Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Dinner was chaotic, with all the adults eating where they stood while the kids took up every inch of the kitchen table. Afterward, we sang the “Happy Birthday” song and watched Ariel blow out her candles. While Esther and Aunt Heather plated cake and ice cream and passed it out, Ariel opened her presents.
I watched as she shook Bas’s, and her eyes lit up. With a squeal she ripped off the paper to find the Lego set Bas had meticulously chosen.
“I’ll come over this week and help ya build it,” he told her when she looked around the room for him.
“Just me and you?”
“Just me and you,” he replied. “Or maybe you can come over to my place and we can make it there.”
“Can I?” Ariel demanded, her head whipping toward Noel.
“Sure,” Noel said, leaning back against Titus’s chest.
Ariel looked toward Bas. “Is Harpy gonna be there?”
He glanced at me across the room. “Not if you don’t want her to.”
Ariel thought about it for a minute and then shrugged. “She can come.”
I grinned as she hopped up from the table and ran to Bas, hugging him tight around his legs. I couldn’t hear what they said while she was over there, but eventually Ariel made her way back to the table to open the rest of her gifts.
There were so many people in the house that it was pretty easy to avoid any awkward moments for the rest of the night. The kids ran off to the living room to play with Ariel’s new toys while the adults visited. Someone turned on music, though much quieter than they’d had at the last party. I helped clean up, rinsing the dishes as they were brought from the table and loading the dishwasher.
By the time we were finished, some people had already left. I couldn’t see Bas anywhere, but Noel looked like she was getting a little frazzled as it got later and later, and I knew she needed to put her kids in bed, so I went searching.
I heard him first.
“What the fuck is the matter with you?” he asked quietly. “I didn’t give you shit when you and Cian hooked up.”
“That’s not the same, and you know it,” Myla replied. “Lou—”
“Have you talked to Lou?” Bas demanded.
“Of course,” Myla spat. “She said she doesn’t care who you’re with.”
I felt embarrassed that I was eavesdropping, but I didn’t tell them I was there. I wanted to know what was being said.
“Exactly,” Bas replied. “Fuck’s sake, Myla. Harper is your cousin, and you’re treatin’ her like a fuckin’ leper.”
“I just think it’s funny,” Myla said, her tone indicating that funny wasn’t the right word “That you’re hooking up with my cousin, then sleeping with Lou, and then disappearing to hook up with my cousin some more. If anyone’s the bad guy here, it’s fucking you.”
It took a moment for the words to register, but when they did, it felt like I’d been hit by a truck again. Panic, followed by confusion, followed by fury.
When the hell had Bas slept with Lou? Had it been before or after he’d assured me that there wasn’t anything between them? God, I’d flat-out asked him, and he’d said they were only friends. Had he been lying the entire time? I knew he hadn’t slept with her since we’d started sleeping together, so it had to have been before…but after the night of Brody’s party.
“Well,” I said, making my presence known. “That’s news to me.”
I didn’t even bother to look at Myla. She’d gotten caught up in the clusterfuck through no fault of her own, and hell, maybe I would’ve been acting the same way if I was caught between my cousin and best friend.
“It’s not like that,” Bas said, shooting a glare at Myla. “I told you it’s not like that.”
“Did you sleep with Lou after we kissed at Brody’s party?” I asked bluntly.
“In the same bed, yes—”
That was all I really needed to know. My cheeks burned with shame as I nodded, waving my hand to shut him up. I’d been really clear with him that I didn’t want to step into the middle of something. He’d assured me that I wasn’t.
Maybe our definitions were different, but the spirit was the same.
“I wasn’t trying to cause any drama,” I told Myla. “I fucking asked about what was between him and Lou.”
She nodded, her face filled with remorse.
“Harp, it’s not what you’re thinkin’,” Bas said, stepping toward me.
“I don’t really care,” I replied flatly. I turned and walked away, half expecting him to follow. Out on the front porch, Nova and Rumi were saying their goodbyes.
“Hey, could you guys give me a ride home?” I asked, keeping my voice light.
Nova searched my face before nodding.
Once we were on the road, I asked them to take me to my grandparents’ house. My parents were expecting me to stay the night with Bas, and I was too stunned to deal with explaining why I was home. I’d text them and let them know I was staying at Gram’s for the night and deal with their questions tomorrow.