Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 124451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 498(@250wpm)___ 415(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 498(@250wpm)___ 415(@300wpm)
I turn to head back to the living room to get Bri off the couch when I find her standing in the hallway, leaning up against the wall with her arms crossed and a look of death in her eyes. “How much did you hear?” I ask, walking toward her, hoping to God this isn’t what breaks us.
“Enough,” she tells me, not giving anything away.
“And?”
“And nothing,” she says, shrugging her shoulders. “We’ll get a paternity test and if the kid is yours, then we’ll deal with it.”
“You’re not freaking out?”
She presses her lips into a tight line and shakes her head. “Nope,” she says, lying right through her teeth. She’s definitely freaking out.
I step into her, taking her waist and pulling her in close, feeling the way her body vibrates with unease. “And if the kid’s not mine?”
She scoffs, her tone expressing exactly how she feels. “Then I’m going back to my Hope Falls roots and jumping her bitch-ass in a back alley.”
I laugh and curl my arm over her shoulder, pulling her into me before leading her back to the stairs, more than ready to take her to bed. “There’s my girl,” I tell her. “But do me a favor and take Addie with you. She could use a scrappy girl fight.”
“It’ll be my pleasure.”
Chapter 15
BRIELLE
Tanner’s hand lingers on my thigh as we drive home from the Friday night home game.
It sucked. Like really fucking sucked.
With everything going on, and the bomb Rachael dropped on him last night, Tanner’s head really wasn’t in the game. Shit, it wasn’t even halfway there. He fumbled and fucked around which only served to frustrate him and his teammates, and with Jax already out for the count, it wasn’t good.
They still managed to scrape through by the skin of their teeth and hold the lead, keeping them at the top of the leaderboard and ensuring they remain in the prime position for the season, but it wasn’t pretty. The way Tanner plays is usually ruthless yet poetic, but today it was scrappy and desperate. I can’t blame him. He’s had a lot going on and I haven’t helped. I’m just glad we’ve come out the other end and we can work on making things right.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go to that party?” I ask, closing my hand over his and giving it a gentle squeeze. “Maybe it’ll be good to chill with your friends and get your mind off all the bullshit.”
Tanner glances at me as we drive down the street, turning onto our road. “The last time I thought I’d go out for a drink, you, Jax, and Addie nearly died,” he says. “Besides, I’m not feeling it tonight. I just wanna chill with you.”
“Oh, thank God,” I breathe, relief pounding through my veins. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
Tanner laughs and glances at me quickly, just long enough to shake his head. “Then why’d you ask if you didn’t want to go? If I said yes, you would have felt inclined to go.”
I shrug my shoulders and give him a stupid grin. “The things I do for you,” I say as we approach his house, only to find Orlando’s black Aston Martin parked in the driveway next door with both him and Mom only just getting out of the car, looking as though they’ve spent the first half of the evening at some fancy, over-privileged event. “Uggggghhhhh,” I groan. “If they’re staying home tonight, maybe we should go out.”
Tanner scoffs. “What does it matter? We’ll chill at my place. You won’t even notice them.”
“Oh please,” I scoff. “You can’t tell me that you don’t hear them arguing every other day.”
Tanner grins as he pulls into his driveway. “I wouldn’t call it arguing,” he says thoughtfully. “I mean, it takes two to argue, right? It’s usually more of a one-way ranting at your mom while she just silently takes it.”
“Pathetic, right?” I mutter as I watch Mom struggle to heave herself out of the Aston Martin in her tight gown, Tanner’s comments mimicking the same ones that had gone through my head just yesterday.
Tanner glances at my mother, his lips pressing into a hard line. “How are things going with her? You haven’t said much about it.”
I shrug my shoulders. “Honestly, I don’t know. It took her two days to realize I’d been sleeping in their house this week, but apart from that, she hasn’t done anything in particular to offend me.”
“Oh, so no red marks across your face?” he says with a nasty sneer, taking a stab at her. “That’s good.”
An unladylike grunt tears from the back of my throat as I turn my attention back to my mother, watching as she finally manages to pull herself out of the car. She quickly glances my way, but the window tint on the Mustang is far too dark. Hell, it’s so dark I’m sure it’s probably illegal.