Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 71289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
I grimaced, knowing it was coming.
“Two old men?” His eyes sparkled. “Really?”
I sighed and took the line off my boat that the men had been using.
After tying it off, I reached inside the boat and took up the weapons they’d been using, as well as the birds.
“Can you run this into evidence for me?” I asked. “And call someone to pick this boat up for me?”
The game wardens and the sheriff’s office used the same evidence collection facility, meaning that there was no reason on Earth Ridley should’ve denied me the help.
“What do I get in return?” He countered.
I gritted my teeth.
“What do you want?” I leveled with him.
He smiled.
And I knew I wasn’t going to like his answer.
“Take my sister out on a date tonight,” he ordered.
I narrowed my eyes.
“What if she doesn’t want to go on a date with me?”
He shrugged.
“Then she’ll say no.”
I narrowed my eyes and wondered what his game was; but, in the end, I shrugged and went with it.
I was doing better.
Surely, one date wouldn’t change my life, would it?
Chapter 5
If you have to force it, leave it. Friendships. Yoga poses. Relationships. Food. A fart. No matter what, that shit ain’t worth it.
-Note to Self
Kitt
My belly rolled, and I wanted to cry.
I was about to go on a date with Apple. My first date in so long that I couldn’t even begin to count.
Was it high school?
College?
No. I didn’t actually finish a date in college. My brother had had to come get me because the guy was being a dick and wanted more than I was offering.
So I’d called him from the bathroom and waited there until he came to get me.
That was when I started giving my brother’s number to anyone that asked for my number.
It was easier to not date, but there was something about Apple’s insistence over the last two weeks that really had me breaking down and giving in to him.
“You’re wearing that?” Ridley eyed me.
I looked down at my jeans, boots and t-shirt.
“Yes. Why?” I looked behind me as best as I could to check out my ass.
No, there was nothing on it.
“Because you look so…plain,” he observed. “Can’t you do your makeup?”
I touched my cheek.
“I put mascara on, that’s about it. Why do you care how I look?”
“Because you come home whining about needing to do this or that differently. I’m just trying to make sure you get it right the first time,” he teased.
I flipped my brother off, and his phone chirped with a text.
“Who is it?” I questioned when I saw my brother’s smile.
“Some guy named Jason. You remember him?” Ridley murmured. I nodded, remembering him very well.
He was the toucher.
I’d stood next to him for all of ten minutes while we were waiting on his oil to get changed, and this man had been so unsuspecting.
I’d met him during my lunch break during classes yesterday and had immediately gotten that ‘weird’ vibe from him.
So what did I do when he asked for my number?
I gave him Ridley’s.
At first, it’d just been to tease my brother, but Ridley knew how to take a joke and had turned it into a hilarious endeavor.
Meaning now, whenever I met someone who asked for my number, I gave them to my brother.
Sure, it was cruel, but life was short, and I deserved to get a laugh every now and then.
“Core’s here,” Ridley said absentmindedly as he typed out a reply to whatever the man had sent to him.
I smiled and walked to the door.
“Why do you call him Core without him here, and Apple when he is?” I called out as I peeked out the window.
Ridley didn’t reply until he was done texting Jason.
“Because I think it pisses him off,” he replied.
“Why do you want to piss him off?” I continued, watching as Apple parked his bike beside my brother’s and got off.
Ridley got up and turned off some lights, and I followed suit, catching the lights in the kitchen and my bedroom.
Ridley was going to work, and I was about to go on a date.
“You know,” I said as I flipped the one in the hallway off. “It’d be easier, as well as cheaper, if you’d shut a light off when you left the room.”
With the house dark like it was, I never saw him coming. Ridley grabbed me up around the waist and I screeched, flailing and kicking in response to the sudden movement.
My heart pounded in my throat as Ridley’s laughter echoed in my ear.
I elbowed him hard in the ribs when a light from someone’s flashlight shined in my face, causing me to shield my eyes.
“Damn, Apple. Is that a flashlight or are you happy to see me?” Ridley boomed as he put me down.
I pushed my brother away and walked towards Apple, an apology already on my face.