Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 149510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 598(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 598(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
“You better bow out, Aceface,” he says. “Normally, all that comes out of your dad’s big fucking mouth is bullshit, but I can tell he’s gonna smoke you on this one.”
“I’d tell you to suck my dick, Cappy, but we both know the Supercock is far too big to fit in your delicate little mouth,” Thatch replies, blowing a kiss at Caplin right after.
“I fold,” Ace says, disappointment rife in every long line of his Stretch Armstrong body.
“Uh-oh, boys. Better catch the falling star and put him in your pocket,” Thatch teases as he makes a show of raking in the chips to his side of the table. “His poker skills are fading away.” His smile is big and blinding from his clever change to the Perry Como song, so much so that I can see all of his pearly white teeth. If I took out my phone and started filming, I could submit the footage to a fucking toothpaste company.
He slides his cards toward Milo, who is the dealer for our next hand, and Ace reaches out to stop the cards’ descent toward the discard pile.
“Hold up,” he says, desperate. “You’re not going to at least show me?”
“Take a look,” Thatch says, and Ace turns the cards over to reveal two nines.
“I fucking told you, Acer!” Cap exclaims. “For once, your dad had a mouth full of something other than crap.”
“Hey, Cappy, I’ll have you know the thing my mouth is most full of at all times is pussy. Not crap.”
Kline lets out a deep sigh. “You think you idiots might want to tone it down a little?”
“Oh, get real, Brooks,” Thatch retorts. “This isn’t a damn tea party. We’re not deflowering virginal ears here. These fuckers have probably had more pussy this year than we have, and that’s saying something. I have a very high sex drive.”
“Yeah, Kline,” Cap agrees. “Finn and Ace are full-grown college men now.” He smirks. “I think I heard they spend a lot of time with your daughter.”
Kline’s eyes are daggers, spearing Ace first. Ace raises both hands in the air.
“Oh no, no, no,” Ace refutes. “Don’t look at me. I’m not dating Julia and have had very little pussy, if any at all.”
Cap snorts, but Kline still isn’t amused, his glare moving to me. I’m a little terrified at how such an easygoing guy can look so murderous. I shake my head, but Thatch’s overbearing nature saves me from actually having to comment.
“You and Julia aren’t dating?” he questions Ace, his face as serious as I’ve seen it.
“Good grief, Dad. No. We’re friends. That’s it. Hell, Finn and I are going to a sorority party after this, and I have plans to meet up with a girl named Scarlett.”
We do? He does?
This is all news to me.
When Thatch smiles at Kline, raising his eyebrows in more disbelief, Ace gets agitated. “I don’t know why the hell you guys can’t seem to understand that men and women can be friends. Finn’s been spending nearly every waking moment with a cheerleader named Scottie, and they’re just friends.”
Instantly, all the attention at the table is directed at me. The feel of bus tires is heavy on my back.
“A cheerleader named Scottie, huh?” Milo questions with a little smirk. “What’s she like?”
Ace smiles nervously as he has a premonition of me strangling him. Cap is fully invested as he places his elbows on the table and rests his chin on his hands.
These old bastards are like the fucking FBI. “She’s smart. Kind. Funny.” I lick my lips. “Beautiful.”
Thatch hums, and I sigh. “We had a little bit of a thing at one point, but now it’s over. Definitely over.”
“Uh-oh,” Thatch mutters, his voice a lot softer than I’m used to. “I know that look.”
“We all know that look,” Milo says.
“Because we’ve all fucking experienced that look,” Cap adds.
“Yeah.” Wes chuckles. “We had to survive Cap’s romance book club when he had that look.”
“My book club, dude.” Thatch points a finger in Wes’s direction. “Cap just commandeered it like a real dickhead when he was trying to make Ruby fall in love with him.”
“Can we not talk about book club?” Ace asks with a shudder. “Mom making me beta-read her manuscripts is enough romance for me.”
“Don’t shit on the romance world, son. It’s a literary powerhouse, with the biggest readership of any genre on the planet.”
“I’m not shitting on romance,” Ace hedges. “I’m just scarred.”
“I think we’re getting a little off the rails here,” Cap chimes in.
“Yeah.” I nod. “Pretty sure it’s Kline’s turn to deal.”
“Oh no, Finn,” Cap responds with a smile I don’t like one bit. “I meant that we need to get back to you and Scottie the Cheerleader.”
I let my head fall back onto my chair. “Like I said, there’s nothing to tell because we’re not anything.”