Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 167671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 838(@200wpm)___ 671(@250wpm)___ 559(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 838(@200wpm)___ 671(@250wpm)___ 559(@300wpm)
Levi grins. “Perfect.”
“I wish I could come to the camping thing …” Melody mutters to herself, rolling a strand of her hair around her finger before sighing loudly.
“Camping sounds dreadful, not gonna lie,” Orion says, shivering again. “All those bugs out there crawling across your skin.”
“No, it’s gonna be fabulous, and I, for one, can’t wait,” Elliot says. “I’ll be there, along with Talon and Océane, and maybe some others, if we can convince them. Oh, and Cecelia’s coming too!”
“Wait, what?” Heath furrows his brows. “Since when do you like camping?”
“Since I just came back from Prodigium Academy. I mean, why not?” Cecelia says. “You should come too.”
Heath grimaces. “No, thanks.”
“Party pooper,” Cecelia says.
“More fun for us,” Elliot says, leaning back in his seat.
Which only seems to piss off Heath even further.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take Heath’s place. If Sisi is going, I’m going,” Apollo says, winking.
Cecelia scowls. “Stop calling me that.”
Apollo laughs, as though he enjoys pissing off his family.
“God, I hope you hired a good chef, Kai,” Milo says, licking his lips. “Let’s see if he can top me.”
“Ego, much?” Blaine muses.
“Oh no, his sushi is the best there is, trust me,” Kai says.
“FOOD’S HERE!” Mom’s sudden shout makes everyone sit up in their seats.
“Fuck, Lana,” Kai says, dragging her back down into her seat. “Be a little more … subtle. Please.”
“What?” Lana scoffs. “I’m hungry.”
“You don’t want to see how she eats when she gets mad, trust me,” Silas’s dad says.
And everyone begins to laugh.
Ivy
1 week later
“You can open your eyes now.”
Heath removes his hands from my face, and when I blink, my heart nearly jumps out of my chest. A brand-new, gleaming red Corvette is standing right in front of me with a giant pink ribbon on top of the hood.
“Surprise!” Heath, Max, and Silas all say simultaneously.
“This is for me?” I mutter in disbelief.
Heath sports a smirk. “You betchya.”
“Thank you,” I say, not knowing what else to say as I’m still stunned. “You keep lavishing me with gifts. It’s gonna make me feel guilty.”
“Don’t be.” Max places his hand on my shoulder. “Your bike has gotten you far, but you deserve something that doesn’t make you work out like you’re trying to get in shape for the Olympics.”
“Silas pinches my waist. “Maybe then you’ll finally be less of a twig.”
“Ha-ha.” I put my hands against my waist. “What a generous compliment.”
“Don’t mention it,” Silas says as he slides his whole hand across my belly, creeping underneath my crop top. “Now let’s go get us some burgers as juicy as these tits.”
“Wow,” I say, but I still laugh. “Your filth never ceases to amaze me.”
His hand snakes its way up my crop top, all the way to my neck. “Good.” He squeezes while whispering. “Keep it that way.” His tongue darts out to lick the rim of my earlobe. “Now who’s ready for a ride?”
“Wait, we can take it for a spin right away?” I mutter, completely distracted.
“Hell yeah,” Heath says, opening the car door for me. “Jump in.”
I’m too excited not to, so I hop in and slide behind the wheel, checking out the dashboard for all the fancy stuff.
“I don’t wanna be rude or anything, but do you know how to drive?” Max asks.
“Yeah, my dad taught me before … well, you know.”
“Oh …” Max mutters. “Well, you can put the skills he taught you to good use.”
I turn on the engine and rev it a little.
“That sound is fucking nice,” Heath says.
Someone taps the hood of the car, and I look to my left to see Caleb, Heath’s dad, hovering over us. “Make sure not to crash it the first day. This baby deserves better.”
“You got it, mister,” Max says, saluting him.
“Of course, I’ll drive safe,” I reply.
He smiles. “Have fun.”
I hit the gas, and we exit the parking lot of the car dealership. The wind flows through my hair the faster we go, and it feels so damn good that I don’t wanna stop. If this is what true freedom feels like, I never want to exchange it for a damn thing.
We go to a burger joint somewhere in the middle of town and eat to our heart’s content, or at least until Silas is done shoving fries down my throat. When I’m full, we jump back into the brand-new car and drive off into the night.
God, if I could only tell my past self where I’d be right now, she’d probably call me a liar.
“Where are we going?” Max asks.
“I thought we could drive out of town for a little. Do some sightseeing.”
Right as we head into the woods, my phone buzzes.
“Who’s in your inbox?” Silas asks as he rummages around in my pocket. “It’d better not be some guy.”
Heath snorts. “Like she doesn’t have enough to deal with just being with the three of us.”