Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 26630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
“Oh, didn’t I tell you?” Dad asks, and I grit my teeth because obviously not. “Well, since Lucille and I are away ‘till the end of the month and Talia needed somewhere to say, she’s staying there over the summer. Lucille, understandably, wanted her daughter to have somewhere to go on her college break, and we agreed before you told us you were coming for a visit too.”
My head spins. Is any of this supposed to make sense?
“Dad, you’ve missed like ten fucking steps of explanation,” I grunt, glaring at the phone as though he can see my frustration. “Who is Lucille?”
“My wife!”
His … what?
I must make some sort of noise because he continues, “We eloped a month ago, wanted to put the money towards the cruise rather than have a fancy wedding.”
Married. My dad is married. I blink a few times, unsure of how to feel. My mom died when I was little, so I always kind of knew Dad might find another partner at some point. But he’s gone and got married without even mentioning it to me, and I can’t help but feel a little bitter about that.
“And Talia?” I ask, needing all the facts. I’m starting to put the pieces together, though, and I come to the conclusion right before Dad helpfully puts it into words.
“Talia’s your new stepsister.”
2
TALIA
Istare at the closed bathroom door with my mouth hanging open.
My fingers are clenched in the damp towel. I’m shivering from standing here soaking wet, but I can’t remember how to move. I’m frozen, cold except for the spark of heat simmering low in my stomach, which gives me just as many questions as everything else that’s just happened.
“What on earth…” I murmur to myself, trying to shake the shock off.
I think I probably should be scared shitless. Yeah, I’m shocked and confused, but the longer I think about the guy who barged in, the less terrified I feel. He was huge—tall and so fit I could see his muscles even through the steam and his clothes—but he hadn’t made any move to grab me or use any of that strength against me. In fact, all he’d done was stare at me in as much shock as I’d been feeling.
Plus … I’d have to be blind not to have noticed how freaking hot he was.
My curiosity vastly overwhelms any trepidation I feel, and before I really realize I’m doing it, I’m jogging out of the bathroom in my towel and down the stairs to where I can hear footsteps pacing back and forth in the kitchen.
I pause when I reach the kitchen doorway, bare feet half in the hall, half on the kitchen tile.
The guy is pacing around the kitchen island, a phone lying on the marble surface. His hair looks more tousled than it did before, a little messy like he’s been running his hands through it, tugging at the ends. That spark of warmth low in my stomach coils tighter and I gasp.
The noise catches the dude’s attention, and his eyes meet mine. Swallowing thickly, I pad into the room, pausing at the island—him on one side, me on the other.
“Trey? You still there?”
I jump a little as the voice calls through the phone, a little staticky in the way that indicates the connection isn’t great. But even with the small measure of distortion warping it, I still recognize that voice.
“David?” I ask, the confusion I feel lining my voice.
Why is my stepdad on the phone? Better yet, why does this random guy—Trey—have his number? And why does that name sound so familiar to me? I don’t think I’ve met anyone named Trey, but there’s a niggling feeling in the back of my head that insists I’m missing something obvious here.
“Oh, Talia! How are you, sweetheart?” David asks, apparently oblivious to the twin looks of confusion on my and Trey’s faces.
I lean over the counter to get closer to the phone, and Trey reaches out to nudge the device towards me, allowing me to look down at the screen. My jaw drops open, and my eyes go wide as I set eyes on the contact photo of my stepdad at least ten years younger than I’ve seen him. It’s not the photo that stuns me speechless, though, but the name his contact is saved under: Dad.
Oh. My. God.
“David is your father?!” I gasp, eyes flicking wildly between the phone and the man across the counter. Trey looks at me with assessing eyes, arms crossed over his chest in a stance that makes his muscles bulge. I look away hurriedly before I let myself study him the way I want to.
Because, yes, Trey is the hottest man I’ve literally ever seen. Older than me by what must be ten years, but he wears his age well. Like fine wine, not that I’m fancy enough to have experience with fine wine. God, I don’t have experience at all, but from the way I’m reacting to his presence from the very fiber of my being, my body and soul are suddenly convinced that this man is the one to start experiencing things with.