Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 100225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
“Wishing I didn’t have to go in there,” Thea mutters, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Uh, Thea, it’s your party,” I point out.
“I never asked for it. I don’t even want to be here. Mom and Dad are just throwing it to keep from spending another evening listening to me list the reasons they’re being unreasonable by not letting me go to New York.”
“New York?” I ask, wondering why in the hell anyone would want to go there. I’ve been there a couple times with Mom and Dad when I was younger. T, Dad, and I hated it. Mom and Kay loved everything about it. That’s the first time I ever questioned my mom’s sanity.
“I got a modeling contract,” she responds, shocking the shit out of me.
“You’re going to be a model?” I ask, my eyes going wide in shock. I don’t even try to hide my surprise.
Thea looks at me, her eyes narrowing. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” I laugh, holding my hands up in surrender. “You just don’t seem the modeling type.”
“Just because you don’t think I’m attractive doesn’t mean other people feel the same, Dom,” she gripes.
I doubt there is a man with a heartbeat that wouldn’t find her gorgeous—even if they would want to gag her mouth so she wouldn’t bitch them to death. The woman was made to torture a man. As much as I don’t like the way she is constantly busting my balls, I can think of some fucking great uses for that mouth of hers.
But I refuse to think about that.
“You’re Breaker’s kid sister. I just don’t think of you that way,” I lie. I use that line on her often when times like this come up. These days I’m not sure which one of us I’m trying to convince.
She rolls her eyes. “You’re such a dick,” she mutters. “I must have been insane to think there was something to you.”
“What the fuck does that mean? Damn, I just came to wish you Happy Birthday.”
“Oh, please. You skip my birthdays since that one two years ago. You just came tonight to see if Gabby was going to be here. Hate to break it to you, Dom, but that bitch is not allowed here today. I didn’t want a party, but I told Dad if I was going to have one, then she couldn’t be here.”
“Why are you always like that with Gabby? She really wants to be your friend, Thea.” I try to reach her. I hate this rift between the two of them. Gabby is my woman and Thea is my family. I want them to get along. Breaker, Thea’s brother, is my best friend. Once this mess with Thomas and his unreasonable attraction to Gabby gets cleared up, I’d love to take my girl to Breaker’s, and I know Thea is there a lot. Hell, I even asked Gabby to come by today so we could talk. We really need to. There’s shit we have to clear up. Yet now Thea has me feeling guilty because she obviously doesn’t want her here. Jesus, life shouldn’t be this fucking complicated.
“You know what I find completely mind-blowing about you?”
“What?” I ask, knowing she’s pissed at me—yet again. Anytime Gabby comes up in the conversation with her, it all goes south.
“That you seem like an intelligent guy—a man who has it altogether.”
“Thea, I know you still have a crush on me. Gabby told me you tried to convince her there was something between us. I didn’t confront you because there wasn’t a need. I don’t want to hurt you. I’m flattered, but—”
“And if that bitch tells you something, it’s the law. Right, Dom?”
“I can’t talk to you when you get like this. You’ve always been jealous of Gabby. You really need to quit obsessing over her and my relationship with her. Concentrate on your own life, Thea. It’s time you focus on your own happiness.”
She raises her hand to slap me, and I catch it, wrapping my hand around her wrist, holding it mere inches from my face.
“I have never been jealous of that bitch. I hate her. She plays you and Thomas like violins, and you let her. Gabby’s tearing you and your brother apart and it’s going to cost you everything and you won’t even try to wake up. Dom, look around you! There are other women who would appreciate you. Women who would build you up, not tear you down.”
Her words floor me, but not nearly as much as the look on her face. Does she truly still think she’s in love with me? I thought we were past that now. “Women like you, Thea?”
“I didn’t say that,” she snaps, trying to jerk her hand away.
“But that’s what you mean, right?” I goad her. My fucking heart is feeling like it skips a beat when I look at her face. Does she still want me?