Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 69098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
“I brought gifts,” Wild says once his chuckles have subsided. “Do you like Skittles, Mya?”
My mouth waters for those colorful candies, but I don’t dare let Wild or Mya see any emotion on my face. Wild never brings me gifts. He knows the things I like and purposefully gives them to my siblings instead. He’s a little—all six-feet-plus of him—asshole. Luckily, Uncle Atticus always pulls through for me.
I miss Ronan.
He always runs interference between me and Wild. Ronan, who actually likes Wild as a friend, somehow manages to diffuse the situation whenever he’s here. My heart aches to see him.
Could I confess to him the crazy, charged moment I shared with Ryder?
Would he care? Be pissed off? Want to claim me instead?
Heat burns deep in my gut, momentarily distracting me from being the oddball out of this group of beautiful jerks. I catch snippets of Mya explaining who she is, why they’re here, and where the rest of the camp went.
“Seriously, dude, your truck just woke up the entire state of Alaska.”
I know that voice.
Ronan.
A happy squeal erupts from me as I chase down the voice. Emerging from the woods are Ronan and Ryder. I take off running, ignoring the watchful stares of Wild and his crew. Ronan is ready for me, arms spread wide and waiting.
“You’re back!” I leap into his arms, hooking my legs around his waist and nearly tackling him with my momentum. “Oh my God, I missed you so much!”
Ronan laughs, hugging me back. “Missed you too, Rae.”
I playfully smack wet kisses all over his face until he groans, shoving me away from him. Once he manages to completely pluck me off him, I turn to Ryder, still grinning stupidly. His brow is furrowed, and his pouty lips are pressed together in a firm line.
“I missed both of you,” I say, this time leaning into Ryder for a hug. “So much.”
We’re not typically the huggers, but things are different between us lately. He’s stiff and bristly acting, but a second later, his large palm finds my hip, burning me through my layers of clothes. Both he and Ronan are a bit rank, smelling like they spent the past couple of days not bothering to bathe. I don’t care, though. Their sweaty, woodsy scent is still better than Wild’s fancy cologne he wears that is nauseating.
“Should I be jealous, wifey dearest?” Wild asks, the cruel edge of his voice cutting right through me.
His insinuation pisses me off, probably because it’s a little too close to the truth.
Ronan starts to say something, no doubt ready to calm me down, but I move like lightning. Jerking myself out of Ryder’s hug, I fly toward Wild. Since he’s not expecting me, I get the element of surprise. With a leap when I’m close enough to see his stupid, handsome face, I swing my fist, aiming right for it.
Crack!
Wild’s head jerks hard to his right and his ball cap gets flung to the earth. He whips his head back to me and fingers his lip that trickles blood. I’m pretty sure I hit his jaw based on the way my hand now throbs like hell, but it appears he bit his lip from the impact of my hit.
“You bitch,” Wild snarls, swiping at the blood with his fingers and staring at them in disbelief. “You hit me.”
“Keep running your mouth and I’ll kick you in the balls next time,” I threaten, baring my teeth at him. “Test me, asshole. Go on.”
Ronan grabs the wrist of my hand that hurts so bad I wonder if I broke a finger or two. “Come on, killer. Let’s get out of here and catch up.”
My other hand, uninjured, is quite capable of offering Wild another display of my middle finger. I take satisfaction in the crazed, angry glare he shoots my way.
God, that felt good.
Even if Mom tears me a new one for being violent.
It was worth it.
* * *
* * *
Raegan follows stubbornly behind me. She’s pissed at Wild, but what else is new?
Oh, that’s right. Punching him is new.
She’s going to get into so much shit over this.
I’d actually looked forward to hanging out with Wild and the people he brought with him, but Raegan’s more important. She always comes first.
Does that put Ryder second?
My heart lurches in my chest. Thoughts of the other night, his hand stroking me off and his mouth on mine, assault me like hail in a vicious storm. Each memory is bruising.
I had a sexual encounter with my brother.
It appeared we’d squashed it and were both doing a great job of keeping our minds off it when we’d overheard Jace and CJ trash-talking Destiny. Somehow, during that moment, flames of lust ignited once more with a few stolen glances.
And then…
Then things got weird.
Ryder was yelling at Michael and Owen and Dad. He was damn near panicking about incest that led to him running off. I’d been poised to go after him despite the judging stares of our visitors, but Dad beat us to the punch.