Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“Oh, trust me,” he huffs. “I know.”
“This is what happens when you marry your cousin,” I joke with them, and everyone laughs. They really aren’t cousins in that way. My uncle Justin adopted Dylan, who then became best friends with Alex. Only a couple of years ago, they finally declared what everyone already knew; they loved each other.
“Can we get back to what we aren’t supposed to tell Dad?” Cooper asks, and then my father pops up behind him with my uncle Max.
“Yes, please, let’s keep secrets from your father,” Max says, chuckling at him.
“Just like a Band-Aid.” Franny leans over, and I take a deep breath.
“Well”—I clear my throat—“I was thinking about what to do this summer.” I tap the table with my finger. “And I bought a boat.” I look around the table, seeing everyone just looking at me.
“What do you mean you bought a boat?” my father says, glaring at me.
“I mean that I bought a three-bedroom, two-bathroom floating cottage.” I take a drink of water.
“Hold on a second,” Cooper says, putting up his hand. “What do you mean a boat?”
“I have pictures,” I reply, grabbing my phone out of my pocket and opening it to the photo gallery. Handing it to him, I can’t help the smile that fills my face and the calmness that comes over me.
“This is a yacht!” Erika blurts out. “This is not a boat.”
“Where are you parking this?” Michael asks as he grabs the phone from Cooper.
“It’s going to be parked at the marina,” I inform them.
“You can barely drive a car,” Franny joins in. “You live in New York.”
“I can so drive a car,” I reply through clenched teeth, “and I got my boat license.”
“So you can drive the boat?” my uncle Max asks me, shaking his head.
“Eventually,” I answer honestly.
“How the hell did you get a license?” Michael asks me, leaning back in his chair.
“Online,” I tell him, and Franny just gasps. “I did it in one day.”
“That can’t be right,” Wilson says, looking at me and then my father. “Or safe. Right?”
“Who the hell would get a license online to drive a boat?” Alex asks me. “Like, that is bigger than a van we had in Hawaii, and you ran over a flower bed.”
“You will not be driving this boat anywhere,” my father orders. “What the hell are you going to do?”
“I plan to spend the summer on it,” I tell him what I was going to tell him at a later date, but now the secret is out. “So there you go.”
“Absolutely not,” my father says, shaking his head vigorously. “That is not going to happen.”
“Dad,” Franny says, laughing, “she bought the boat. I think it’s pretty much happening.”
“What if there are pirates?” Uncle Max now chimes in, and the whole table laughs.
“It’s New York. I don’t think there are any pirates,” I reassure him, shaking my head.
“I am putting my foot down,” my father insists, and I just look at him.
“Fine,” I reply, getting up. “See you in October!”
CHAPTER 2
XAVIER
My eyes flicker open slowly as the sound of the soft bells fills the room. I blink a couple more times before I roll over the king-size bed, reaching out to stop the ringing. Lying in the middle of the bed with my hand on my chest, I hear the clicking of nails on the floor before I feel her jump up on the bed. “Good morning, Beatrice,” I greet her when I hear her sniffing as she walks toward me. “Did I wake you?” She lies down beside me, putting her head on my chest. I stroke her head. “How did you sleep?” I look down and all she does is blink her eyes for a second before closing her eyes. The room is still pitch black. “Are we not getting up this morning?” I ask her, and I can hear the thumping of her tail on the bed. I toss off the covers, getting up and walking to the bathroom. “You get five more minutes,” I tell her as she lifts her head to look at me before putting her head back down and closing her eyes. I shake my head, walking into the bathroom and turning on the dim lights.
I wash my face and slip on a pair of basketball shorts before turning and walking out of the bathroom. The bed is now empty as I walk out of the room, walking up the five stairs to the galley. The soft lights from under the cabinets fill the almost dark room as I open the shades and start my coffee. I walk to the back with the sliding door and push the curtains open. “I think it’s going to be a nice day,” I state when Beatrice comes beside my leg. “They said it was going to rain, but I don’t know about that.” I turn and walk back down to my bedroom to grab a sweater and the baseball hat I always wear. Slipping on the black sweater, I push my hair back, then put the cap on backward.