Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 111253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Me: I’m good with my clothes. I’m not trying to seduce him.
Rae: Of course not.
Vera: But you do want to make him regret ever hurting you, and what better way than to shove your luscious self in his face.
Me: *looks down at b cup boobs* Luscious?
Rae: Hell yea. FUCKING LUSCIOUS.
Me: Okay. Okay. Maybe a couple low cut tops.
Me: A. COUPLE.
When all I got back was two thumbs up from each of them, I knew I’d be lucky to get anything other than Fredrick’s of Hollywood attire for the entire trip.
To be honest, I didn’t hate the idea of making Parker drool over me. Especially since he would never have me.
Ever.
Eleven
Parker
P A S T
“Surprise!”
Nova stood on the sidewalk, wide-eyed and smiling—even if the smile did look a little forced, trying to hide the nerves.
Her eyes bounced from Ash to Oren to Brogan and finally back to me.
“Happy birthday.”
“Parker.” Her smile softened to a true Nova smile that lit up the dark, pockmarked sidewalk—that lit up the fire in my blood.
Although, it faded back to wide-eyed nervousness when she took in the glowing sign hanging above the heavy wooden doors beyond the guys.
Cap’s Apps and Karaoke.
“It’s karaoke night, baby,” Oren crowed, following it up with a horrible screech that might have been a music note. There was a reason he played drums.
“You don’t have to sing.”
“But we hope you do,” Ash added.
She shook her head, covering her face with her hands. “Oh, my god, you guys.”
“Come on, Supernova. We know the guy at the bar, so we’re drinking tonight. I’ll be your DD.”
“We’re taking the subway,” she deadpanned, finally dropping her hands.
“Whatever, I’ll be your designated get-home-safe-guy.” She rolled her eyes but smiled, and I knew she was warming up to the idea. “C’mon. You only turn seventeen once.”
“Seventeen is the best,” Oren said, slinging his arm around Nova’s shoulders. “Let’s never turn eighteen like these losers.”
“Your birthday is next week, asshole.”
“Don’t remind me,” Oren whined dramatically. He turned Nova, placing both hands on her shoulders and leaning to meet her eyes. “Please, Nova. Help me celebrate the last week of my youth.”
“For you, Oren?” She rested her palms on his cheeks and smiled like a loving sister. “Anything.”
He threw his arms up. “Yes! Victory. Let’s go show everyone how it’s done.”
“Are you going to sing?” she asked him.
“Oh, yeah. Like nails on a chalkboard.”
He threw his arm around her shoulder, walking her toward the door. She looked back at me, excitement and mirth bubbling over. “Wait. Can I change my mind? Anything to not hear Oren sing.”
“May God have mercy on our souls,” I said, laughing.
“And our ears,” Ash added.
“The only solution is to drink so much we forget it ever happened,” Brogan suggested.
“To the bar,” Oren cheered.
Unsurprisingly, Nova stuck to beer, not wanting to repeat her night with tequila. She still didn’t drink, preferring to stay home when the guys and I went to the local parties—probably something to do with how the last party ended. Not that we talked about it. We didn’t talk about her walking in on me getting head—or what I said when I chased her out.
We didn’t talk about how I continued to sneak into her room most nights, waking up curled around her in the morning.
We pretended nothing had changed during the day, sticking to our routine of hanging out—her doing art, and me playing music. Although, more and more, she helped me write the songs, like she was made for it—like she’d lived a thousand lives before, and the words were bursting at the seams to break free.
But in the moments of the night, I burned for her.
Like tonight.
I burned for her, watching the way she danced and laughed—her head thrown back, mouth open wide, arms in the air, and long red hair flowing down her back.
She flitted from guy to guy, and I barely held back from breaking Ash’s hands when he gripped her hips and pulled her in close. She mostly twirled with Brogan and jumped around with Oren, but with Ash, she swayed. She let him lead and didn’t pull away when he bent his knees to fit his groin against the lush curve of her ass. She laughed when he playfully bit her shoulder and rolled her eyes and shoved his hands back when they inched too far.
I sat at the table watching them, clenching my fists, both intrigued to take in every move and irritated my best friend was dancing with my stepsister like I wanted to be.
Then something shifted, a slow beat poured from the speakers, and her eyes lifted to mine. Her lips parted, and her chest rose and fell a little faster. I locked her in place, unwilling to break the connection. If Ash was going to grind on her, then I wanted her mind on me.