Total pages in book: 150
Estimated words: 148434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 742(@200wpm)___ 594(@250wpm)___ 495(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 742(@200wpm)___ 594(@250wpm)___ 495(@300wpm)
New Year’s Eve should be a celebratory occasion with glitz and glam, but Tony has soul-sucked the house. And serious matters are still at the forefront.
Like the freezing cold and the depletion of certain supplies. Which has brought us to an Emergency House Meeting and split the living room: Omega on one side, Epsilon on the other, and my family strewn in between.
Jack Highland and surprisingly Will Rochester have chosen to sit with my family.
I clap my hands together. “Thank you all for coming to this meeting. We appreciate having your undivided attention.”
4 girls to 13 guys.
The ratio is very apparent as I stand with Sullivan, Luna, and Joana near the fireplace hearth. We take center stage and capture the attention of all thirteen men. Most of them seem readied—despite not knowing the issues we’re about to drudge up—but I suppose that’s what happens when you face a room full of bodyguards.
They’re prepared for anything.
But I highly doubt they’ve guessed this.
I take a breath, and my gaze drifts to the back wall. Where Thatcher stands stoically next to an old record player. Arms crossed, he nods me on encouragingly, even though he’s in the dark like the other men.
More breath fills my lungs, and I continue on with a rising smile, “As you all know, there are some things that the four of us experience that none of you do.”
Bodyguards shift, realization striking some.
“This meeting is about menstruation,” I announce.
Silence.
Dead.
Utter. Silence.
Concern is the prominent emotion from Omega’s corner. From Maximoff and my brothers as well.
Epsilon’s side is another story. O’Malley is leaning back in a rocking chair and suddenly enamored with the ceiling. And Tony looks far too amused.
Joana threads her arms. “Menstruation is a period.”
“Shark week,” Sulli adds, drawing a grin from all the girls, and she whispers to us, “It’s what my sister and I call it.”
Oscar bows forward on the couch. “We know what menstruation is, Jo.”
She nods to her twenty-one-year-old brother. “Quinn looked confused.”
His brows are rather scrunched.
Tony interjects, “Wait.” He licks his lips, a laugh on them, and he talks directly to me. “You came here to discuss being on the rag?”
I cringe.
On the rag might be my all-time least favorite phrase, and before SFO, Maximoff, or my brothers jump down his throat, I answer quickly—and hotly, “Yes, we did, Tony, and we’ve called this meeting to let you all know that we’re running out of feminine products.”
Thatcher stares off a little, and I bet he’s mentally counting to determine my next period. He can easily keep track of my cycle since we have sex so often.
Quinn scratches his unshaven jaw. “Shouldn’t you have planned for that?”
We’ve discovered the source of his confusion, ladies and gentlemen.
“Like we all planned to be stuck in this house?” Joana says, hurt in her voice. “Like I planned to miss my fight in London?”
Quinn grimaces. “Sorry, Jo.” His apology to his little sister sounds sincere.
“We’ll fix this,” Oscar says to his sister. “What do you girls need?”
I interlace my fingers. “Well, this trip was supposed to be one week. And the only person who packed tampons was the girl who knew she’d have a period here. The rest of us brought one emergency item.”
I purposefully omit names. Even if Sulli wouldn’t mind, the men don’t need to know she started her period at the beginning of the trip.
I continue, “And since we’ve been in Scotland for almost three weeks, some of us are now having periods that we didn’t anticipate—”
“If I were a girl, I’d just bring a box of tampons everywhere with me.” Tony is the loudest, most obnoxious man I’ve ever had the misfortune of meeting. At least it feels this way stuck here with him. I’m sure once I return to strangers heckling me in Philly, I’ll feel differently.
Thatcher glowers at Tony. “Cut her off one more time, and—”
“And what?” He chuckles. “You’re gonna hit me again, Banks? Let’s do it. Right now—”
“Do you ever shut the fuck up?” Farrow glares.
Tony smiles more. “You think you’re such hot shit, Farrow, why don’t you go outside with me then? I’ll show you and Moretti who’s the better fighter.”
Farrow raises his brows. “You were literally knocked out unconscious seven days ago.”
“It won’t happen twice.”
Joana steps forward. “How about I kick your ass instead?”
Beckett has been sullen all day, but I catch my brother beginning to smile.
Tony flashes a dry look at Jo. “I don’t punch girls. Sorry.”
Akara interjects fast. “We’re getting off track, guys.”
Tony gesticulates towards me and the girls. “If they didn’t bring enough tampons, then at least one of them should be on the pill. That stops a period, right?”
“Thank you for bringing up the pill, Tony,” I say between gritted teeth. “That’s my second point. Some of us have run out and are now spotting. Which has created a greater need for feminine products.”