Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
“You filled up the tank,” Curtis said, smiling over at me. “Good.”
“Uh, yeah,” I replied, a little dumbstruck at the sight of that smile pointed at me again. “We’re all set.”
“Saw that,” Curtis murmured as we pulled out onto the road. “You think you used enough tie-downs?”
“There’s no way anything is falling out…” My words trailed off as I realized he was joking. “It’s better to use too many than too little,” I huffed. “I didn’t want our shit falling out onto the freeway.”
“It definitely won’t do that.”
“How long until we get there?” Finn asked.
“About seven hours,” Curtis replied.
I closed my eyes in frustration just as Finn yelped, “What?”
“Takes about seven hours to get to Eugene,” Curtis said, switching lanes like he drove my truck for a living.
“We’re moving to Eugene?” Finn yelled in disbelief as I turned to look at him. “That’s in Oregon!”
“It is,” I confirmed, watching as emotions from excitement to horror flickered across his face.
“But what about all my friends? I can’t go to my school if we live in Eugene.”
“Dude, you knew we were moving,” Jesse said in exasperation. “Why did you think you’d go to the same school?”
“We always go to the same school,” he spat back. “We moved before, and we went to the same school!”
“We’re moving farther this time, pal,” I said calmly, trying to cut off the spiral before it happened. “You’re gonna make tons of new friends up there.”
“I like my old friends!”
“You can call them,” I replied. “Or write them? You guys could do letters like you’re pen pals.”
“That’s not the same.”
“No, it’s not,” I conceded. “But it’s gonna be good. Okay? Trust me.”
“This sucks!”
“Oh, knock it off,” Jesse said in exasperation. “You were all excited to move like half an hour ago.”
“I thought we were moving to an apartment like Hayden’s! With a pool!” Finn growled back.
“Enough,” I snapped. “Fighters, to your corners.”
Both kids immediately went silent and turned to look out their windows.
“Nice trick,” Curtis murmured, glancing at me.
“They outnumber me,” I replied, facing forward again. “I had to come up with something that immediately stopped the arguing. The trick is to not use it often. Packs more of a punch that way.”
“They didn’t know you were movin’?” he asked.
“They knew,” I hedged.
“Since about an hour ago,” Jesse added grimly.
“Got it.” He looked in the mirror again. “Just rented a big house. You’ll have your own bedrooms.”
“We already had our own bedrooms,” Finn grumbled.
“Big yard,” Curtis continued. “But it needs some work. My son, Dylan, will help with that, but we could use an extra pair of hands. Either of you up for that?”
“Pass,” Jesse replied flatly. “Wait. We’re going to live with you?”
I stared at the side of his face, wondering the same thing. What the absolute fuck?
“You have a son?” Finn asked hopefully. “Is he ten?”
“Nah, he’s seventeen,” Curtis replied as we pulled onto the freeway. “But he’s cool. You’ll like him.”
“Fucking fantastic,” Jesse whispered angrily.
“Teenagers don’t hang with kids,” Finn replied to Curtis.
“Says who?”
“Everyone.”
“Dyl will hang with you, I bet. He’s cool with kids. Plus, he’ll be glad for the help outside.”
Finn went back to forlornly looking out the window without replying.
Once the truck was quiet, I silently freaked the fuck out. When the Aces first made contact, I’d told them the truth—I couldn’t see a way out. Since Mike died, his father, David, had kept us under his thumb. Oh, he wouldn’t have put it that way. He would’ve explained it as looking after his grandson and the love of his son’s life, but we both knew the truth. Once Mike was gone, the buffer between his family and mine had disintegrated.
I’d known that Mike was bad news from the beginning. We’d been part of the same circle for years before he’d made his move, and I’d known who he was. But I’d been a single parent of a four-year-old, living with my dad in a trailer that was one step up from a camper, and Mike had been exciting. He had money that he was generous with. He happily spent time with Jesse and me when I couldn’t get a sitter. And for once, I’d wanted a fucking life outside of work and trying to figure out how I could pay both bills and buy groceries at the same time.
I couldn’t call it a mistake because without Mike I wouldn’t have Finn. But that didn’t mean that it had been the right choice. I’d known that since the moment I told him I was pregnant and he’d told me that he’d kill me if I got an abortion. Ending the pregnancy hadn’t even been on my mind at that point. I’d still been too shocked that it was happening at all. But I knew as soon as he’d said it that he was serious. He would’ve killed me.