said dryly. “Ask me how I know.”
I snickered as my mom glared at my dad before rolling her eyes.
“I know, right? Like, I’m not going to prison because I helped some other guy make money. If I’m going to prison, that money better be in my fucking pocket.”
Dad burst out laughing.
“That’s my girl,” Mom said dryly. She walked over to my dad and kissed him. “I blame you.”
“You’re the one who gave her that mind,” he replied, wrapping one arm around her waist.
“You’re the one who gave her those morals.”
“She’s got great morals,” he murmured against her mouth.
“Yeah, yeah,” she whispered, kissing him again before pulling away. “Let me know if you think of anything else we need at the store.”
“I will. Love you two.”
“Love you back,” I called as I led the way out of the house.
We climbed into my mom’s car, but she didn’t start it up right away. Instead, she looked at me with a small smile.
“What?”
“I hope you know that we’re proud of you.”
“Because I got epically fired from my job?”
“No, because you stuck to your guns,” she said, turning forward again to start the car. “You walked out when you saw shit you weren’t comfortable with, and even after your boss called and told you to go back in there, you didn’t back down.”
“I pretty much fucked myself,” I grumbled. “But thanks, I guess.”
“You’ll find something new,” Mom said reassuringly. “I bet you’ve already got emails waiting for you. Have you turned your phone on yet?”
“Hell no,” I said, taking a drink of my coffee.
My parents always had the best coffee, and I could never figure out why. Once, I’d even bought their entire setup when I was feeling homesick, but it wasn’t the same.
“You’re going to need your phone at some point. What if I need to get ahold of you?”
I waved between us. “You could just turn your head.”
“I’m guessing you won’t want to be up my ass forever.”
“You really have a way with words.”
“Thanks, it’s a gift.”
“I don’t want to see all of the notifications waiting for me,” I said with a sigh. “There’s literally no one that could be trying to reach me that I want to talk to.”
“Well, you’ve got all of your cousins that are going to want to see you.” She glanced at me. “How are you guys going to make plans?”
“Right.”
I stared at the familiar route to my grandparents’ house, holding back my confession with sheer will and a clenched jaw. My mother didn’t need to know that I’d been all over a guy at a party the night before. She really didn’t need to know who I’d been with.
But, as the silence dragged on in the car, my stomach began to sink.
“You could call Myla from my phone, I guess,” she finally said. “Or Meg.”
“Who told you?” I snapped, turning in my seat.
“Told me what?”
“Oh, don’t even try it. I know you know.”
“You have a guilty conscience or something?”
“For fuck’s sake, Ma!”
“Meg told Cecilia last night in some drunken phone call, and your aunt called me this morning asking if I knew what the hell her kid was talking about.”
“That’s fucking awesome.”
“So, you want to tell me what happened?”
“Nothing happened.”
“Then why are you asking who told me?”
“I kissed Bas,” I spit out before clamping my mouth shut again.
“Oh. Shit. So, Meg was right.”
“I don’t know how the hell Meg knows. She wasn’t even there.”
“I thought she went to the party?”
“She was at the party, she didn’t see the kiss.”
“Well, someone must’ve.”
“Noel,” I muttered. “And honestly, I’m a little pissed because I never thought she’d be the one gossiping.”
“That’s fair,” my mom replied. “But I don’t think she was. I think Gray was looking for you or something, and when Noel saw you two, she told him what was going on—probably so he wouldn’t walk in on something he didn’t want to see.”
“We were just kissing!”
“Must’ve been one hell of a kiss.”
“Well, I know that Gray wasn’t telling people.”
“Everyone found out somehow,” Mom said grimly as we rolled to a stop in front of my grandparents’ place. “Brace yourself, because with the way the club gossips, everyone knows by now.”