Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 153946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 153946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
“Donkey,” Bernie and I said simultaneously. “We heard.”
He looked over at me with narrowed eyes. “Well, I heard we got Jiminy. And I’ve got five hundred in cash, ready to hand over as soon as that sweet sister of mine gets here.”
Bernie fumed silently beside me and I cradled my phone in my hand, hoping I’d sent the message out in time. “You know her terms?”
“Sure.” He lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug, pulling out a chicken leg and pointing at us with it as he spoke. “She wants to drive a lap or two with the big dogs. I talked Morgan off the ledge about it, because I’m not seeing a downside. Her sister finally leaves the house, we make sure she knows what she’s doing, and we get the car. After what Dave did to us, I was expecting to settle for a barely-running garbage heap even you couldn’t fix, so this is a gift. The best gift I’ve had in years.”
He took a bite and wiggled his pale eyebrows.
I don’t think Morgan was as convinced as he thought she was. “You really want that VW, don’t you?”
“I can be a good brother-in-law and chew gum at the same time,” he said before his expression burst into absolute glee. “But yes. I’ve got so many ideas.”
Bernie was practically vibrating now. “Will you two boys excuse me for a minute? I’ve got to make a call.”
Who was she calling? I nodded to Gene before following her to the end of the driveway to talk her down.
“Bernie, hang—Gus?”
She’d parked on the curb and was holding a bag of what looked like sliders in one hand and glancing down at her phone in the other.
Her pajamas had been replaced with a sweet coral blouse and a pair of tan capris that hugged her round hips. Her hair was pulled back on the sides, her thick curls falling to her shoulders in bouncy spirals that begged to be tugged.
My fingers twitched with the compulsion to touch her, but when she looked up, her expression uncertain, I managed to restrain myself.
She’d gotten my message.
16
AUGUST
Wade: M is upset about the race.
I’d had a feeling. Morgan hadn’t been that responsive for the last few days after texting that she’d “gotten my message but needed time to decompress.” I figured it was about the car. It could also have something to do with Wade renting the apartment from me. She’d put on her “I love that so much for you” face when I’d told her on our FaceTime chat, but I could tell she was still suspicious that I was leaving something out.
I absolutely was, but I wasn’t ready to alleviate those concerns, no matter how much it seemed to bother her. What I was still omitting—the sexy mischief Wade and I had been up to—really wasn’t any of her business. I refused to feel guilty about something I was enjoying so much. Something I was going to enjoy more tonight, as soon as I tied him to my bed and finally had my way with him.
Go ahead and laugh, but I was seriously considering it at this point. The man was making me crazy.
“Bernie, hang—Gus?”
I looked up from my phone to see Wade and his sister staring at me from the end of the driveway. Bernie was decked out as if she were going on a date, and Wade?
He cleaned up really nice. Not a speck of dirt or grease to be found on his clean-shaven jaw. His hair was free of his usual ball cap, thick and dark and framing his handsome face so perfectly I wanted to run my fingers through it to mess it up.
Or drag him back home and make him finish what he keeps starting?
Right. Or that.
Bernie stepped in front of her brother, distracting me with a glare that practically breathed fire. “I made you godmother of my child,” she started without explanation. “And I kicked Sidney Straus’s ass when she teased you about your period.”
She was clearly upset about something.
“I remember both of those things,” I answered carefully. “I also remember taking your English final and covering for you when you borrowed Wade’s car for a joyride around the block when we were twelve.”
Because whatever this was about, I had ammunition too.
Wade turned to his sister with a horrified expression on his face. “You did what?”
Bernie didn’t spare him a glance, holding up her hand as if to block him from view. “The point is, you owe me, August Retta. That means if you’re entering the race, I am too. I’m not being excluded by the bro club again. Where you and Jiminy go, I go.”
It seemed that everybody knew now. Which was fine with me. And Bernie wanting to be a part of the race wasn’t remotely shocking. What was shocking was that she hadn’t joined them years ago. Had she been deliberately left out of it?