Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 69847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
“My dad could barely afford to keep the circus running when we were younger,” she told me. “So there were nights we were eating leftover funnel cakes and dried turkey legs just to survive.”
“Seven kids is a lot to support,” I admitted. “Your dad sounds like he made it, though. I barely made it with one, let alone half a baker’s dozen.”
Just the thought of having more children right now made me break out in hives.
Not that I didn’t want more kids one day, but I wanted them when I was ready. When my boss wouldn’t shit a brick when they were around.
“Not without sacrifices,” she admitted. “Child labor laws should’ve eviscerated him. But everyone who came out to the circus to watch didn’t see the shitty conditions behind the scenes. They saw what they wanted to see.”
“Where was your mom throughout all of this?” I wondered.
“Like I told you earlier, my mom was a bit of a selfish person. Which, understandably, she had a right to be selfish when it came to my dad.” She paused. “However, when she moved on, she left me with my dad because Dad fights dirty. He threatened a lot of things to ensure that she had no other choice but to leave me. But we maintained a healthy relationship and bonded over our hate of the circus.”
“And what’s your mom doing now?” I asked.
“She’s livin’ life.” She shrugged. “She’s out of the country right now, visiting Europe. Her next stop is Australia where she’ll hang her hat for a few years. Then, after that, who knows.”
“So she has the traveling bug,” I surmised. “She just doesn’t have the circus bug.”
“She had the circus bug until she realized that my father wasn’t going to allow her to be with him. And she’d have to witness his rather copious dalliances with other people.” She sighed. “But yeah, she loves traveling.”
Something in which I could tell she really didn’t like. Not even a little bit.
“Me and you definitely wouldn’t work.” I laughed. It sounded sort of bitter to my ears. “I travel half the freakin’ year.”
She looked over at me. Then shocked the holy hell out of me. “Then I guess we’ll have to make the best of the next month, won’t we?”
Was she saying what I thought she was saying?
Before I could ask her to confirm said thoughts, the pilot came on and told us we would be landing soon.
“One last thing!” Briley cried.
I looked at her, even though I had to peel my eyes off of the side of Ari’s bright red face.
“Yes?” I asked.
“If you had to guess what my least favorite thing in the world was, what would it be?” she asked.
“Um…” I hesitated, my brain still not thinking past what Ari had said thirty seconds prior. “If I had to guess? Me leaving you to play a game.”
She looked back at me with a disbelieving face and said, “That’s hilarious. But no, really, what do you think?”
Titus covered his mouth with his hand.
“Um…” I didn’t know what to say.
I was dumbfounded with how little she cared.
“I’m going to go with cilantro.” Briley started nodding, as if that made the most sense. “I think sometimes it tastes like soap.”
With that, the fasten seat belt sign came on, and I sighed.
Briley put everything away, shoving it into her laptop bag.
I turned forward with a groan and said, “That kid’s gonna kill me one day. I know it.”
I looked over to find Ari silently laughing, shoulders shaking, as she tried not to let the dam burst on her hilarity.
“You’ve got a good kid there, Slone.” She wheezed. “Don’t ever let the world tell you anything different.”
CHAPTER 8
Pretending to be polite is exhausting.
-Ari’s secret thoughts
ARI
Trance and Viddy, Banner’s parents, were everything that I’d wanted my family to be growing up.
Even them being a part of a motorcycle club was the greatest.
At first, I’d thought that the big bad biker was intimidating. Then I saw him start to interact with Annabelle and Briley, and I realized that he was just one big softy.
In fact, since the moment that we’d walked into the compound that The Dixie Wardens MC called their home away from home, he’d taken Briley and Annabelle with him, and hadn’t looked back.
That was two hours ago, and I was still reeling from what I’d said on the plane right before we’d landed.
I was studiously trying to avoid him, but I realized rather quickly that that was easier said than done.
“And who might you be, little lady?”
I turned just in time to see Santa Claus waddle his way up to me.
“Um…” I hesitated. Normally I had a hard time talking to new people, but this was Santa Claus, after all. “My name is Caristonia Singh. I think Slone’s introducing me as Ari to everyone, though.”