Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Get Your Kicks
Grace
“Alright, bitch — spill the tea.”
I blinked out of the daze I’d been in, looking up just in time to watch Livia plop down next to me on the green. She folded her long, brown legs under her and took a big swig from the open bottle of red wine in her hand before passing it to Maven, who sank down in a similar fashion right in front of me.
How she had an entire bottle of wine at a fancy golf club was beyond me, but then again, unsurprising. Livia Young struck me as the kind of woman who always got what she wanted.
“And don’t give us that look, either,” Maven added, waving her finger at me. “Like you have nothing to hide. We know better.”
“Yeah, trust me. Being best friends with this psycho has given me the eye for things like this.” Livia eyed Maven with that comment, who smiled and reached out to squeeze Livia’s arm like she was flattered by the assessment.
I blinked again.
Maven and I had gotten close since she and my brother started dating, and that meant that, by proxy, I’d also hung out with Livia quite a few times. But after spending the entire day together, I couldn’t imagine what else there was to talk about.
Until Maven handed me the bottle of wine and cleared any confusion I had.
“What’s going on with you and Jax?”
Shit.
I must have had that word written all over my face, too, because Livia smirked like she’d just guessed how many gumballs were in the jar. She sat back on her palms. “I knew it. You don’t stare at someone the way you were staring at him all day unless there’s something juicy to tell.”
“I have not been staring,” I defended. In fact, I was very aware of how I had not been staring because it had practically killed me in the process. All day long, I watched Jaxson in my peripheral, wanting so desperately to look at him all while diligently keeping my eyes trained elsewhere. I had been stealth as fuck — or so I thought.
But the looks those women gave me told me I hadn’t been as sneaky as I’d believed.
They were both strikingly beautiful. Maven wore white shorts and a blue bandana tied around her like a t-shirt. She had red hoop earrings hanging from her lobes that matched her lipstick. Livia, on the other hand, was much less patriotic. She wore a burnt orange romper and wedges, along with an array of gold that hung around her neck and dangled from her ears. Where Maven had light brown skin and curly hair that framed her face like a halo, Livia wore her black hair short and cropped at her chin, angled around her rich brown features in a way that let you know she was powerful without ever having to hear her speak a word.
I sighed, picking at the label on the bottle before I took a big drink. I grimaced when I did, immediately passing it to Livia.
I fucking hated red wine.
The tournament had been a rollercoaster of emotions. From laughing and drinking with the girls and hanging with my parents to sneaking glances at Jaxson, I’d had a multitude of highs. However, I’d also felt Jaxson’s gaze grow more distant throughout the day, and felt sick at the thought of what I was hiding — what we were both hiding — from my brother.
Then again, I wasn’t sure there was anything to hide anymore. Because Jaxson hadn’t so much as said hello to me since the end of the tournament.
We all had dinner at the club together after the award ceremony, and then we’d gathered out here on the course for fireworks. It was America’s birthday, but I didn’t feel like celebrating.
Something had happened.
I knew it without confirmation. Everything Jaxson had said to me this morning, even if he’d meant it at the time, didn’t matter now. He was shutting down. He was pulling back. He was ignoring me, for fuck’s sake.
My mind raced all through dinner. Vince wasn’t showing any signs of wanting to end Jaxson’s life, so I imagined it wasn’t that my brother had found out about us. It felt a lot more like Jaxson had been away from me for the day and realized what a colossal fuckup he’d made.
What a mistake I was.
Even as my throat constricted with the thought, I didn’t know how to talk about it.
When I was growing up, my family was my best friends. Vince and I were inseparable. Our parents were always planning family activities or trips. I had other friends, sure — girls on my cheer squad, classmates in college — but I spent my weekends at home or on a new adventure.
I had a lot of acquaintances all over the world.