Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 124135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 621(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 621(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
“Ah, that’s right. No classical. And now no folk. Good to know that good music offends you.” She took her attention off the road for a split second to look at me from the side of her eye. Her eyebrows pulled down. “You’re here for Lewis, right? Why else would you be in Jefferson?”
I took another drink, ignoring the question. I didn’t want to talk to her about music. I didn’t want to talk to her, full stop. I pulled a cigarette from my pocket and put it in my mouth. I went to light up, but she said, “No smoking in my car.” I lit up anyway and took a long drag. The car stopped so fast I almost lost my Jack to gravity. “I said, no smoking in my car,” she snapped. “Put it out or get out. There’s your two choices, Cromwell Dean.”
My body tensed. No one ever spoke to me like this. The fact that she’d pissed me off made it worse. I met her eyes and took a long, sweet suck on my cigarette then flicked it out of the window she’d opened for me. It was the first time I’d looked at her straight-on. She was all brown eyes and full lips. I held up my hands. “All gone, Bonnie Farraday.”
She pulled back out onto the road and suddenly we were at Main Street. Students were staggering home in twos and threes, walking back to the dorms from the Barn. I didn’t want to talk to her, but the silence in the car was even worse. My hands clenched on the thighs of my jeans. “Not your scene?” I asked tightly.
“I was busy tonight. Studying before classes start on Monday.” She pointed behind her to her snoring brother. “Or at least I was trying to, until my twin decided to get wasted, as always.”
My eyebrows lifted. She saw. “Yeah. Easton’s older by four minutes. Look nothing alike, do we? We are nothing alike. But he’s my best friend. So here I am. Bonnie’s taxi service.”
“Easton said you were both local.”
“Yeah, from Jefferson. As South Carolina as they come.” I felt her eyes on me. “Weird though, huh? That you’re here after our meeting in England?”
I shrugged. But it was. What were the chances of that?
Bonnie pulled the car into a space in front of the dorm. She looked back at her brother. “You’re gonna have to help me carry him up the stairs.” I got out of the car and moved to the back seat. I pulled Easton out and threw him over my shoulder. “My laptop,” I said, jerking my chin to the boot. Bonnie moved to the boot of the car and took out my stuff. I managed to carry Easton up the stairs and throw him down on his bed.
Bonnie was behind me. She was out of breath, huffing and puffing from the stairs.
“Maybe you should start some cardio. Stairs shouldn’t be that hard.” I was being a dick. I knew it. But I couldn’t seem to stop myself. That night in Brighton she’d well and truly pissed me off. Apparently, I couldn’t let it go.
Ignoring me, Bonnie put my things on my desk. She took a glass off Easton’s bedside table then left the room. She came back with it full of water and placed it beside him. She left two tablets beside the water and kissed his head. “Call me tomorrow.”
I lay on my bed, my headphones around my neck, ready to zone out. Bonnie passed me and stopped. “Thank you for carrying him up.” She took one last glance at him. Her eyes seemed to soften for some reason. It made her look…prettier than normal. “Can you keep an eye on him, please?”
I pulled that thought out of my head. “He’s a big boy. I’m sure he can look after himself.”
Bonnie snapped her head to me. She appeared shocked, then her face frosted over. “I see you’re as charming as ever, Cromwell. Have a good night.”
Bonnie left. As she did, Easton stirred and cracked open an eye. “Bonnie?”
“She left,” I said, throwing off my shirt. I stripped down to my boxers and got into bed.
Easton had turned back over. “My sister. She tell you that?”
“She did.”
He was asleep in seconds.
I opened my music on my phone. And just like I did every night, I let the comfort of dance music fill my head. The colors were different with EDM. They weren’t the ones that made me remember everything.
And I thanked whoever the hell was up there, God or whatever, for that fact.
Chapter Four
Bonnie
I shut the door of my SUV and made my way to my dorm room. With every step I thought of Cromwell Dean. I knew he was here, of course. The minute Easton found out he was rooming with him, it was all he would talk about.