Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 32145 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32145 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
“I’m okay.” I shrug.
“I’m buying.” His tone is playful, but it still lands wrong on me, and I know it’s because he’s now been in my shitty apartment twice while I’m in his fancy-ass car.
“I have my own money. Even got a job.”
“But you’re my girl. I’m supposed to buy.”
“Fine. It's your wallet. But don’t think because I'm a beanpole I can’t out-eat you.”
“I know. We had lunch together, and you took all my fries and a slice of pizza.”
“I don’t know where it all goes.”
“Your legs,” he says without missing a beat.
“My legs?” I’ve always felt a bit awkward with my height.
“You got legs for days, Red.”
“Is that good thing?” I find myself asking.
“I enjoy them.”
“You enjoy them?” I laugh, not sure how that’s possible.
“Not sure you’re ready to know more on that one.”
“I enjoy knowing everything,” I remind him.
“Let’s just say I enjoy thinking about them around me in lots of ways.” A rush of heat settles right between said legs.
“Are you teasing me?”
“Like I said, Red. You’re not ready.”
I’m not sure I am either. I wish I could be, but fear of being hurt always wins out. But who knows? I don’t think Van has ever lost at anything.
Chapter
Eight
VAN
Red hasn’t looked me in the eye once since she got into my car. She stared at her hands clasped in her lap, watched the scenery go by, counted every table we passed inside the restaurant, and now is busy reorganizing the silverware.
“Let’s talk about it,” I say.
“About what?”
“The elephant in the room. The family situation. There's no reason to be embarrassed. Look at what I come from.”
She pushes the silverware to one side and props her elbows on the table as if she’s about to interview me. “To be honest, I don't know your whole story. The school speculates, but no one's really clear with what's going on, other than you and Sadie and Duncan all live together with three other adults. I mean, some people are even saying that there's a poly situation going on, which no judgment if that's your family structure.”
I can't tell if she's saying this because she wants to scare me off from talking about what's going on in her life, but while my life is messy, I'm not gonna hide anything. "So, the full story is that my mom Fischl got knocked up by my dad Cooper, but Fischl’s mom didn’t want anyone to know about her sinful nature so she sent Fischl away and was going to have Mom give me up for adoption. Mom refused, found Sebastian who took her in, and together they raised me and Sadie, who is Sebastian’s daughter. Then we moved here because of some assholes, and Coop figured out that I was his son.” It was weird how quickly he connected the dots. Everyone says we look alike, but I don’t see it. “Dunc is really Coops nephew who he adopted after his sister died. So, technically Duns is my cousin but he’s considered my brother. And now we all live together trying to be a happy family. It’s not working out perfect. Your jaw is dropped.”
Red snaps her mouth shut and picks up her menu. She frowns and then flips it over. “Why does my menu not have prices?”
I smile a little at her quick change of subject. “Food’s free here.”
“Ha ha, but in all seriousness, do I have a defective one?” She tries to pluck mine out of my hands. I angle it away from her.
“What does it matter? I’m paying.” I can see her wanting to argue with me. Pride, I guess. “Let’s not argue. It’ll hurt my fragile male ego.”
“I highly doubt that. Your ego is so healthy I could probably throw a brick at it and it would bounce off and hit me on the head.”
The server comes, and I order two prime ribeyes with a side of mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. “With a seafood starter,” I add, not caring I already ate. I want to make sure Red gets her fill.
“Who else is coming?” Red asks.
“No one. Why?”
“Because you ordered enough food for an army.”
“I’m hungry, and you’re hungry, and whatever we don’t finish, we can take home. I’m always up for some cold steak sandwich. Now spill.”
Red wrinkles her nose. “This is why I’m a reporter. I like asking the questions, not answering them.”
“Pretend you’re interviewing yourself.” I’m not letting her off the hook. She needs to know that her family situation doesn’t bother me. There’s nothing that’s happening in her life that is an embarrassment or that would drive me away. The only way I can get her to believe that is for her to tell me everything.
She falls silent, picking at the bread that the server brought for us. After she’s picked apart an entire slice and made tiny mounds of bread on her plate, she sighs. “Fine. My mom is…needy, and that need can only be met by men, I guess. I don’t get it, and it’s embarrassing, and I really just want you to pretend like I have a normal parent and a normal life.”