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 think it’s time for you to move along,” Ryder grunts. “You do not want to meet our father.”
Reagan huffs. “Don’t be an ass, Ry. They’re trying to be friendly and you’re scaring them away.”
“Promise we’re not bad people,” CJ, and clearly the spokesman of the two, assures us. “Plus, if we didn’t act right, my momma would beat both of us with a switch. That woman is vicious.”
Jace makes a silly face, nodding emphatically. “Aunt Tee once came after me with a frying pan! With the eggs still in it!”
Both guys snort with laughter at their seemingly fond memory.
“Why are you here on our land?” Ryder demands. “You say you’re passing through, but we’re smack dab in the center of our property and we own a lot of it. Are you trying to walk all the way to Canada? Why? What are you hiding?”
CJ frowns, darting a confused look my way. As if I’ll save him from my brother. Fat chance, man.
“Look, we don’t mean any harm.” CJ takes the bottle of liquor from his cousin and takes a swig. “We just get really bored, so finding people our age is the most exciting shit that’s happened to us in forever.”
Ryder takes another step forward, almost like he’s going to accept the bottle, but stops short. He ripples with power, making both guys who are older than him flinch. “You didn’t answer my questions,” Ryder growls. “What are you hiding?”
Jace takes the liquor bottle and recaps it before letting out a heavy sigh. “Our dads are government conspiracy nuts. It’s fucking embarrassing. They uprooted our families and dragged us off the grid. We’re looking to settle someplace away from society. Haven’t found anything yet. Each time we find someplace cool, people already live there.”
“You lived in a town?” I ask, unable to hide my curiosity. “Where?”
“Seattle,” CJ answers with a lopsided grin. “The city had a good party scene. Every weekend was fucking awesome. Girls, booze, pot.”
“But our dads all but dragged us with them,” Jace mutters. “We didn’t put in a notice at our jobs or anything. Just picked up and left.”
“You had a job?” Raegan asks. “Doing what?”
CJ laughs. “Nothing exciting. I was delivering pizzas while in college. Jace worked sometimes at the shoe store in the mall.”
To emphasize CJ’s claim, Jace shoots his foot out, showing off his hideously bright red shoe. “Twenty percent off employee discount. Man, those were the good ol’ days.”
Raegan, seemingly fine with our new “friends,” saunters over to Jace and holds out her hand. “I don’t know what an employee discount is, but I’ll take a drink.”
Before me or Ryder can stop her, she takes a long swallow of the amber liquid. Then she starts coughing. Both the guys crack up with laughter. I can’t help but smirk and even Ryder relaxes his shoulders a bit.
“Can’t handle your liquor?” Jace teases. “This stuff is stout, but when I was seventeen I was chugging this shit.”
“That’s because you’re a fucking alcoholic, dumbass,” CJ retorts with a grin. “Are we all cool? Because, if you don’t care, we can take you over to meet our family. Mya will seriously kill me if I don’t introduce you guys to her.”
The dynamic between the cousins is relaxed and they both appear to be happy. Maybe we are overreacting. I let out a resigned sigh, tossing the branch onto the forest floor.
Jace hollers, fist pumping the air. “He’s not going to kick our asses!”
Mage, having finally had enough of our antics, yips as if to tell us to shut up. Both of the guys jerk their heads to our wolf, who’s still curled up on a rock, jaws unhinged.
“Do you have a wolf for a pet? Are you for real?” CJ asks in astonishment. “That’s so badass.”
Raegan saunters over to the pup and scoops him into her arms. “His name is Mage. He’s my sweet boy.”
“Technically, he’s mine,” Ryder interjects.
Oh, geez, here we go again.
“They’ll go like this for hours,” I mutter, shaking my head slightly. “And I do mean hours.”
CJ chuckles. “You should hear me and Mya. Not a day goes by where one of us isn’t nagging at the other. She turned into a total brat once she lost her phone and didn’t have social media.”
I know what social media is because Wild has it and uses it. Wild also has a phone, though it never works when he comes out to visit. Even unable to pick up a signal, I’ve always been impressed by the tiny device and Wild’s extensive stash of nudes stored in the pictures.
Nudes of women, not himself.
A warm blush creeps over my skin. At least I don’t find any of these guys attractive. Not like Wild and especially not like Ryder.
“Jace!” someone hollers in the distance. “Jace!”
Jace tilts his head back, staring up at the tree canopy, and groans. “My brother lives to make me miserable.” He huffs before bringing his chin back down. “I swear if he could magically become my dad, he’d try to. It’s annoying as fuck.”