Series: Cobalt Empire Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 220
Estimated words: 215301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1077(@200wpm)___ 861(@250wpm)___ 718(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 215301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1077(@200wpm)___ 861(@250wpm)___ 718(@300wpm)
“I doubt Tom is hiding anything,” Ben says seriously, advocating on my behalf. He’s honestly the best roommate.
“Thank you, Ben Pirrip,” I say. “I don’t have a duplicitous bone in my body.”
His smile grows. “I didn’t say that.”
He’s still the best.
Beckett rises off the floor. “If you’re texting Leo—”
“What—no,” I cringe. “I’m offended you’d think I’d even entertain a text from that prick after I promised you I wouldn’t.” I spin toward Charlie. “And you want to talk about being vague, dude? Why don’t you give us specifics on why you’re in such a foul mood?”
“I specifically hate this conversation. It is moving at such a sluggish rate, I want to shove a lead pencil in my ear canal. I would rather do that, actually.” He outstretches a hand. “You have a number two pencil on you, little brother?”
“No, I do not.” I shove my Zippo lighter in my pocket so he doesn’t get any other masochistic ideas. I can’t tell how serious Charlie is being, but I’m not taking any chances anymore.
“What’s going on?” Beckett asks me directly.
I sigh out. “Well, if you must know, I’ve been thinking that Eliot has been right all along. I shouldn’t hold back with Phoenix when passion sparks creativity. So I just green lit having sex with my drummer.”
Eliot has a massive grin. He starts applauding.
“Eliot has been right all along,” Charlie mocks. “Said no one with an IQ over a hundred.”
Being called an idiot by the genius of the family should not sting. I have heard way worse (and more creative) insults. “I am smart enough to know Eliot isn’t always wrong, dude. It’s a statistical improbability.”
Beckett runs two tense fingers over his brow. “Phoenix is your fuckbuddy now?”
“I don’t…” No, he’s not. My face flames. Pissed just hearing the term “fuckbuddy” when that feels so…vapid. So stupidly surface-level in comparison to what we’ve been. Like, sure, we’re bandmates hooking up, but it didn’t just happen the moment we saw each other. I find the words to say, “He’s my drummer. I’m his singer. We like being around each other. We like doing other things. It’s been good for the band.”
My phone vibrates again.
PHOENIX WOLFGANG
I’m going to call.
Shit. I text fast.
TOM CARRAWAY
I’ll call you. Give me a sec.
“You’re ready to do this with him?” Beckett asks me, knowing I have fortified walls that are hard to breach. I am highly selective for a reason. I don’t want to just fuck anyone and let anyone fuck me.
I ignore the rush of nerves. “Yeah. It’s not like this is my first time. Okay, I know exactly what’s about to happen.” I take a tight breath. “I want it to happen.”
I want to be closer to him. Deeper. And I hate the feeling of stalling out.
I hate the idea that we might backslide.
Beckett takes a seat beside Charlie and stares at the floor in thought. “Maybe you should call Moffy.” He’s our oldest male cousin.
Maximoff Hale might not be a Cobalt, but he’s like the big invincible brother to all of us, and for me, he’s more. When he came out as bi to the whole family…I still remember that Christmas at the lake house. Still remember being ten years old and feeling so overwhelmed knowing this cousin, the one I had stars in my eyes around, wasn’t so different from me.
I wasn’t so alone, and I knew, right then, that I’d always have Moffy to run to for advice. For things I didn’t want to go to my dad for. Moffy never makes anything clinical or embarrassing—he’s just fucking cool.
And I have gone to him. Especially when I was younger.
“I’m older and more experienced,” I tell Beckett. “I don’t need to call Moffy for sex advice like I’m sixteen. Even this conversation is more than I really need.” I extend my arms. “Most people do not openly tell their brothers they’re about to fuck their drummer. Okay, I am sharing more than I frankly should.”
Charlie is staring at the same spot on the floor as Beckett.
I frown at the dead silence. Ben looks around at all of us, and Eliot shrugs at me when I slip him my confusion. He has no answers to the weird quiet. Maybe we’re just too used to vicious back-and-forths.
It feels more normal when Charlie looks up at me and says, “Then go get fucked.”
I flip him off. “I will.”
“Be careful,” Beckett says. “Make sure he uses lube.” That off-handed comment actually roasts my neck.
I put a confident palm to my chest. “I have more experience in this than all of you, thank you. I will be more than fine. Appreciate the concern, but I have to call him now.” I wave my phone and make a quick exit.
Beckett leaves the room seconds after I do. When I check over my shoulder, our eyes meet in the hall for a brief moment, and there is a struggle in his expression I can’t make sense of. He’s the most stoic of my brothers, at times too hard to read. If his emotions were strings, he’d clip all the frayed ends and retighten them until he can’t even breathe.