Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 98048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
I go back outside with a defeated sag to my shoulders. “She says I walk like it’s a game,” I inform my brother, who nods as if that makes any goddamn sense.
Riley, as usual, is in hysterics. Seems like all I do is make this kid bust out in laughter.
But maybe that’s a good thing.
It ends up being a good day. Good food, good company, good everything. Even Cooper is in high spirits. He doesn’t get on my case about Gen or whatever else disappoints him about me, not even once. He’s, dare I say it, downright chipper. He and Mac face off against me and Riley in a game of beach volleyball, and when Liz comes to pick Riley up around four o’clock, he looks bummed to leave.
But in my life, “good” is a fleeting concept. Which is why I’m not surprised when later, while I’m on the beach with Mac and Cooper watching Daisy chase seagulls, I’m faced with a new dilemma.
Shelley’s blowing up my phone about random stuff in between trying to set up another date. I usually don’t spend much time on my phone, so answering the barrage of texts has Cooper eyeing me in suspicion. Normally I’d just turn it off and ignore the messages until later, but I’ve found Shelley gets impatient. If I don’t answer, she goes into a panic spiral, thinking I’ve blown her off. I’m worried she might impulsively drive out here, and I can’t have that.
It’s still weird, spending time with her like a normal mom-and-son duo. Talking about our days and pop culture. All the while delicately trying to avoid mention of Cooper to stave off the inevitable question of when he might join us at one of our meetups. I hate lying to my brother, but Cooper’s a long way from ready to know about any of this.
Playing with Daisy, he shouts something at me about pizza for dinner. I nod absently, while Shelley is telling me there’s a stray cat hanging around outside her work, and she’s gotten it in her head she’s going to take it home. Which makes me think she probably should have had to practice with a pet before having twins, but what the hell do I know?
A chewed-up, sandy tennis ball suddenly lands in my lap. Then a blur of golden fur is flying at my face. Daisy barrels into me to snatch the ball before running away again.
“Hey! What the hell?” I sputter.
Cooper stands over me, all puffed up and bothered. “You talking to Gen?”
Not this again. “No. Fuck off.”
“You’ve been hunched over that thing ever since Riley left. Who is it?”
“Since when do you care?”
“Leave him alone,” shouts Mac, who’s still tossing the ball with Daisy at the tide line.
Cooper does the opposite—he yanks the phone from my hand. Instantly, I’m on my feet, wrestling him for it.
“Why are you such a drama queen?” I get one hand on the phone before he sweeps my leg and we end up rolling around in the sand.
“Grow up,” Cooper grunts back. He digs his elbow into my kidney, still reaching for the phone while we toss around. “What are you hiding?”
“Come on, quit it.” Mac stands over us now with Daisy barking like she’s waiting to get tagged in.
Fed up, I throw sand in his face and climb to my feet, brushing myself off. I shrug in response to Mac’s looks of exasperation.
“He started it.”
She rolls her eyes.
“You’re up to something.” Shaking sand out of his hair, Cooper stands up and snarls at me like he’s ready for round two. “What is it?”
“Eat shit.”
“Quit it, will you?” Mac, ever the peacemaker, utterly fails to get through to him. “You’re both being ridiculous.”
I don’t particularly care that Coop’s suspicious or annoyed. It’s whatever. But he’s got this perpetual sense of entitlement to know and have an opinion on everything I do—and I’m so over it. Over him acting out his hang-ups on me. My twin brother playing a poor approximation of a father I never asked for.
“Can we move on?” Mac says in frustration, glancing between the two of us. “Please?”
But it’s too late now. I’m pissed, and the only thing that will make me feel better is rubbing it in his self-righteous face. “It’s Shelley.”
Cooper comes up short. His face is expressionless for a moment, as if he isn’t sure he heard me right. Then he smirks, shaking his head. “Right.”
I throw my phone at him.
He looks at the screen, then at me. All humor and disbelief has been replaced by cold, quiet rage. “Your brain fall out of your head?”
“She’s getting better.”
“Jesus Christ, Evan. You get how stupid you sound?”
Rather than answer, I glance at Mac. “This is why I didn’t tell him.”
When I turn back, Cooper’s up in my face, all but standing on my toes. “That woman was ready to run off with our life savings and you just, what, go crawling back to Mommy the first chance you get?”