Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 100628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“What the fuck?” I whisper shrieked as soon as he’d answered.
“I’m so sorry, dude,” he replied quickly. “I completely fuckin’ forgot we were supposed to hang last night. It was a fuckin’ shit show—”
“Micky has a kid?” I yelled as soon as I’d wrestled my door closed.
“That’s the shit show,” he yelled back. “Emilia showed up yesterday with a fuckin’ baby.”
“That’s not a baby,” I countered. “That kid is fucking walking.”
Rumi laughed. “Well, she took off about three years ago, so the timing fits.”
“Holy shit.”
“Yeah, no kidding. He’s cute, though, right?”
“So fucking cute,” I agreed, staring blankly through the windshield. “But seriously, what the fuck?”
“I don’t know,” Rumi replied with a sigh. “His name is Rhett—”
“Cool name.”
“They’re stayin’ with Mick.”
“Like in his house?”
“Like in his house,” he confirmed.
“Well, that had to have been a surprise,” I joked. Micky had completely trashed Emilia’s old house after she was gone and their dad Tommy ended up having to buy the place to keep Micky from getting arrested for it. I didn’t know all the details but eventually Micky had bought the house from his dad and fixed all the shit he’d torn apart… and then started living there. Essentially, Emilia had just moved back into her childhood home—which now belonged to her high school boyfriend.
“I doubt it was more of a surprise than Mick finding out he had a kid,” Rumi replied grimly.
“Holy shit,” I whispered again. “How did your parents react?”
“Like you’d expect,” Rumi said with a laugh. “Happy they’re here. Tryin’ to keep the peace because Otto’s pissed.”
“Otto is pissed?” Rumi had three brothers and a sister, Otto was a couple years younger than us.
“Plot twist.” Rumi sighed. “So, yeah. It’s been a weird twenty-four hours.”
“How are you feeling about it?” I asked. I remembered how busted up Rumi had been when Emilia had gone missing. Micky had been in love with her but Rumi had considered her one of his best friends. I’d been jealous of their relationship once upon a time. It had kind of felt like she’d replaced me.
“I’m getting hammered tonight,” he replied, telling me everything I needed to know. “You down?”
“That depends… what are we drinking?”
Chapter 7
Rumi
“Come in!” I yelled, throwing back a shot.
Nova peeked her head inside the door and then opened it wider so she could move through it. “You started without me!”
“Figured you wouldn’t mind,” I replied with a laugh, pouring a shot for her. “Tequila?”
“Gross.” She wrinkled her nose in disgust as she walked toward me, but picked up the shot glass anyway and threw it back. “It’s going to be a tequila kind of night, huh?”
“It’s been a hell of a week,” I muttered. Everything was fucking topsy-turvy. Emilia was back and I had a nephew and Micky was losing his shit and on top of all that I couldn’t stop thinking about Nova for two seconds.
“You have a nephew,” Nova sang, dropping onto the couch beside me. “Yay!”
“Thought I’d have a couple more years before that happy event,” I replied, toasting her with another shot.
“Hey, at least he’s not yours,” she joked. “How’s Micky holding up?”
“Who fuckin’ knows.” I fell back against the couch. “Still in love with Emilia. Fightin’ it.”
“Well, that’s not a surprise,” Nova said, pouring herself a shot. “He hasn’t dated anyone since she left.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean he was hung up on her.”
Emilia shot me a look of disbelief. “I think it’s sweet. It’s like he was waiting for her.”
“He hasn’t been waiting for her.”
“What would you call it?”
I didn’t have to answer, so I took my shot instead.
“I get it, though,” Nova said, curling her legs up on the couch. “She took off on him. I wouldn’t trust her after that, either.”
“I think there were extenuating circumstances.”
“Okay, wait,” she said, holding up a hand. “Do you think he should start back up with her or not?”
I thought about it for a moment. I’d been replaying that exact question in my mind since Emilia had come back. “I think that sometimes two people are just meant for each other,” I replied finally. I shrugged. “Fighting it is pointless.”
“That’s adorable.” Nova grinned.
“Shut up.”
“You waiting for your soulmate, Rum?” she asked teasingly.
“Oh, fuck you.” I laughed.
“I kind of agree with you,” she said with a smile. “I mean, not about two people being meant for each other or whatever—but I think he should try and work shit out with her.”
“You do?”
“She came back,” Nova said with a shrug. “That’s got to mean something, right? If he still loves her, it’s not like he’s losing anything if he tries.”
“Self-respect?”
“Please.” She rolled her eyes. “Micky’s self-respect doesn’t come from Emilia. I think you’re mixing that up with pride. It might hurt his pride if it doesn’t work out.”
I thought about that for a while. She was right just like usual. I didn’t think that Emilia would take off again because I didn’t believe that it was her choice to do it the first time. Everyone who loved her was here. If she and Micky didn’t work out, she’d still be around. He’d still get to see my nephew. But if it did work out? Happily ever after and shit.