Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
“Like no one would notice a fifteen-year-old girl in this shit?” I asked, looking around the room. The music was loud and people were everywhere. There was a woman I didn’t recognize completely topless in the corner, dancing by herself. Rumi and a few of our cousins were having a loud argument by the pool tables about something that probably didn’t matter in the slightest. There was a fine film of residue on one of the coffee tables where someone had been snorting lines. I wrinkled my nose in distaste. I’d tried coke and didn’t enjoy the experience in the slightest.
“You okay?” Micky asked, lowering his voice when I reached up to push my fingertips against my forehead.
“Fine,” I assured him, dropping my hand back down.
“You know, this is pretty tame for a patch party.”
“Yeah?”
“I got Rumi strippers,” he said with a shrug. “Seemed appropriate for the little horndog.”
“Fuck, I bet he loved that.”
“He sure did.”
“Thanks for not gettin’ me strippers,” I mumbled.
“You’re not the type,” Micky replied, smiling. “You’re pretty reserved on a good day—even more so the last few months.”
I nodded. I wasn’t really sure what the response for that was. I’d never been the life of the party.
“You ever find that girl you slept with?”
I jerked in surprise and looked over at my brother. I’d mentioned to my sister-in-law Emilia that I’d slept with someone and couldn’t remember who it was but I hadn’t realized she’d talked to Micky about it.
“Can’t remember shit,” I lied, shaking my head slowly.
“You go to the clinic?”
“I’m not an idiot,” I replied with a scoff. “I went, and I’m clean.”
“Well, there’s that.”
“I wore a condom,” I muttered. “I found it in the Mustang—it’s the only reason I knew I’d fucked someone.”
“How do you not remember fuckin’ someone?” Micky asked dubiously. “Seems like it would be on the highlight reel.”
“You remember every woman you’ve fucked?” I asked defensively, then immediately snapped my mouth shut with realization.
“Yep,” Micky said in amusement. “But, you know, I’m livin’ with her. Kinda hard to forget.”
“You realize how fuckin’ weird that is, right?”
“When you’ve had the best,” he said with a shrug, his words trailing off. “Why bother lookin’ for anythin’ else?”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“Once you find her, you’ll get it.”
“Probably,” I conceded, thinking of Esther. “Haven’t found her yet.”
“Maybe you have,” he replied, lips twitching with humor. “And you were too drunk to remember it.”
“Fuck you,” I grumbled, laughing.
“I mean, I doubt you were her best,” he continued, laughter in his voice. “Considerin’ you were so drunk you can’t remember it.”
“Fuck off.”
“Can’t imagine you were all that coordinated,” he mused. “Or hard.”
“I can stay hard when I’m drunk,” I snapped. “You got an issue with that? You need to talk about it, brother? Let’s unpack.”
By that point Micky was laughing so hard he was barely making any noise. “Nah, I’m good, bud. No problems there.”
“You sure? They got little pills for that, you know?”
“Little pills for what?” my baby sister asked from behind me. I jerked in surprise and turned.
“How the fuck did you get here?” I asked, looking over her head for my parents.
“I paid Titus forty bucks,” she replied smugly.
“Fuck, Titus is here too?” Micky barked.
“Nope,” she said happily. “He just dropped me off. He didn’t want to get in trouble.”
“Why the fuck did they even let you through the gate?”
Myla laughed and rolled her eyes. “Like they’d tell me I couldn’t get onto the property.”
“You’re leavin’.”
“I am not,” she said, taking a hasty step backward. “It cost me forty bucks!”
“Not my problem,” I growled. I finally caught sight of my mom across the room. “Ma!”
“Myla Rose,” my mom yelled, her voice cutting through the noise in the room.
“I hate you,” Myla hissed, kicking me in the leg.
“Come on, short stack,” Micky said, dodging her swinging arms as he threw her over his shoulder. “Time to go.”
“I just got here,” Myla bellowed, wiggling like a worm on a hook. “Dammit, Micky!”
“You’re in so much trouble,” my dad barked. He was trying to keep his face straight, but I could see the laughter in his eyes. While he definitely didn’t want Myla in the middle of a club party, I could tell that he admired the balls it had taken for her to sneak her way in.
“How the hell did you get here?” my mom asked. She turned on my dad. “Did you know about this?”
“I’m fifteen,” Myla said in exasperation, still slung over Micky’s shoulder. She let her body go limp and was hanging there like a sack of potatoes. “I’m old enough to go to parties.”
“No you’re not,” Mick snapped. He looked at my parents. “I’m gonna take her ass home.”
“Thanks, baby,” my mom said with a sigh, rolling her eyes. “Happy Myla? Now your brother has to leave to take you home. We’re supposed to be celebrating Otto.”