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)
“Ignore him,” I advise, pushing off the fridge to grab a beer out of a six-pack from inside. I hand him the cold bottle.
He’s still cemented on Oliver’s shadow. “What’d he say in French?”
“You have a hard-on for Hailey.”
Jake chokes out an irritated sound.
“Ignore him,” I emphasize.
“Is he trying to get under my skin?”
“No, but you’re making it apparent that he is, sweetheart.”
Jake rounds my body to rummage in the drawers for a bottle opener. “Then, is he trying to intimidate me?”
“Doubtful.” I raise and lower my brows.
He pops the bottle cap. “So he doesn’t care that I’m with Hailey?”
“Oh, he definitely fucking cares,” I say into a drag of cigarette.
Jake leans on the counter across from me. He’s flummoxed. “Then he’s trying to scare me away from her?”
“No, because he also cares about what Hailey wants.”
Jake shakes his head way too hard. “I…don’t understand.”
I exhale a rough, deep breath, knowing I should save him from this mind fuck, but I’ve never had to explain even one layer of Oliver to another person. It feels wrong to expose even the surface of him, but keeping Jake in the pitch-black feels crueler. “You’re looking at Oliver all wrong,” I tell him.
His frown deepens. “What do you mean?”
“You think he sees you as a threat. He doesn’t. He won’t even let you be an annoyance, because Oliver so very rarely lets anything irritate him. What he and I do—what we’ve done for a job and what we’ve seen—”
“What have you seen?”
I blink harder. Thinking about the job that Phoebe never names. New York. Manhattan. “He watched a mark slap his sister across the face. I punched the mark. Oliver couldn’t help his sister. Couldn’t run toward Phoebe. Couldn’t yell at the mark. He had to comfort him. He was pretending to be the mark’s friend, and the job comes first. Our lives depended on Oliver maintaining the performance, and he doesn’t ever break.”
“Would you have broken?”
“No. But to cope, you either become me: cynical, angry, hating everything and everyone, or you become him. He doesn’t waste emotion on things that could hurt, and he’s not wasting emotion on you. So you’re just there. You’re someone he knows will eventually go, and he will stay. He will always stay for Hailey. Because that’s what we do. We’re here. We don’t leave the people we love.”
Jake slumps back a little, staring off at the fridge behind me.
I don’t know how he feels. But I’m trying to make him understand the truth. “He’s irreplaceable in Hailey’s life. You can’t catch Oliver’s horse in this race when he’s basically on fucking Pegasus. Flying instead of running.”
“And Oliver already knows this,” Jake realizes, nodding to himself. He looks very hurt for a guy who said he can’t be with my sister in any serious capacity. I’m about to caution him in a not-nice way, but he nods at my hand. “I’ve never seen you smoke.”
“Because you’ve never seen me fuck. I like a cigarette after sex.” I tap ash over on the butcher-block counter. “And, no, I didn’t just fuck Phoebe, so this is a new habit.”
“It’s not a good one.”
“Well, I’m not a good person.” I force a smile before putting the cigarette between my lips.
“I would disagree,” he says quietly. It hits me too strong, but I can’t respond. Phoebe and Hailey finally emerge from the bathroom.
My pulse jumps, but I don’t shift a muscle. Except for my arm as I take a much longer drag. I scrutinize Phoebe. How she tucks a piece of her midnight-blue hair behind her ear. Moisture bubbles up on her forehead, and she lets go of my sister’s left hand as they join us in the kitchen. My eyes race over Hailey’s clammy skin.
I can’t tell if they just washed their faces or if they’re not feeling well.
“You puke your guts up?” I ask Phoebe.
“Intestines. Stomach. Ovaries. All in the toilet bowl.” She jabs a thumb behind her. “You want to go check?” Her haughty attitude is normal.
“I’ll pass.” I skim her up and down, then notice Jake’s overly concerned eyes following Hailey. My sister reaches the stack of letters beside the coffeepot. Tension thickens the air as they stay silent.
“You sure?” Phoebe pulls my attention back. “It’s quite a grotesque sight.” She hangs out in front of me. Her gray baggy sweatpants ride low on the curve of her hips, and her tits push against her strawberry cropped top. I crave to slide my hand against her waist, but as she inches closer and closer, I sense her trying to seduce me.
So I don’t touch my girlfriend. “You love grotesque things,” I say, reaching for the beer bottle I’d abandoned. I offer it to her.
“Pass.”
Alarm drills coldly in me. “Still feeling queasy?”
“Around you? All the time.” She threads her arms together.