Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 82715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
“What’s up?” I asked, rising to my feet.
“We have to stop by your grandparents’ house,” she said, pulling at her hair. “I can’t go in public like this.”
“It’s not so bad,” I lied.
“I look like a complete weirdo.”
“I like weirdos.”
“I’m calling Callie.”
“Alright.” I looked at Rhett. “You wanna go see Great-Gram?”
“Great-Gram,” he agreed, raising his arms so I’d pick him up.
Half an hour later, Rhett and I were watching cartoons in my grandparents’ living room while Gram moved around Emilia in the kitchen, clucking and humming as she tried to figure out how to salvage her hair.
“What in the world did you do, honey?” she asked in genuine confusion.
I laughed silently.
“Stressful day,” Emilia replied vaguely.
“I’ve had plenty of those,” Gram said with a scoff. “But I’ve never cut my hair with a pair of nail clippers.”
“I had scissors.”
“If you say so.”
“Can you fix it?” Emilia said nervously. “I can’t leave it like this.”
“Well,” Gram said, drawing the word out. “I can, yes. But don’t you want to go to someone that’s up on all the new cuts? I haven’t worked in damn near forever.”
“I do not want someone else seeing it like this,” Emilia murmured.
“Are you sure?” Gram prodded. “If I try and keep the length, you’re going to look like Dorothy Hamill.”
“I don’t know who that is,” Emilia replied.
“Figure skater?”
There was no response.
“Aw, hell. I can cut it into a cute pixie, but I think…”
“What are you doing?” Emilia asked suspiciously as I leaned my head back on the couch to try and see into the kitchen.
“I’m calling in reinforcements,” Gram said grimly.
I couldn’t help the burst of laughter that exploded from my mouth.
“You be quiet in there,” Gram ordered, peeking around the wall.
“Sorry, Grams,” I called back.
Ten minutes later, my great-aunt Farrah came sashaying into the house.
“Where’s the patient?” she asked importantly, not even pausing when I pointed toward the kitchen.
I waited.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Aunt Farrah practically shouted right on cue. “What did you do?”
I tried to listen to what Emilia said back, but someone else was coming through the door.
“Hello, baby boy,” my mom greeted.
“Hey Ma.”
“I wasn’t talking to you, dumbass,” she replied easily. “Rhett! How’s my grandson?”
“Myla!” Rhett scrambled off my lap and rushed to my sister.
“Oh how the tables have turned,” I joked as my mom scowled. “Ready to say hello to your first baby boy now?”
“Pfft,” she replied, waving me off. She quickly bent down to kiss my head before moving toward the kitchen, Myla and Rhett following behind her. After that, the door didn’t stay closed for more than a few minutes at a time. My aunts and cousins came inside, practically ignored me, and eventually made their way into the kitchen. I wasn’t even sure how they were all fitting in there.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked as I followed the last batch.
“No boys allowed,” my cousin Rebel announced. “Except Rhett. He can stay.”
“That’s not fair,” I pointed out.
“I don’t make the rules,” she countered firmly.
“Who makes ’em?”
She pointed at Charlie who was smiling at me in satisfaction.
“You’re a menace.”
“You have a dick. Skedaddle.”
I looked through the group and found Emilia who was still sitting in the middle of the room on a kitchen chair, a towel draped around her shoulders.
“You good?” I asked. I couldn’t even walk toward her because there were women everywhere.
“She’s fine,” Kara called from behind her.
“I’m good,” Emilia said, rolling her eyes. “As long as no one takes any photos.”
“Too late,” Aunt Farrah cackled, grinning at Emilia.
“We love you,” my aunt Rose said, poking me in the belly. “But seriously, get out.”
I stood there for a second, unsure what my next move should be. While I knew Emilia was safe, obviously, I didn’t feel right about leaving her with the female piranhas I called family. It wasn’t as if she’d ask me to stay, even if she wanted to. She’d be too embarrassed by that.
“What, you think she’s gonna spill your secrets?” Charlie called. “We already know about your escapades on the property. Against a car? Really? Didn’t think you had it in you.”
My face burned like hellfire as I looked back at Emilia. She shrugged, her own cheeks beet red.
“Why don’t you go get that gate, baby?” she asked desperately, her eyes widening.
I pushed through the throng until I reached her, leaning down to give her a kiss.
“We’re gonna talk about this later,” I warned.
“I got a little chatty when you left me at the club,” she confessed.
“Great.”
“Why don’t you leave Rhett here?” she said, obviously trying to change the subject. “He’ll be fine with all these babysitters. Escape while you can.”
I huffed. “I love you, but you’re a pain in the ass.”
“Back atcha,” she murmured, her lips curving into a smile.
“Tell Charlie you quit.”
“Zip it,” she hissed.
“You tell her, or I will.”
I left the house with my guts in a knot that I tried to ignore. Emilia was fine, and I knew that, but I still hated to leave her. I wasn’t sure that I’d gotten through to her that morning, and I honestly wasn’t sure I ever would. Christ, I hated her parents. I didn’t care that they were dead. I wished I could tell them what pieces of shit they were.