Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
She rolled her eyes. “Always so dramatic,” She leaned in and grazed my chin with one of her long black fingernails. “And I didn’t kick the puppy, Benjamin.” Her lips pressed against my right ear as she whispered, “I ate it.”
She smelled like salt water and bad decisions. “I hope to the gods you don’t tell the kids that story.”
She pulled away with a cruel smile on her face. “Of course not. As you know, children need a mother, and since the universe refuses to give me a man who is actually worthy, I read them fairy tales.”
“Ah…” I nodded. “Do make sure to skip over the part where the villain almost wins. Wouldn’t want them to get any ideas about who you really are.”
Pandora clenched her teeth and jerked her head away, whipping her red hair through the air as she stomped off without saying another word.
“Why do you always give her shit?” Malcom, one of the older orphans at seventeen, grinned at me; his messy black hair fell over his forehead as he shoved a sucker into his mouth and twirled it around.
“Because she’s annoying.” I held up one finger, then a second. “And because she’s more likely to eat the children than help them.”
Malcom grinned over the sucker. “Who cares as long as she’s hot?”
I made a face. “Don’t be deceived by the good looks. Some of the most dangerous creatures on this planet are the most beautiful things you’ll ever see. Take the colorful tree frogs in the Amazon, for example—”
“I give, I give!” Malcom held up his hands. “Just stop, I beg you. I was studying all day, so I can get a good score on my ACT, and the last thing I need is another piece of useless information — which you’re full of, by the way, you’re like an old man trapped in a young man’s body.”
“Thank you?”
“Why are you here anyway? You haven’t visited in…” His face fell, and he shrugged. “It’s been a while.”
“It’s been a few years,” I answered guiltily. “But I had to take care of some things.”
“Right.” He swallowed and took the sucker out of his mouth, twirling it in his fingers. “Cool. Well, do you need to talk to Mother Brenda?”
“No.” I frowned. “Actually, I was stopping by to see you.”
“Me?” His face lit up.
God, I was such an ass.
He was my favorite—and that was why I hadn’t been back, because one day he would leave here, and everything in my life would be the same.
Always.
“Yeah.” I licked my lips. “Are you still into spying on people for no reason other than sheer boredom’s led you to stalking?”
He barked out a laugh. “All the time. Why? Do you need a rundown on the town gossip? By the way, Hath’s working as a waitress again and threatening to leave Montu, but we all know how that’s gonna end.”
I kept my expression neutral. It wasn’t like we were friends, but I knew why they were fighting—they always fought when the time was close.
Funny how they used to visit and offer their support, but the years hadn’t been kind—not to any of us—so they had given up.
Just like everyone else.
Just like me.
“Hey, you okay?” Malcom reached out.
I jerked away from his touch, uncertain of what it would do to him and unwilling to test my theory. “Yeah, yeah, sorry, just tired. Anyway, it’s nothing like that. There’s just a girl visiting for a while, and she said something about working part-time at the bookstore.”
Malcom’s eyes lit up. “Is she hot?”
“Teenagers,” I muttered. “No, she has a lazy eye, chin hair, and drooled at least twice, but I’m thinking the drooling had more to do with my looks, not hers, you know?”
Malcom grinned wider. “So, she’s hot then.”
I sighed. “She’s…” Visions of her jet-black hair and crystal blue eyes pounded through my blood so hard that I had trouble finding an adequate way to describe her.
She was everything.
But that would give too much away.
She was red in a world of dark and gray.
She was Aphrodite.
She was mine.
“She’s…” I shrugged. “Passable.”
“Suuuuure.” Malcom winked like we’d shared a secret. “And what’s in it for me?”
“Oh nothing, just an excuse for you to see Sarah without looking like a creepy stalker. You do know that people typically go inside the store, right? They don’t just sit outside with binoculars—”
“Hey! That was one time, and I was worried there was an intruder!”
“You’re the intruder. Sorry to break it to you, and it was a deer.”
Malcom’s cheeks turned pink. “Whatever, it was a big deer.”
I held out my hands. “Hey, let’s just agree that we both win in this scenario and try to find out more about why this girl is here and who she really is. You know, useful details and try to listen more than you speak. Women typically like that.”