Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 82715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
“He rode with us,” I replied.
“That little shit,” my mom said, narrowing her eyes. “I bet he’s out back.”
She raced for the back door and I followed her, holding the door open as she tried to close it in my face.
“Mom’s coming, Rum,” I yelled, laughing as she backhanded me in the belly. “The fish flies at midnight! Abort mission! Abort!”
I was still laughing as I shut the door and turned to face Emilia.
“The fish flies at midnight?” she asked in amusement.
“It was one of our code phrases when we were little,” I explained, unpacking and storing shit in the pantry. “There was also, ‘the blue moon shines in the morning and the archer shoots in darkness.’”
“You guys were weird,” she said, tossing me a box of cereal.
“You already knew that,” I said with a shrug. “You still want to jump me.”
“All the time,” she said, copying my shrug as she threw another box my way.
“You wanna leave a little early tonight?” I asked, lowering my voice so Otto wouldn’t hear me in the family room.
“If we keep parking at the back of the property at your dad’s club, they’re going to know we’re out there doing stuff,” she said, widening her eyes at me.
She looked so cute and embarrassed that I didn’t have the heart to tell her that everyone knew exactly what we were doing when we went and parked on club property. We had to check in at the fucking gate when we got there, they knew exactly when we came and left. There’d been no shortage of advice, ribbing, and warnings shot my way.
“We could always go down by the river,” I said, grabbing a few more things to put away. “But we’re more likely to see people there.”
“Can I think about it?” she asked, biting the inside of her cheek.
“Sure,” I said, stopping to kiss her. “We don’t have to.”
“I mean, I always want to,” she said, smiling up at me. “But one of us has to use a little caution.”
“You know what I like to do with caution?” I asked, my hands sliding down her sides to her ass. “Throw it to the wind.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said with a chuckle.
“Stop playing grab ass,” Rumi said, bursting through the door out of breath. “And thanks for the heads up.”
“Where’s Mom?”
“She chased me through the yard and I locked her in the garage.”
“You did what?” Emilia asked in alarm.
“She can get out,” Rumi said with a grin as he hurried through the kitchen. “But by the time she does, I’ll have hidden my stash somewhere she can’t find it.”
“She’s going to murder him,” Emilia said as we watched him run down the hallway.
“Absolutely,” I agreed, letting my hands fall away from her ass. “Come on, we can hang outside once I finish this.”
“You’re a good son,” Emilia said as she helped me. “In here unpacking groceries while one of your brothers lays on the couch and the other hides his drugs from your parents.”
I smiled. “I don’t mind pitchin’ in when I can,” I said, opening up the fridge. “Rumi’s an asshole, but Otto’s probably exhausted. He gets insomnia real bad and sometimes he doesn’t sleep all night. That’s what causes the headaches. He ends up sleepin’ all day.”
“Oh.” Emilia frowned. “Why didn’t I know that?”
“He doesn’t like it when we make a big deal about it, so we don’t,” I said, leaning into the fridge to try to organize the million random containers of leftovers, hot sauce, and food. “Doctors said he’ll probably grow out of it.”
“He thinks I won’t find it,” my mom said, coming in calmly through the kitchen door. “He thinks I’ll forget. But what do I always say, Mick?”
“You’ll remember far longer than we do.”
“That’s right,” she said darkly, looking over at Emilia. “I always remember.”
“What time are Titus and Myla getting home?” I asked her, trying to distract her. “Are you picking them up?”
“They’re riding the bus today,” Mom replied. “And hallelujah for that. I’ve been driving all day.”
“What did you have to do?” I asked as she started helping us unload the groceries.
“I had a doctor’s appointment—and no, you can’t ask for what, some things can be private, thank you very much—and then I had to get the oil changed in my van.”
“Did you take it to the club?” I asked, glancing at her.
“Of course not,” she said with a huff. “I only have a few ways to annoy your dad anymore, and that’s one of them. I went to one of those drive thru places.”
“He’s going to shit.”
“That’s the point,” she said, grinning like the Joker. “After that, I had to go get some plants for the yard, bring them back here because they filled up the back of the van and then I had to grocery shop. I only beat you guys home by a few minutes.”