Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 77793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
“I…well…maybe,” she concedes.
“We could sit in the dewy grass under here, and you could ask me what you wanted to ask.”
“What a generous offer. I can hardly wait.”
“Or we can go inside and have a cup of tea in the kitchen and risk waking up every single one of my nosy siblings.”
“As much fun as that would be, I think I’ll take the dewy grass.”
“I could give you the more sheltered, less dewy spot. I’m not above taking one for the team now and then.”
“Thanks. A real gentleman.” She’s not being sarcastic now. She sounds more playful, which gives me hope.
I really do give her the drier spot, which is entirely under the treehouse where the dew has only crept up a little, and I take the wetter spot out by the tree. She sits ramrod straight, her back rigid, while I let the tree hold me up again. I need that little bit of bark bite to ground me and keep me from noticing things like how pretty Echo is in the moonlight or how her T-shirt looks stellar on her because it’s loose and flowy—somehow, that’s even hotter than anything it might be revealing—or how creamy her legs are. Yes, creamy.
I don’t know how it happened, but I’m quickly becoming a lost cause here.
That is not a good thing, as this doesn’t need to get any more complicated. I’ve already kind of messed up by getting married and not remembering it. If I messed up the chance of Echo joining the family, Granny wouldn’t be pissed, but she would be disappointed, and that’s not a good thing. Granny being disappointed really, really sucks. You know the emoji face that has the straight mouth and the one crooked eyebrow that looks super dubious but also clever and kind of mad? That would be Granny’s face.
For weeks.
Maybe even months.
“How did you know you wanted to join the family?”
Echo’s softly asked question surprises me. I’m sitting far enough away that we’re in no danger of touching or even throwing body heat toward each other. I have to crank my head to the side to look at her. Her face is turned down, and her hands are folded between her bare knees. Her shorts are faded black cotton, the kind that people used to wear turned inside out to gym class back in the day because that was the cool thing to do.
My heat meter starts rising, and I quickly look back at the crown of her head because that seems a lot safer than looking at her legs. Or her shorts. Damn it to biscuits, do not become a lost cause. Do not become a lost cause. Do not.
“I…what do you mean? It was either join the family or join juvie. The choice seemed pretty clear to me.”
“No, sorry, I get that.” Her eyes are bright, glowing cornflower blue with gold flecks from the house light when she looks up. “I mean, what made you stay?”
I lean up hard against the tree. “I guess there were lots of reasons. We were all happy doing what we were doing, and it’s a good cause. More than that, we’re a family. What makes any family stay together? I guess love and loyalty. Liking each other, being friends too, and having each other’s backs always. Atlas and I never had that growing up unless it was with each other. I love my brothers, even if they’re not my blood brothers. Granny isn’t my biological granny, and she isn’t my mom, but she’s kind of both. I don’t feel like I owe her a debt for saving us, even though I kind of do. Not just saving us, but giving us love, guidance, a trade…well, kind of…and a unique skill set, I guess I should say. She looked after us and loved us like we were hers because we were. It’s not a conventional life, but it’s a good one. I don’t think I’m a very conventional person at heart, so it’s worked out for me.”
“I wouldn’t call getting kind of fake married but totally for real then forgetting all about it conventional, no.”
I snort, actually amused for real. Echo has a wicked sharp sense of humor. “No, I wouldn’t say it’s conventional.” I enjoy her smile, how it starts slow and spreads into a thing of golden beauty. I love how I want to kiss her.
Nugget of shit, shit of a nugget, what?
I do. I want to kiss her, but kissing her is off-limits. Granny would go from disappointed Granny to irate Granny if I did something like that. Still, knowing that doesn’t stop me from wanting to do it. Echo blinks, and her eyes focus on my face like a sea of blue that I could drown in. I swear her lids get just the slightest bit heavy, but that’s probably because it’s the middle of the night, and she’s tired.