Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
“Let ’em through,” Grandpa Dragon ordered as a policeman put out his hand to stop us. “It’s their house.”
I barely registered the man’s look of surprise that some biker was ordering him around before I’d passed him. I ran up the drive and down the walkway to the door, taking the porch steps in one leap.
Stopping in the doorway, I could barely comprehend what I was seeing. My breath caught, and it felt like I was outside my body, cataloging the ruin like it was a documentary on TV and not my living room.
Teddy’s terrified moan would be a sound I heard in my dreams for the rest of my life.
Chapter 15
Jesse
“Tell Isla I said hi,” I sang, flopping back onto the couch as Dylan walked away, putting his phone to his ear.
Swear to God, that girl called more than telemarketers. I got it—she and Dylan had been together for years, and he couldn’t imagine being without her—but good grief, she was a lot. She was always calling and texting and making herself known, no matter what we were doing. It was like she had some kind of radar that alerted her to a moment when Dyl wasn’t thinking of her, and she had to nip that shit in the bud.
“This movie sucks,” Finn said, flinging himself onto his back. “Do we have to finish it?”
“Quitters never win, and winners never quit,” I replied, poking him with my toes.
“Dylan’s not even watching it.”
“That’s because Dylan’s p—” I snapped my mouth shut before I said something that I knew my mom would kill me for if Finn started repeating it. “Fine, what do you want to watch?”
“Marvel,” my little brother replied quickly. “Marathon.”
“That’ll take us days.”
“So? It’s summer, and you have no friends. What else are you going to do?”
“Hey,” I protested. “I have friends.”
“Only on the internet.”
“I have plenty of friends.”
Finn made a big show of sitting up and looking around the room. “Huh. Where are these friends you speak of?”
“You’re one to talk.”
“Hayden already sent me a letter,” Finn replied smugly. “And so did Micah.”
“Ooh, Mr. Popular.”
“Have any of your friends sent you letters?”
“My friends call me, turdbucket.”
“Your friends call you turdbucket?” Finn asked with a laugh. “Are you sure they’re your friends?”
“You know that’s not what I meant,” I replied. “I liked you better when you couldn’t talk.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“You’re right. I didn’t,” I conceded. “But you’re still a smartass.”
“Better than a dumbass,” he replied happily, making me laugh.
“Put on the movie you want to watch,” I ordered, getting up from the couch. “You want a soda or lemonade?”
“Lemonade, please,” he said, diving for the remote. “With ice.”
“Got it.”
When I got to the kitchen, Dylan was sitting at the table, his forehead resting on the palm of his hand.
“You know I miss you,” he murmured, shooting me a quick look before his eyes went back to the tabletop. “I was just there, Isla. My dad said I can’t come back for a few months.”
I made a big show of getting out glasses and filling them with ice and lemonade, when I was actually taking my sweet time so I could listen in on Dylan’s conversation.
His girlfriend was getting harder and harder to like. At first, I thought that maybe if she realized how miserable he’d been that first couple of weeks after she left, she’d want him to go out and do some stuff to take his mind off it. But the longer their relationship went on, the more I realized that she was kind of counting on him pining away for her. She wanted him to be miserable without her and couldn’t stand it when he did anything fun that didn’t include her.
It was gross.
“Can you get chips too?” Finn called from the living room.
“Geez, you’re needy,” I called back, walking to the pantry to grab the chips.
“Yeah, they live here,” Dylan said, his voice even quieter than before. “We’re watchin’ Finn. I can’t just go up to my room.”
I rolled my eyes as I stuffed the bag of chips under my arm and reached for the lemonade glasses.
“Isla, you know it’s not—”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I muttered as I passed him. “I like tits, Isla!” I called, raising my voice so I knew she could hear me. “Love boobs. Love them so much!”
Dylan glared at me, baring his teeth as he shooed me away.
I laughed under my breath as I joined Finn again, handing over his snacks.
“I’m going to have a girlfriend just like Isla,” Finn announced as he opened the chips.
“No, you are not,” I replied firmly. “If your girlfriend is up your ass all the time, I’ll have her removed. Permanently.”
“You sound like a mobster.”
“She’ll be sleeping with the fishes,” I replied, lowering my voice.
“Isla’s pretty,” Finn said with a shrug.
“That’s about all she is.” I curled my legs up and tucked my feet into the spot between the couch cushions. “She’s not very nice to Dyl. You don’t want someone like that.”