Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
The dragon being our lie.
Dinner went by in a blur, and then Serena and I were outside because going to my room just meant I’d get her naked, and then my mom really would use that gun. I mean, she knew, everyone knew we’d started having sex early, but that didn’t mean that they were handing us condoms and making signs that said, “get there faster.”
I wrapped an arm around her and let the silence descend between us. It was almost strange how weird it felt to be out in the open, to touch her without wondering if I was going to get my fingers cut off.
“You ready for this?” Serena asked.
I looked out at the field and then back at her. “Am I waiting for something to happen right now?”
“Don’t be a dick.”
“That’s literally all I know how to be,” I teased, pulling her against my chest and stealing a kiss, and then another, and then one more.
She laughed against my mouth and turned just as the sun started to set, and then very slowly, she twirled in my arms, once, twice, and exhaled. “I wondered how many more of these moments I would get with you.”
“No more wondering.” I tilted her chin. “You get all of them.”
“I asked my dad, you know.” Her full lips were so plump I wanted to take a bite. “Were they really going to let us die down there.”
My body tensed up because I’d asked my dad the same thing, and he’d refused to say yes or no. “And?” I didn’t want to remember that sick feeling in my chest, the hollowness that cut itself into my soul at the feeling of losing her. “What did he say?”
“He pulled me into his arms…” Her arms tightened around my body. “…and said, ‘what do you think?’”
I burst out laughing. “That’s the worst answer ever!”
“Exactly what I said, and his only response was to shrug!”
“Bastard.”
“Hey, that’s my dad.”
“And that’s a bastard move,” I pointed out. “If it makes you feel any better, mine didn’t answer me either.”
“Hey, I’m not finished with my story.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Oh, so it’s a story now?” I started toying with the straps of her tank top, then licked my lips when I realized she wasn’t wearing a bra underneath. “I think I’m going to go on a treasure hunt when this story’s done.”
She crooked her finger as we rounded the corner where the outdoor gym was located. It was an RV garage converted into enough weights and flat screens to make anyone happy, though dad denied it was a man cave.
I found great joy in making signs every year that he had to take down. I’d used two hundred nails last Christmas.
Nixon had helped.
“You’re distracting me,” she whispered as we walked into the gym.
The lights were off as I led her farther into the room until we were on the other side of the sitting area toward the wet bar my dad rarely drank from but always kept stocked.
I let her hand go and then went about getting each of us a shot of vodka, something we did every year on the day we remembered those who’d died.
“I live to distract you,” I said, handing her the shot glass.
We both tilted the alcohol back, and I poured two more. “Now, finish your story so I can see how fast I can finish you.”
“So charming, it’s amazing you landed me.”
“Ah, is that what you were thinking about this morning when I did that thing with my tongue? How fucking charming I am? Hey, are you blushing right now? I can’t tell it’s too dark,” I grabbed boob and got slapped.
“Girls don’t blush there.”
I snorted out a laugh. “But, you know where you do blush…”
“Sto-op!” Her laugh was like oxygen. “Okay, keep your hands and cock to yourself. So anyway I went and asked Uncle Chase, but that’s like asking the president for his secrets, same answer, right? So then I went and—”
One of the lights flickered on.
Serena dove behind the bar where I was. “I thought your dad went to bed early!”
“He does, he’s like a grandpa!” I hissed.
“Huh, hot grandpa—”
“Could you not right now?” I pinched her ass.
We both peered around the bar and heard footsteps, a lot of footsteps, and one by one, all the bosses casually walked into the place. Someone turned on the TV. Nixon grabbed two ping pong paddles and handed one to my dad.
My jaw nearly came unhinged when both our dads started a game of ping pong. Fucking ping pong!
“What sort of warped universe is this?” I whispered. “No guns? No violence? Nobody’s even bleeding!” I said.
Serena’s shocked expression mirrored my own as laughter ensued around the couch, where Chase was currently watching himself on TV with Uncle Tex, who immediately started throwing Doritos.