Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 56295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
“Jesus, it’s a good thing the girls aren’t around. Talking about balls might get you kicked in them.” Rosaleigh opens the door, mouth full of sass, pouty lips, long blonde hair down in her signature natural waves when she’s home. It’s a damn good thing the girls took after their mother, too. David, that worthless piece of shit, deserves no part of Rosaleigh, Rory, or Emmy.
“I’d like to see them try. Rory texted.” I lift the bag of groceries up to show her the reason I’m here, inviting myself in as I take a step inside the foyer.
“That girl, I swear. Souvlaki?” she asks as she turns around. Her ass is in a pair of skintight jeans, an ass I should not be looking at but do just the same.
“Yep, said she needed it, or she would die. Her exact words.” The girl might be quiet and stoic to some, but when Rory lets her guard down, drops, the wall, and she lets you in, with it comes her flare for the dramatics.
“She’s probably over eating sandwiches, no matter how creative I’ve gotten. Joke’s on her because I was going to actually cook tonight. I’m not going to argue with your dinner, though. I’d be a fool.” I chuckle. It’s not a hardship to take care of the James women, especially their mother.
“You talk to Ophelia lately?” I ask. My baby sister was pissed when Rosaleigh didn’t call her to talk about David, and it was me on the phone. I busted her chops, explaining to her Leigh was a bit busy fielding calls from news people while dealing with the fallout. We both knew that fucker wasn’t good enough for her, even in high school. David and I were seniors when Rosaleigh and my sister came up as freshmen. I kept to myself. She was younger, my sister’s age, and no way was I going to fuck around and find out. David didn’t have the same care for her that I did. She was barely a junior in high school when David swooped in at nineteen years old to her fifteen. Her mom, another worthless piece of shit, was gone more often than not. If roles were reversed, and I was Rory and Emmy’s father and some dumb fuck was sniffing around a girl who was four years younger than her, my fist would be a permanent fixture in his face. Even though Rosaleigh was like a second daughter to my parents, they couldn’t talk any sense into her. That’s also when we figured it all out; she was locked to David in a permanent way. It took my dad putting me in a headlock, whispering that if I fucked him up, it’d be me in jail, not him. What good would that do to anyone? David and I had words, not the brotherly kind either. Rosaleigh was beautiful back then, is even more gorgeous today, but to be so stupid as to fuck up her future, being saddled with a dick like him, it didn’t sit right with me. I threatened to kick his ass if he didn’t stick around and make things right.
“She doesn’t complain about that. I’m assuming it’s a craving.” I arch my eyebrow. It must click into place because she’s turning around, moving to the side of the fridge, and checking the calendar.
“Shit. I better start making brownies while you cook souvlaki. I love my daughter, you know that as well as I do, but her need for chocolate is fierce when it’s, well, yeah, that time,” Rosaleigh responds while I set the bags down on the kitchen counter and take all of the ingredients out. This will take a while to get going—making the marinade for the pork and the fresh tzatziki. The only thing I wouldn’t attempt to make is the pita bread. My mother being the amazing woman she is had me covered when I told her I was stopping at the store for Rory’s favorite meal, saying the grocery is crap and she made hers fresh that day.
“Like mother, like daughter. Mom said to stop by her house this week. She’s got something for you.” Mom didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t ask.
“It won’t be until the weekend. I’m working the rest of the week except for Sunday.” Leigh starts getting her dessert ready while I do my own thing beside her. The two of us have become accustomed to nights like these. Since I live across the street, popping in here and there isn’t abnormal. The girls banging on my door isn’t either.
“She won’t mind. You wanna talk about why your door was unlocked already when you opened it?” I ask. I know she has a bad habit of not locking up after herself, seeing as how the door is revolving when Rory and Emmy are home. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to stay on top of them to be smart. There are too many sickos out there, and the fight that is about to happen, let’s just say it’s one of many.