Total pages in book: 176
Estimated words: 164533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 823(@200wpm)___ 658(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 823(@200wpm)___ 658(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
I found Derek in his room, looking like he’d been up all night fuming. His eyes narrowed as soon as he saw me.
“Where the fuck have you been? And where’s my brother?”
“Hiding from you,” I replied. “Shit, Derek. I’m sorry. I never should’ve gone along with Tristan’s plan, but it was meant for Aidan.”
“Yeah, well, Aidan wasn’t the one who got drenched in fucking ice water. Milly was left shivering and humiliated. I had to beg her to let me walk her home. She barely leaves the house outside of going to school as it is, and the first time I manage to convince her to come hang out at a party, this happens. It’s unforgiveable.”
“I know it is. And Tristan and I both feel like shit about it. We’ll go to her house today and apologise in person.”
“No, she’ll hate that, just …” he trailed off, and I saw his worry etched into his features.
“You really care about her, don’t you?”
For a second, he looked a little bit helpless. “Things have been tough for her lately. Her Dad’s been sick, and her mother has to work two jobs to keep things going. Milly’s been taking care of her father and her two little sisters for months. I thought the party would be good for her. She could take a night off and just relax.” He cast me a cloudy look. “Obviously, it didn’t end up that way.”
“Fuck,” I swore, dragging a hand down my face. “I feel terrible. There must be some way we can make it up to her. Maybe Tristan and I could do some work over at her house, mow the lawn, dig out weeds, power wash the driveway,” I suggested.
Derek perked up a little. “That’s not a bad idea. Her dad normally takes care of those things, but he hasn’t been able to, and the front of her house needs some work.”
“So, we’ll go over there and freshen the place up,” I said. “Show Milly we really are sorry. It’s better than just saying it, right?”
Derek nodded, looking mildly assuaged.
Working at the hotel, I was used to hard labour. Tristan, on the other hand, was probably going to bitch and moan throughout the whole thing, but he’d do it, especially if it meant making it up to Derek. He looked up to him a lot, and the last thing Tristan wanted was to fall out with his big brother.
“Okay,” Derek said. “Wherever he’s skulking, go find Tristan and tell him the plan. We’ll leave in thirty minutes.”
“Can I at least grab a change of clothes first?”
“Yeah, but you don’t have time to shower. There’s no point since you’ll be sweating by the time you’re finished today.”
I changed into a clean outfit and washed up before going to find Tristan. Thankfully, Charli wasn’t in her room when I knocked. The lazy fucker was still snoozing away in her bed. When I managed to wake him up, he was less than enthused about how we were going to make things up to Milly, but he reluctantly agreed to it.
Mainly, I was just glad to get out of the house for the day and avoid Charli. She probably thought I was a horny creep with my morning boner.
God.
Maybe she wouldn’t want to even be my friend anymore. The thought stung. It bloody hurt.
Derek drove us to Milly’s, a bunch of gardening and cleaning equipment packed into the boot of the car. She lived in a modest semi-detached house with not too long of a driveway, but I could see how the front of the house needed work. This was the first time Derek had mentioned her father being unwell. Tristan and I hung back while Derek went to knock on the door. It took a while before anyone answered.
Milly appeared, her eyes looking like she’d been crying for a while last night. Hell, and I thought I couldn’t feel like more of a piece of shit. I looked to Tristan, and he wore an equally guilty expression. Derek bent his head to the petite brunette, speaking softly to her as he reached out to tuck some hair behind her ear. She seemed stiff at first but then slowly nodded when Derek motioned to us over his shoulder.
Tristan and I came forward, telling her how sorry we were, how the prank was never intended for her. Then Derek went inside the house with Milly, and we started to work on the front drive.
By the time we were done, all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep. The house was quiet when we got back, and we went our separate ways to shower. I’d just emerged when Derek came into the room.
“There you are,” he said. “Charli’s been looking for you.”
He didn’t sound pleased, and I remembered his warnings about his cousin being off limits. Derek must’ve noticed we’d been spending time together, especially with how she’d perched beside me on the armchair at the party last night.