Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 61953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
“Do you know my husband?” Elsie asked excitedly.
“Oh, I just know that he’s Chase’s business partner.”
“Well, he was,” Elsie said, elbowing him. “Until he started working for the family company all the time. Poor Kai has been taking up the slack forever.”
“We hired extra people,” Chase said in apology.
“And he’s not here?” I asked, looking between them.
“He’s not a Cosmere fan. Bad taste, except in women,” Elsie said with a laugh.
“Elsie is a huge Cosmere fan.”
Elsie bit her lip. “Not to be weird, but are you the Harley that’s his sister?”
“I am,” I said in surprise. I’d never been recognized for my brother’s fame.
“Wow. So cool. Weston is an incredible keyboardist.”
“He’s actually a classically trained pianist,” Whitt said.
I jumped, having completely forgotten that my other brother was still behind me. Shit. I’d only seen Chase with another woman and gone hazy with jealousy.
Chase’s brow furrowed. “Hey…Whitton.”
“Sinclair,” my brother said.
“Oh, I know that!” Elsie said. “I’ve been following Cosmere since the early days. Weston was such a good addition when Michael quit.”
“He was,” Whitt agreed. But his eyes were still on Chase. “How exactly do you know Harley?”
Chase glanced over at me, and I quickly cleared my throat.
“We danced at Jordan’s wedding, remember?”
“Right,” Whitt said. He was sizing Chase up. “You seemed friendly…like you knew each other from something more recent. I wasn’t aware you knew Chase’s business partner.”
I could see the wheels turning in Whitt’s head. Trying to fit the pieces together. Shit.
“I’m working with prelaw students,” Chase said quickly. “Harley is the most promising student they have in the program.”
My eyes widened at how quickly that lie had fallen off of his tongue. I was working with local lawyers at an internship that went with the prelaw program, but Chase wasn’t personally part of it. It was tricky because Whitt could figure that out. I had no idea what he was thinking.
“How enterprising,” Whitt said. His eyes came to mine. “You didn’t mention you were working with a Sinclair.”
“And now that I see how you’re reacting, I’m glad that I didn’t,” I bit out.
“What’s going on over here?” Eve said, appearing at our side. She nodded her head at Chase. “Hey, Chase.”
“Eve.”
“I need to steal my boyfriend, if you don’t mind.” She slung her arm into Whitt’s and shot Chase an apologetic look.
“By all means,” Chase said, visibly relaxing.
Eve widened her eyes in a way that said we should talk and then pulled Whitt toward the Wright box for the event.
“I should probably go, too.” I nodded at Elsie. “Nice meeting you.”
“You, too! Gah, can I be obnoxious and ask for an autograph from your brother?” she asked with a laugh. Chase elbowed her. “No? Okay, forget I asked.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you!”
I tipped my head at Chase, who looked at me with barely suppressed want, and then walked away. Well, that had nearly been a disaster. What the fuck had I been thinking?
I pulled my phone out and sent him a text.
Quick thinking.
Was surprised you came over at all.
Yeah…
Jealous?
Me? Never!
Uh huh.
I huffed as I stepped into the box with the rest of my family. Yes, I was fucking jealous.
It was fucking hot.
I laughed and covered my mouth when people looked over at me. I sank into a stadium seat, away from prying eyes.
I wasn’t jealous!
You stormed over here with your BROTHER behind you.
* * *
Not a care in the world.
* * *
Then started asking questions of Elsie.
* * *
Try again.
Fine.
Fine.
I was jealous.
Oh I know.
But if I can’t have you, no one can.
He didn’t reply for a few seconds, and I wondered if I’d gone too far. We’d both agreed we could date other people. Saying no one else could have him wasn’t at all what we’d agreed on at any point.
I started to type out another reply, telling him I was kidding…or find a way to backtrack from my response when he said:
Fair.
My insides squirmed at the answer.
It didn’t matter.
I couldn’t have him right now. It was all so fucking complicated. But I wanted him to be mine and no one else’s.
“Well,” Eve said, interrupting my thoughts as she slid into the seat next to me, “that was close.”
“What was?”
“Whitt almost realized that you and Chase were into each other.”
My jaw dropped. “What?”
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m not going to tell him.”
“Uh…there’s…nothing going on with me and Chase.”
“Please. I saw y’all kiss at Jensen’s election party forever ago. I thought it was way over by now, but I was clearly wrong. I had to get Whitt out of there before he realized it, too.”
My mouth hung open, and not a single coherent thought came out of it. Finally, I gasped out, “No one else knows.”
“It’s fine.” She patted my hand. “I’m a good secret keeper.”
“Um…well…thanks?”
“No problem. Just be careful.”
“Because he’s ten years older than me?” I asked softly.