Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 117574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 588(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 588(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
“Isn’t Billie adorable?” Charlotte says to me, offering me Tessa’s phone. Lucky’s on my lap, so I shift him slightly to take the device from her, and the second I look down at the photo, I’m shocked to instantly recognize Ryan’s brother.
“Is your brother an actor?” I ask Ryan.
Ryan confirms my hunch and confirms the name of the show his brother’s most known for—one I recently binge-watched.
“I’ve watched every season!” I say. “Your brother was my favorite on the show—the best part of the whole thing.”
Ryan laughs. “I’ll tell him you said so when I see him tomorrow. He’ll be thrilled.”
I pepper Ryan with questions, and he fills me in on his brother’s journey in Hollywood, including the fact that the part I’ve seen Keane in has been a breakthrough role for him, one that’s opened lots of new doors.
“Good for him,” I say. “Is it weird having a famous person in your family?”
Tessa interjects, “Keane’s not the only famous Morgan sibling. Ryan’s other brother, Dax, is the lead singer of 22 Goats. Have you heard of them?”
My jaw clanks open. “I saw them the last time they came through Seattle! I love those guys!” I nudge Zach next to me. He’s sitting between Charlotte and me. “Is your mommy pulling a joke on me? Do you really have an uncle in 22 Goats?”
Zach shrugs like it’s no big deal. “I have three uncles in Uncle Daxy’s band. Uncle Daxy, Uncle Fish, and Uncle Colin.”
I palm my forehead. “That’s so cool.” I can’t imagine being a kid who gets to grow up considering all three members of 22 Goats as family, on top of one day getting to watch his Uncle Keane killing it in a popular show.
“Dax and his two bandmates grew up together,” Ryan says. “Most of my siblings and their spouses have lots of close, longtime friends, so every little one in our family has lots of honorary uncles and aunties, just like their Auntie Charlotte here.”
“I’m only honorary?” Charlotte jokes. “How dare you.” Laughing, she kisses the top of Claire’s head. “I’m your favorite of all the honoraries, though, right, Claire Bear?”
Claire looks confused. “Awno-berries?”
We all laugh, and try to help Claire with the pronunciation.
“Uncle Fish is my favorite awno-berry,” Zach says. Apparently, the word’s going to stick that way. He continues, “Uncle Fish and Auntie Ally came to my birthday party and dey brought me a guitar and Uncle Fish showed me how to play it and den dey played a song for everybody.”
“Shoot. I can’t compete with that,” Charlotte quips. “Darn it.”
Everyone but me laughs. I’m too stunned by what I’m hearing to engage like a normal person. Fish is the bass player of 22 Goats, and he also produces music for his girlfriend or wife or whoever she is. There’s a song they did together, a duet, a few years back that was a smash hit. The kind that’s on the radio every time you turn it on. In every grocery store and every bank. Was that the song they performed at Zach’s birthday party? Did this lucky kid get a personal concert people would pay good money to see?
I probably shouldn’t ask the question I’m wondering, so I don’t look like a total fanboy loser, but I can’t help myself. “Did Fish and Ally play ‘Smitten’ at your birthday party, Zach?”
“No. Dey played a song about dinosaurs because my party was a dinosaur party.”
“Oh, cool.”
“You know Fish and Ally’s music?” Tessa asks.
“I know ‘Smitten.’”
Tessa chuckles. “You’re so sweet, Auggie. You’re practically bursting right now.” She winks at Charlotte. “The next time we have a family party, the kind where even the LA Branch of the family makes the trek, you’ll have to come and bring Auggie along so he can meet everyone.”
My heart explodes with excitement. Not only because I’d love to meet Ryan’s famous family members, both honorary and actual, but even more importantly because this suggestion would mean I’d get to hang out with Charlotte again in the future, even after our present emergency is over and she’s moved back to LA or wherever.
“I’d love to come,” I say, a goofy grin on my face. I look at Charlotte, expecting her to be smiling the same way I am, and my heart sinks. If I’m not mistaken, Charlotte’s flashing a look at Tessa meant to convey something along the lines of “What the fuck are you doing?”
From Tessa, Charlotte looks at me and smiles thinly. “Yeah, if that works out, that’d be great. The future is kind of blurry for me right now, though, so we’ll have to see how it goes.”
Fuck. My cheeks feel hot. “Oh, yeah, no worries. If it works out, great; if not, all good.” Fucking hell. I need to calm down and stop envisioning myself dating Charlotte in the future. Clearly, dating me, long-term or otherwise, isn’t on Charlotte’s To Do List, so I need to scratch it off mine, too. That’s easier said than done, though. At this point, I feel like my heart is going rogue.