Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 160041 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 800(@200wpm)___ 640(@250wpm)___ 533(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160041 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 800(@200wpm)___ 640(@250wpm)___ 533(@300wpm)
But the wine … oh, the wine, my dear muse, is calling my name.
I slide my chair back and gravitate toward my rack of bottles of carefully selected beauties that I’ve managed to find over the years and grab the one that’s been eyeing me from day one.
“You’re mine now,” I muse, tapping the bottle before I pop it open and pour myself a nice big glass. “Ahhh … perfect.” I swirl it around and take a sip. “Just a few more and maybe I’ll finally be able to think straight.” I chuckle at myself. “Good one, Orion.”
But as I put the glass to my lips, my phone buzzes, distracting me from my midday binge. I pick it up and nearly drop my glass when I read the text my mother sent to the family chat.
Mom: They found Sunny. She’s in the hospital.
I slam down my glass and immediately grab my fur coat along with my pen and notebook and shimmy out the door.
When I get to the hospital, everyone in our extended family, as well as their loved ones, has already arrived, even Silas, and I’m shocked he even cared enough to come see her. Then again, his family probably dragged him along because they’re friends with Sunny’s mother.
I swallow back the lump in my throat as I approach the group. “Is she really back?”
“Barely,” Aspen responds, sucking in a breath. “But I’m glad she was found alive.”
“Where did they find her?” Xavier asks.
“In the woods, apparently,” their half sister, Melody, says, and she shrugs. “I wonder what she was doing there.”
“Can’t have been good, since she was covered in blood,” my half brother Heath growls, folding his arms.
“Blood?” His sister Cecelia’s eyes widen.
“Sounds gnarly,” Atlas says.
“She can handle it,” his brother Apollo says. “She’s a Reed.”
Atlas bumps him with his elbow. “Read the room, bro.”
“Where’s Mom?” I ask Heath.
He points at the door up ahead. “Inside, with all the other parents, as well as Levi, Max, and Elliot.”
I’m glad her brothers are by her side. Even if she’ll never show it, I know she needs them.
“I hope she’s okay,” Cecelia mutters to herself while biting her lip.
“I just hope the guy who found her won’t be a problem,” Silas says, folding his arms behind his head.
“How so?” I ask.
“Because he’s a damn cop, that’s why.”
“Well, shit,” Grey, one of Aspen’s boyfriends, mutters.
“Wait, is it the same one who was investigating our family because of some murders?” Aspen asks.
“Yup,” Apollo responds, taking a sip of his Coke. “Want me to smash his face in?”
“NO!” the three girls, Aspen, Ivy, and Cecelia, say in sync.
“What? It was just a suggestion.” Apollo shrugs.
“That’s not a solution to our problem, dude,” Heath says.
“The police have been sniffing around for months,” Silas says.
Xavier leans forward. “And whose fault is that?”
Silas narrows his eyes at him. “I have urges. You want me to take them out on you instead?”
“Hey,” Apollo interjects. “No fighting.”
“Who put you in charge?” Silas grits.
“Your parents and mine did, so shut your damn mouth,” Apollo barks back.
“Someone has to keep the peace in this family,” Melody muses with a lightheaded voice. “Otherwise, we would’ve caused another bloodbath in these hospital halls.”
“Does anyone know why Sunny was in those woods?” Xavier asks.
No one answers. I don’t think anyone knows.
Not until she tells us.
If she’ll ever tell us.
Because if there’s one thing everyone knows Sunny Reed can do well, it’s keeping secrets.
Sunny
Every head of each of our poly families is currently in my very crowded room. Ares, Caleb, Blaine, and their lover Crystal, my mom and dad and her two other lovers, and even the entire Rivera family, including Penelope, Dylan, Felix, and Alistair.
It should be a happy reunion for them, but all I want to do when they see me is look away.
“My baby,” Mom says, as she hugs me so tightly I can barely breathe. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
Okay?
I am not okay.
I exist.
That’s about it.
“The doctors told us they had to keep giving you infusions,” Dad says, swallowing away the lump in his throat. “You lost a lot of blood.”
Tears form in his eyes, but he immediately blinks them away. My dad rarely ever cries. I don’t think I’ve seen a single tear roll down his cheeks. Maybe once in a blue moon, but that’s it.
Which is why this is so difficult to stomach.
I hold out my arm, and he comes to hug me too.
I don’t want them worrying about me.
I’m alive. I’m here. That’s all that matters.
At least, for now.
“We were worried about you,” Max says as he grabs my hand.
When my parents release me from their hug, Elliot comes in next and hugs me tightly. “Missed you.”
“C’mon, don’t exaggerate,” I quip, making him laugh.
“You know better than to disappear on us, bitch,” he claps back.
“How long has it been?” I ask.