Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Emerson was pretty good at clamping down his frustration in front of Rhys, but he’d no doubt heard his share over the years. Emerson was cool with being an older brother, and he thought his siblings were pretty sweet most of the time. They had their squabbles, of course, which always seemed to fascinate Rhys, as an only child raised by a single mother.
Sometimes after a marathon video-game session, they’d lie awake past midnight, talking about all kinds of stuff, including family. Rhys’s mom and dad had split up when Rhys was only a baby, and his father had never come around again, so he and Rhys had that in common. It was during those discussions that Rhys would sound most vulnerable, when he’d complain about some of his mom’s awful boyfriends and wish he had a family more like Emerson’s. Not that he didn’t love his mom—they were undeniably close, being just the two of them—but he was very protective of her and thought she deserved better.
Emerson would remind him that he was already part of the Rose clan, and Rhys would sigh dreamily before falling asleep, seemingly satisfied with that answer. But Emerson had always been reflective, so he’d stay awake staring at the ceiling, wondering what their future would bring, until finally succumbing to exhaustion.
“Feel like heading to the carnival with us?” Emerson asked in an earnest tone even though he knew he was laying it on thick and that Rhys would have trouble refusing him, especially on his birthday.
Rhys’s mom had some work thing tonight, he’d said, so maybe he’d want to tag along regardless. Besides, he’d probably just go home and watch more YouTube videos. Skateboarding, rock climbing, and dirt bikes always kept him riveted, and he’d confessed that one day he’d love to climb the side of a mountain. Not Emerson. He liked his feet firmly on the ground.
“Sounds good,” Rhys said, throwing an arm around him. “It’ll be fun.”
That was Rhys. Casual and chill and always down for most anything.
Emerson rolled his eyes. “If you say so.”
“And when we’re done, we can come back”—he glanced over his shoulder deviously—“and play video games all night.”
“Deal.” Emerson smirked. That made having to take his siblings to the stupid carnival worth it.
Emerson took hold of Sam’s and Audrey’s hands as they walked the three blocks to the fair, with Rhys wheeling alongside on his skateboard. He was rarely without it. He went to the skater bowl nearly every weekend and was teaching himself basic tricks. He wasn’t great, but Emerson could tell he loved the rush he got when his board went airborne. Normally, if it was just him and Emerson, he’d show off a little. In front of the kids, though, he acted super responsible, which cracked Emerson up. But it was also endearing because it was like he was trying to be a good big brother to them too. So he just kept his board nice and steady until they got to the entrance to the carnival, which was in a park near the center of town.
After Emerson bought them a boatload of tickets—his stepdad’s treat—they walked around, considering what to do first. Sam kept pointing to the sheep at the petting zoo, but instead of going inside the pen, he became more interested in picking dandelions and finding potato bugs in the strip of grass outside of it. Good old Sam. The selection of animals was pretty pathetic this year anyway, so instead, they went and ordered some freshly squeezed lemonades from a nearby stand.
Then they headed past the rides to the row of carnival games. It was fun doing the ring tosses and balloon pop, trying to score a prize, though they were all pretty unsuccessful.
“Oooh, that one!” Audrey had her eye on a stuffed pig, and Sam wanted a monkey holding a banana, so Emerson kept trying to win them one at every stand. It was always cool just hanging out with Rhys even though the siblings had to tag along.
Until everything seemed to change at the basketball toss. Emerson supposed the guy working behind the counter was decent-looking, with his wavy blond hair and nice smile. Rhys certainly must’ve thought so because he could not seem to keep his eyes off him.
When the guy asked if they were interested in playing, Rhys freaking blushed, and Emerson’s stomach bottomed out. Audrey asked Rhys a question about the Tilt-A-Whirl, but he was so distracted by the cute dude, he didn’t even hear her. And that made Emerson feel weirdly confused and a bit hurt.
Was he gonna lose his best friend to this guy? Look at him, already jumping to conclusions.
“Hey, guys? I’ll, um, try to win you those prizes,” Rhys said absently over his shoulder, like he couldn’t be bothered to give them more of his attention, and suddenly all the joy went out of Emerson’s evening.