Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 32770 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32770 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
“Wait, who?” Now he’s glaring down at me. I swear he’s always ready to fill the shoes of his big brother role. Not that I can blame him after what happened in our last school.
“It’s none of either one of your business.” I fold my arms over my chest. I’m so not letting Dunc know I just lied through my teeth. “You should be worrying about how both of you are acting, never mind my personal life. You two need to grow up. I could’ve been hurt getting in between you guys.” I throw that out there, knowing at least it will work on Van.
I go back over toward the sofa and sit down. It’s not long before Van comes to sit next to me on my right. He bumps my shoulder. His manly way of apologizing to me. Before I know it, I feel Dunc sit on the other side of me.
“You two are related,” I try to remind them.
“Blood doesn’t mean shit to us, Sadie. You know that.” I should, but everything is so uncertain to me now. I want to yell at both of them for being so stupid. I’m trying to hold on to my family, and these two have found each other and are so easily willing to throw it away. But I know now is not the time. Their emotions are too fresh. And to be honest, I’m holding on by a thin thread as well.
My phone starts to ring. I jump up from the sofa. Dunc does too, following me over to my bag I dropped when I stepped inside.
“Jesus. You a fuckin’ puppy?” Van grumbles. I put my finger to my lips, telling them both to zip it when I see my dad’s name. I don’t miss Dunc eyeing whose name is on my phone.
“Hey,” I say when I answer.
“Both you and Van at home?” He cuts straight to the point.
“Yeah. Is everything okay?” Dad lets out a long breath. “Dad?”
“I don’t know where to start.”
“Mom found her baby daddy and long-lost love.” I fill in for him.
“Something like that.” He lets out a small chuckle that relaxes me. Until he speaks again. “Then she had one of her panic attacks.”
“Oh God. Is she okay?” It’s been a long time since I can recall her having one.
“She wants to move in with Cooper.” All the air leaves my lungs. She’s leaving. “Says she owes it to Cooper for keeping Van away from him.” Mom is taking Van with her. I fight back tears.
“What?” Van jumps up, seeing my expression.
“I know we barely got settled into our place, but I think she might be right.”
“Okay” is all I can get out. Dunc suddenly plucks the phone out of my hand.
“What’s going on? Lil bit over here is about to cry,” Dunc says into the phone. What did he call me? “All right. When will they be here? Got it.” Dunc ends the call, handing me my phone back. “Movers are coming.”
“Movers?”
“I guess you and your mom are moving in with Cooper.” He looks over at Van. Van’s eyes widen. If my heart wasn’t breaking I’d laugh because I’ve never seen him make that face before.
“You too, lil bit. We’re all shacking up.” Dunc throws his arm over my shoulder. I knock it off. “Show me to your room. I’ll help you pack.”
This day keeps getting crazier by the second.
CHAPTER 9
DUNCAN
“Van hates my dad. I mean, my uncle.” I tip the milk jug up and let the liquid glide down my throat until my gut tells me that another drop is going to make me puke. I let the jug fall between my legs and swipe my arm across my mouth. Sadie’s eyes follow my actions intently like she can’t keep her eyes off my lips. It makes me want to lay her on the grass and do crazy things to her, but we’re sitting in my backyard, and the adults are probably staring at us from inside, not to mention her brother—or my cousin, I guess—is lurking around here.
Thankfully, she doesn’t hate me too much despite me fighting with Van over a friggin’ jug of milk. It seems dumb in retrospect, which is why when she asked me what happened between me and her brother, I said we fought about Cooper.
“How long have you been with him?”
“Since I was a baby. Mom and Dad died in a car wreck. Cooper was seventeen. He and his mom took me in, and then when his mom died, Coop kept me.”
“He’s your dad then.” Sadie says this so matter-of-factly as if there can be no argument.
“I’ve called Coop Dad since I was nine,” I find myself telling her. “I’d been thinking about it for a while but didn’t know how to say it. One day, he was driving to a build site and cursing because the aux cord between his phone and the truck was frayed. We didn’t have a lot of money back then because Coop was just starting out, so every penny counted. Anyway, he was getting frustrated, and I hated that because it didn’t matter to me if we had music in the truck. I was just happy to be with him, and so I told him, ‘Dad, I hate your music.’”