Series: Webs We Weave Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 167
Estimated words: 162520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 813(@200wpm)___ 650(@250wpm)___ 542(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 813(@200wpm)___ 650(@250wpm)___ 542(@300wpm)
Nova’s jaw tightens. “Maybe,” he admits. “But I’m also worried my brother is one drug-fueled night away from an overdose, I’m worried my sister is one night away from getting assaulted, and I’m worried Rocky won’t survive if that happens while he’s dating her. So don’t take it personally. I’m just fucking worried all the time.”
I mull this over for a second. “More or less worry than before Connecticut?”
He stares ahead, his brows knitting in deeper thought. “About the same. But it’s also different here.”
“How?”
“I see my sister changing. I see you changing. Hell, even Rocky. In good ways.” His hand loosens on the wheel. “I’ve never wanted to be this stationary, but I can admit being in one place for longer than three seasons has made it easier to reflect on our lifestyle. To stop and think.”
I nudge Nova’s shoulder with mine. “Nova Graves, are you changing for the better?”
He tips his head toward me. No smile. No mirth. Just a heaviness against his brown eyes. “I don’t know how to change, Hails. I’m going to be the same guy until the day I die.”
“Relentlessly worrisome.”
He lets out a gruff laugh. “Sounds about right.”
My phone buzzes in my cargo pants. I dig it out, careful not to rip my black fishnet fingerless gloves.
“Is that Oliver?” Nova asks.
“Let me see,” I say as I click into my phone. “Not Oliver.”
I read Jake’s text.
Leaving book club early. You going back to Stonehaven?
I send a quick reply. Yes
See you there
“Phoebe?” Nova guesses again.
“Jake,” I answer.
“Jake.” Nova says his name without much emotion attached.
“I thought you liked Jake.”
“I do like Jake,” Nova says into a deeper breath. “But I like my brother more.”
My nose wrinkles in a scrunched frown. “You don’t have to choose one over the other. There’s no competition between them.”
“Maybe not for you.” Nova stops the car at a red light. “But I have a priority list, and Jake, being the new guy, is at the bottom.”
“So, if this priority list is ranked by longevity, does that mean Rocky is number one, seeing as how he’s the oldest and thereby been a part of the team the longest?”
Nova glares at the street. “No. Oliver and Phoebe are at the top.”
“So it’s not based on longevity. It’s based on familial ties.”
“It’s my own ranking system,” Nova says hotly.
“Where do I stand on it?” I wonder. “You can be honest with me. I wouldn’t much mind if I’m at the bottom since your ranking system has an arbitrary structure.”
He laughs under his breath. “We should have more of these one-on-ones, Hails. I forget how funny you are.”
“I wasn’t making a joke.”
He smiles. “I know.” After a deeper breath, he admits, “Ever since you were fifteen, and I walked in on you and Ol, I tied you together in my rankings.”
I wince a little at that memory. We’d been careless, but Oliver’s tutor had gone home sick with the flu, so we had an entire day to do absolutely nothing. A rare occasion of freedom that we spent tutoring each other in the art of cunnilingus. We didn’t anticipate that our moms would send Nova to the house.
I tilt my head toward him. “You know, I didn’t sleep with him to gain Nova protection benefits.”
“Of course not. You never knew about my ‘arbitrary’ ranking system.”
“I find it fascinating though,” I tell him. “Who’s after Oliver, Phoebe, and me? Rocky or Trevor?”
He groans. “Why are we even having this conversation?”
“Because it’s interesting,” I say. “More interesting, at least, than discussing my awkward conversations with Trent.”
“I’ll cop to that.”
“You know what I think?”
“No, but I know you’ll tell me.”
“Rocky is at the bottom of your list,” I say, thinking out loud. “Not because he’s the least important but because you’ve known for some time my little brother is capable of terrible things, and it makes you want to protect Trevor more. It’s why you, Oliver, and Rocky named Trevor the psychopath. Somewhere along the way, you knew.” I glance back at Nova, and his face has gone paler.
His gaze has darkened on the road.
He doesn’t tell me I’m right.
But I know I am.
THIRTY-SIX
Phoebe
“Please! Don’t kill me. You don’t want to do this. I promise, you don’t.” The final girl on the giant movie screen sobs and pleads for her life while the masked murderer looms over her. He cranes his head in a creepy, sadistic tilt. Then he raises an axe and—bam! She pulls out a gun and shoots him square in the head. Blood drips down his temple before he collapses at her feet.
Rocky coughs on a popcorn kernel, and I swiftly hand him a fountain soda. He takes a gulp, then leans into my side to whisper-hiss, “What the fuck? When did she get a gun?”
“Ten minutes ago. You didn’t see her pick it up off the floor?”