Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 136029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Beckett tries again. “Sul—”
“I don’t want to fucking talk to you,” she snaps, angry tears breaching. She holds up a foamy cup of beer. “I’m pointlessly destroying my body tonight. So you can go fuck off.”
Beckett removes the cigarette that’s tucked behind his ear. “How long are we going to do this?”
“Until I forget how you so casually took a massive shit on our eighteen-year friendship.” Her eyes flame. “Can you go?”
“I’m already leaving.” He pauses, though, and I realize most of our group is drifting towards the bar. He locks eyes with Donnelly.
But instead of approaching his ex-bodyguard like I think he might want to do, Beckett beelines for the girls at the inflatable palm trees.
I can’t fix these broken relationships, as much as I wish I could.
I’m barely able to keep the one I have with Charlie intact.
“What happened?” I ask Sulli with force.
She lifts her phone, still clenched in a fist. “I talked to my boyfriend tonight, and I learned some fucked up shit.”
“Like what?” I hear the heat in my voice.
“I know why Akara’s been so fucking standoffish around me since December.”
This can’t be good.
And out of my peripheral, I see Charlie, squeezing between bodies and trying to make his way down the bar.
To me.
With hot urgency.
Sulli notices too, and I search the crowd and find who I need. “Janie!” I gesture my best friend closer, and the cat-ears on her headband bounce as she trots through the masses.
“Moffy.” Charlie’s already grabbing my elbow. “You need to come with me.” Concern hits his yellow-green eyes, and him seeking me out for help is like an ominous fog descending on the bar.
Janie squeezes in.
“Stay with Sulli?” I ask as Charlie pulls me away.
She nods confidently. “I’ll get you another lemonade too!” She must see me empty-handed, and Jane’s been the best best woman, ensuring that I always have a drink. Even if they’re all nonalcoholic.
Charlie drags me through the crowds, too quickly for temp security to lead out in front. I take a fast glance behind me, but the bar is too congested to spot our off-duty bodyguards.
I suspect Farrow and Oscar probably aren’t too far behind.
Closer to the speakers, a Beach Boys song blasts my eardrums. “What’s going on, Charlie?!” I shout over the music.
He keeps moving but tips his head back so I can hear. “Your sister is here.”
My sister.
It takes a hard millisecond to register that he’s not referring to Luna.
Kinney.
Kinney is here.
My brows cinch. “You sure it’s her?!”
He slips me an annoyed glance. “Black hair. Bangs. Looks at you like she wants to eat your soul.” He puts a cigarette to his lips. “Basically wishes she were my mom.”
Yeah, that’s my little sister. I keep pace with his stride, coming up beside him. No longer having to yell.
Charlie explains, “I passed her when I went to the bathroom.”
My blood boils, mostly concerned she’s alone. We push through the crowds, people stationary like pillars just drinking and chatting.
“Charlie! Charlie!” A girl grabs at his shirt. “Will you sign my clutch?!”
“No.” He shakes her off like she’s a pest.
For some reason, it has the opposite effect. She says a breathy, “I love you.”
Charlie barely blinks. “This way.” His fingers curl around my wrist, and he yanks me to the side emergency exit door.
Shadowed and partially hidden behind drooping beach balls, Kinney loiters alone. Gangly and five-foot-four. She tugs at the lacy black sleeves of her dress, looking lost and way out of her fucking element.
Off the cuff, I can’t remember a time where my sister wasn’t radiating confidence. Seeing her so small punctures my heart.
But my gaze toughens too.
Kinney sees us, and relief washes over her round face. Quickly, she tries to replace that with her blasé attitude. My sister isn’t as good at masking it this time.
“Kinney, what are you doing here?” I ask, and then I notice she’s actually not alone. Her bodyguard leans against a surfboard to her right. He’s a younger guy on SFE. A few other Epsilon bodyguards have been hovering around the bar since Eliot, Tom, Beckett and Ben still use Price’s Triple Shield Services.
I’m on fire, and usually a bodyguard wouldn’t be the target of my red-hot rage. Because they’re not babysitters to my brother and sisters. But this is different.
My parents were fucking clear about the girls not being allowed at this bar. I zero in on him, and Kinney sidesteps to stand between me and him.
“He’s cool, Moffy.” Fuck that.
“Hey!” I yell at the bodyguard, and I keep a hand on my sister’s bony shoulder and gesture him forward.
He takes one step off the surfboard.
“She shouldn’t be here.”
The SFE bodyguard holds up his hands in surrender. “She snuck out herself. I didn’t do anything but follow her.” He’s one of those.
Dammit. I swallow a growl that scrubs my lungs. Anyone else, and maybe I wouldn’t be riddled with frustrated anger, but Kinney likes to think she’s older than she is. She doesn’t need a bodyguard that takes a backseat.