Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Maddie chokes on her water. Apparently, she’s wearing the earbuds right now as an “aesthetic” choice and not actually listening to anything. I’m only eight years older than her, but sometimes I feel like we’re from different planets.
“No comment,” I say.
“No comment needed,” Meemaw says. “When a woman gets a really good dicking down, it’s impossible to hide it. And baby, you haven’t been hiding anything since you were with that boy.”
My parents choose this moment to walk into the dining room. My mom is looking at Meemaw, her mother, with a tired expression. She has dealt with this for fifty years and some change, and knows there’s no taming the woman.
My mom only pauses for a moment, then she sets down the plate of ham. My parents have a thing for ham. They say it’s a shame it should only be served on Christmas and Easter, because it’s amazing. I think they go through about forty hams per year, and it would be more if my dad had his way. He’s an absolute ham fiend.
Dad pats my shoulder and leans in. “You okay, kid?”
“Yes, Dad,” I say. He’s already asked me several times tonight if I’m okay. I know he’s just trying to be supportive, but I also don’t know what he expects me to say. The truth is I don’t want to go into details about just how messy this breakup became with anyone but Dani. I definitely don’t want to tell Troy, because he’ll track Vaughn down and kick his ass if he finds out.
My dad sits at the head of the table and straightens his collar. He’s wearing his usual sweater over a button-down shirt. His hair is gelled nerdily in a side part and he has his thick glasses on. On weekends, Dad is the dungeon master for a Dungeons and Dragons group. They collect in the basement for hours while mom has fun testing out new recipes and snacks on the group.
Mom was a gymnast and a dancer in her youth, and absolutely the last kind of woman I would have pictured landing with a nerd like dad. But she was just getting out of a bad breakup with some jock asshole and Dad was her tutor. He won her over and they never looked back.
Mom sits down beside dad. She has her brown hair curled and her makeup done to perfection, as usual. “Well?” she says. “Where’s Troy?”
“Coming,” a deep voice says. My brother lumbers into the room. He’s well over six feet and probably close to two hundred and fifty pounds. He has big, muscular shoulders and a power belly. He keeps his beard well groomed, but it’s puffy and frames his rounded face. Troy is the kind of man people steer clear of, and probably for good reason. He’s about as scary as he looks if you’re not part of his family.
He’s already chewing on something. My sisters are usually in the kitchen to help prep dinner. Troy’s usually in there to snack on food before it reaches the table. Sure enough, I notice there are already a few slices missing from the ham and a big scoop out of the mashed potatoes.
Meemaw clears her throat and waits until everybody stops what they’re doing to look up at her. “So,” she says loudly. “Charli has moved on quickly. She’s got some new stud asking how big her boobies are. We’re less than a week from the breakup and dick is back on the menu! Let’s celebrate!”
There’s a clatter of silverware and a screech as my dad’s knife slides on the plate. So much for keeping things quiet.
10
JAMESON
I usually enjoy work, but this whole week has been torture. Every day is another disaster and every night is a long stay in the office, putting out fires. Usually, I’m the one starting fires and Nolan is the one putting them out.
It’s well past dinner time. I worked late again and I should probably go straight home to sleep. My body is practically screaming for it. But listening to your body is a great way to become weak, or so I’ve been told. Actually, maybe I just read that on a fortune cookie. But I know wisdom when I hear it, so I pull out my phone instead of heading back to my place for some rest.
It’s Monday night and I haven’t seen Charli for almost a full week. We have one more week until the Halloween mixer, and I’ve decided we need to practice pretending before then. I’ve also been thinking about her in every spare moment. Despite what she probably thinks, I’ve been trying very hard to respect her boundaries. She did really get fucked over by Vaughn, and I can imagine amazing rebound sex with more orgasms than she can count is low on her priority list.