Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
EPISODE 179
STICK TO THE PLAN
Sebastian
Evangeline widens her eyes. “Excuse me?”
“Did I stutter? I need a fuck.”
With a fierceness I didn’t see coming, she raises her hand and slaps me across the face.
Which only fires me up further.
“Have you forgotten I’m pregnant? That I’m carrying another man’s child?”
True. She is.
What the fuck am I thinking?
“Also, I work for you. And too much has gone wrong with this event already. I’m not going to start sleeping with any of you, even if I want to.”
“So you admit you want to,” I can’t help teasing.
“Have you been drinking?” she demands.
“Not enough.” I walk past her. “Forget it. I was out of line.”
I was, for sure. But if she’d been willing, I’d have fucked her into tomorrow morning.
Man, I need to work off this head of steam.
Emily still weighs heavily on my mind, but is it truly her that I want?
Or am I just yearning for an escape from the ghosts of the past that seem to be popping up all around me?
Unless...
Unless I'm searching for something—or someone—else.
After all, it wasn’t Evie’s—or Emily’s—face I saw when I imagined fucking a woman against the wall earlier.
Twenty Years Earlier...
An hour has passed. An hour since Riv and Jake left my place.
My mother is still asleep in her room. I check on her, make sure she’s still breathing, and walk back out to the kitchen. I fix myself a quick snack, but I can’t eat it. My stomach is full of knots.
Damn it!
We pulled off the caper of the fucking century, and now...
Now it might all blow up in our faces.
I could count my loot again. It’s tempting, but I leave it where it is, still hidden in my backpack.
I could call Brett.
Call Alex.
But I don’t.
We had a deal. We’d lie low. We wouldn’t see each other for a week. Wait to see if Larson figured out he was robbed.
It was a good plan. A damned good plan.
So why the fuck can’t the two of them stick to it?
It’s not Riv, of course. It’s Jake. He’s got a hard-on for his pregnant girlfriend, and he’s freaked.
And Marnie...
She’s a bit of a spitfire, and she may well have followed us last night.
But if she did... Why didn’t she follow us back?
I can’t think about it. I’ve got to get my mind somewhere else.
I check in on Mom one more time, determine that she’s okay. I turn her to her side and stack some pillows against her so she can’t roll over, just in case she pukes. I don’t want her to choke.
“I’ll be back soon, Mom,” I whisper to her.
“Mmm...” she says. “Thanks, Sebby.”
I hate it when she calls me Sebby. It’s her drunk name for me.
Come help Mama, Sebby.
I need some more vodka, Sebby.
This is all your no-good father’s fault, Sebby.
Right. My no-good father. Could be any one of three. She doesn’t even remember the name of one of them. That’s me. Sebastian Tate, conceived in a drunken haze.
“I’ll be back soon,” I say. “Just get some sleep.”
“Mmm...” she says again before letting out a soft snore.
I leave, closing the door behind me. I grab my guitar and head out on my bike to the river. The ride takes about twenty minutes. I find my favorite tree and sit down on the hard earth. Something about sitting against the trunk of this tree always relaxes me. I’m not sure why. It’s not particularly comfortable.
The river narrows a few miles away behind an old dilapidated barn on River’s folks’ property.
A memory spikes in me. Two years ago.
In this very river, Jake almost drowned.
We were all swimming, and the surface of the water was deceptively calm. Underneath, the current was as unpredictable as a wild stallion. We were drinking beer and laughing and shouting.
I was playing this guitar, plucking out tunes like I always do.
And for some unknown reason, Jake decided to cross the river. Brett tried to dissuade him, but those couple beers seemed to ignite something in Jake. He was bound and determined to do it.
Within a few minutes, he was struggling.
Brett tried to swim out and assist Jake, but the forceful current thwarted him. Then Riv dived in without a second thought. He’s always been the strongest swimmer of our bunch. A few minutes later, Riv was hauling Jake back to the shore.
Jake’s face was bluish-white, eyes wide and shell-shocked.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Riv shouted at him. “You could’ve drowned!”
But Jake just coughed up more water and gave a weak grin. “Didn’t think you cared that much, Riv,” he wheezed out between coughs.
River saved Jake that day.
God, I hope he can save him today.
I’d be there if I could, but I’m sticking to the plan.
That’s Brett’s number one rule.
Always stick to the plan.
EPISODE 180
BRETT AND SIENNA FALL IN LOVE
Sienna
Now you listen to me. I asked you to come back because I missed you. I’m feeling something for you. Something I didn’t expect. And I need to know, Sienna. Are you feeling anything close to the same?