Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 100090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
“I’m sorry,” Jake says mournfully.
“What?” I turn to him and scowl. “Why are you sorry?”
“It’s because of me that they came here,” he replies. “If it wasn’t for me, it wouldn’t have happened.”
“You can’t control what other people do,” Polly reminds him and rubs her hand up and down his back. “And you did the right thing by breaking away from them after the incident at my store. So this is definitely not your fault, Jake.”
“Feels like it is,” he mumbles. “I can’t believe they were going to hurt the horses. What kind of sick asshole does that?”
“Hey.” I step to him and cup his young face in my hand. “You need to take a breath, buddy. The horses are fine. Nothing happened to them, and the boys are most likely going to juvie for a while.”
“They should,” Jake says. “You don’t know half of what they’ve done and gotten away with. They’re no good, and I can’t believe I tried to be their friend.”
“You were going through a hard time,” Polly reminds him. “We all make bad choices when things get rough. You fixed it.”
“You fixed it,” I echo with a nod. “And now, we move on.”
“Are you going to press charges?” Jake asks me, holding my gaze with his.
“Hell yes, I am.”
“Good. That’s good.” He licks his lips and steps back. “I’d better go log back in and tell Russ about it.”
“Good night,” Polly says, patting his back as he walks past, then she looks over at me when we hear Jake’s door close upstairs. “That poor kid.”
“He’ll be okay,” I reply grimly. “I’m sorry that interrupted our star gazing.”
She holds her hand out for mine. “We can still go do that. Come on.”
“Watch me, Uncle Ryan!” Holly waves enthusiastically from the side of the pool, and when I smile and wave back, she runs and does a cannonball into the water. When she comes up sputtering, she looks for me. “Did you see?”
“I saw,” I call back and give her a thumbs-up. “Good job, pumpkin.”
The house is a hive of activity. There are plenty of people in the pool, others sitting on chairs and chaise lounges beside it, and even more seated in the outdoor living area, watching and eating and laughing.
It’s the most chaos that this house has ever seen, and I love it.
I love it.
“Thanks for having me, Mr. Wild.” Jake’s friend, Russ, nods at me and takes a bite of his cheeseburger. Brady’s been at the grill, making everyone lunch for the past hour. “This is legit.”
“Glad you could come. And glad I could meet you in person. I was wondering if ‘I’m gonna shoot zombies with Russ’ was a real person.”
“Totally real,” Russ replies with a laugh before he and Jake walk off to have their lunch at a table with Chase and Remington.
Scanning the crowd, I find Polly sitting with Erin, Summer, Millie, and Abbi. The five of them have their heads together, laughing and clearly gossiping about something.
And when I walk over to find out what they’re talking about, they clam up and smile at me.
“Hey,” Polly says and reaches for my hand. “This is a great party.”
“I didn’t know you had it in you,” Millie adds and grins in that I’m your sister, and I can annoy you if I want to way she has. “You do know that this will be the epicenter of all family functions all summer now. What with the pool and everything.”
“I don’t mind,” I reply and force a smile. When I glance down at Polly, her eyes are narrowed.
“I’ll be back, guys,” she says as she stands. “I want to kiss Ryan in private.”
“That’s disgusting,” Millie calls after us as Polly leads me inside.
“Do you really want to make out?” I ask her, pulling her against me. “Because I can oblige you.”
“No, I want to know what’s wrong.”
I frown down at her, but she doesn’t back down.
“Seriously, something’s on your mind. I just saw you last night, and everything was fine, but now, something’s bothering you.”
It’s been a week since the night in my observatory, and we’ve managed to see each other every day since. I look forward to my time with her, even if it’s just a few stolen moments here and there.
“I really am glad that everyone’s here and having a good time,” I insist evenly, and drag my fingertips down her jawline.
“But?”
“I have to go out of town tomorrow.” I sigh and don’t mask the frustration in my gut.
“Oh, for how long?”
“A few weeks.”
“A few…weeks?”
“Yeah. I’m needed in Europe and Asia, so I figured I’d stop in at all of my main properties to make an appearance and take meetings in person. I have to swing by my place in Manhattan first for a few days, and then I’ll be traveling pretty much every day.”