Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 31869 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31869 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
“I’m a man of integrity, sis. You might not always like what I have to say, but I’m gonna give it to you straight. Something, ironically, I hear wives don’t like very much.”
A frown creased the corners of my lips. “Jude, that makes me feel so…sad.”
“Why?” he questioned. “I’m happy being single.”
I searched his eyes.
“Winnie, I promise you, I’m all good,” he stated. “So, you can stop looking at me like that.”
“I’m not looking at you like anything.”
He guffawed. “Yeah, you are. You’re looking at me like you feel sorry for me or some shit.”
“I swear, I’m not. I just want you to be happy.”
“Like I said, I am.”
I narrowed my eyes. “But I feel like that’s what someone would say if they weren’t happy, and they were trying to hide the truth.”
He burst into laughter. “That’s a seriously fucked-up way of thinking.”
“I can’t help it.” I grinned. “I guess I’m just concerned that all the crap our own absent father put us through, and the way shit went down with Remy all those years ago…that, I don’t know, maybe it’s, like, fucked up your view of love and relationships.”
Jude grew quiet for a moment, but eventually, he asked, “Did you ever hear about the fortune-teller we went to?”
“Wait…what? Who went to a fortune-teller?”
“Remy, Flynn, Ty, and me,” he answered. “The night of Rem’s bachelor party.”
“Seriously?”
He nodded. “And you know what’s crazy?”
I shook my head.
“That woman basically predicted that Remy would be left at the altar.”
My jaw practically unhinged itself. “What?”
How in the hell was I just hearing about this now?
“You cannot tell our brothers that I told you about this,” he said and pointed a stern finger in my direction. “I’m serious, Win. This was supposed to never be talked about again.”
“I swear. I won’t say anything.” I raised both hands in the air. “But you have to give me more info here… I mean… Jude, don’t leave me hanging here…”
“There isn’t much info to give,” he answered on a shrug. “The fortune-teller was right about Remy’s wedding not happening, but everything else she said hasn’t come true.”
“What else did she say?”
“I don’t know, Win. It was thirteen years ago.”
I stared at him and quirked a refuting brow. “Yet you remember that she was right about Remy?”
“Well, yeah, that was hard to fucking forget.”
“So, like, was she predicting your future…?”
“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” he answered and took a drink from his bottle of beer, but that was all he said.
Sheesh. Sometimes, it felt like pulling teeth to get my brothers to tell me anything.
“Okayyy…so, did she say you were going to stay single your whole life?” I asked, trying to put the puzzle pieces together with what little information he had given me.
“Actually,” he answered with a shrug, “no. Not exactly. But she said a bet was going to change my life.”
“A bet?” I giggled. “Sounds about right for you.”
“I know.” He smirked. “Honestly, it’s crazy that all those years ago, we really thought something was going to happen because of what that fortune teller told us.”
“Maybe it just hasn’t happened yet, but it’s going to happen? Like, what if you haven’t met the woman who makes you want to give love and relationships a try, but you’re going to…eventually?”
“Give it up, sis.” Jude rolled his eyes. “Nothing like that is going to happen for me.”
“But it happened for me.”
“You met the woman of your dreams?” he teased. “Does Wes know?”
“Smartass.” I punched him in the arm. “I met Wes, but before him? I pretty much had the same mind-set as you.”
“Is that right?”
I nodded.
“Well, it goes without saying, but I’m very happy for you, Win.”
Hope started to bloom in my chest.
“Thanks, Jude.”
Unfortunately, though, my brother was quick to squash it.
“But I can assure you, relationships and marriage and kids aren’t in the cards for me. I’m more of a lone wolf kind of guy.”
I sighed and he laughed, and then, I pointed one finger in his direction.
“You know what I think?”
“Tell me.”
“I think you’re going to eat those words one day.”
He quirked a curious brow at me.