Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 101764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Jesus, my inner voice needed to be stomped out.
“Well, guess I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
God, I was so awkward. Sometimes, I wondered how I ever made a single dollar in tips working my VIP tables.
Ryder half-snorted a laugh. “Yeah, I’ll be here.” He touched my shoulder, and I refused to believe the tingles came from anything more than surprise. “Thanks again, Alex.”
“Sure, no problem.”
No problem? Of course, it wasn’t a damn problem. We both came. God, I was such an idiot.
Our cars were separated by about five spaces. The distance between us increased as we made our way to our vehicles. Thankfully, we didn’t get any snow or ice tonight, so the drive home at the late hour should be uneventful.
“Night, Alex,” Ryder called as he reached his electric Range Rover. I almost laughed at the difference in our cars. His shiny and black without a smudge on it, where my old rust bucket was covered in a salt film from driving to and from work all winter. Paying for a car wash was a luxury I couldn’t afford.
I should have waved over my shoulder and slipped into my car, but instead, I turned and met his gaze. We stared at each other across the quiet parking lot for a beat while I had the ridiculous urge to ask him to text me when he got home safe so I wouldn’t worry.
Thank God I had the presence of mind to keep that thought where it belonged—in my head and not out in the universe.
“Night,” I called back. “See ya tomorrow.”
He dipped into his luxury vehicle and started it up without a sound. I’d bet my tips that the interior was warm and toasty within five seconds. That fancy car probably had heated leather seats and steering wheel, whereas I’d spend the next ten minutes begging my hunk of junk to start. If it did, the car would finally warm to a comfortable temperature about the time I pulled into my driveway.
I followed him out of the parking lot, turning left where he turned right. If there was ever a sign we lived in different worlds, that proved it. Luxury vehicle aside, he’d turned toward the rich side of town, whereas I’d steered my car toward the rundown, neglected neighborhoods.
For a short time tonight, I’d forgotten our differences. Sex had put us on a level playing field, but now, freezing my ass off while he was toasty warm, I remembered we weren’t the same. We weren’t even friends.
As predicted, I arrived home as soon as my car finally hit a cozy temperature. My comfort lasted for less than a minute, disappearing when I opened the car door. When I glanced at the quiet house lit only by the porch and foyer lights, my stomach cramped. Was Kenny home? Was Mom asleep in her bed, or would she be dozing on the couch as she stressed about him? I didn’t have the reserves to go out looking for him tonight—this morning—or even wait up until he arrived home.
My boots crunched over a thin layer of snow I’d have to shovel in the morning, and a wave of fatigue crashed over me. Was it too much to ask that Kenny pull his head out of his ass to do one damn chore without me having to badger him? It had snowed ten hours ago, for crying out loud. Mom couldn’t help take care of the house, but even she managed to do more than my lazy-as-fuck brother.
Silence greeted me when I stepped into the foyer. No strung-out brother or naked women I didn’t know on the couch, and no drug paraphernalia littering the coffee table. My stomach sank. When did finding my brother high off his ass with a random girl become the desirable choice? At least it meant I knew where he was and wouldn’t have to worry I’d get a phone call from the cops or, worse, the morgue.
With a heavy sigh that made me feel twice my age, I wiped my boots and then kicked them off next to the door. I removed my jacket, hanging it on the row of hooks I’d installed a few years ago after watching an instructional YouTube video.
Clad in my socks, I padded past the kitchen and down the carpeted hallway, peeking into the first room on the left. My mom slept soundly on her back with her wheelchair lined up next to the bed. Most of the time, she could transfer herself in and out of bed without assistance, but on days she felt weaker, she’d nod off in her wheelchair until I returned home to help her to bed. Today must have been a good day.
The knot in my stomach loosened as I backed out of her room and shut the door. One family member was safe and sound. My room was next to hers, and Kenny’s was across the hall, with the lone bathroom across from Mom’s room. Having only one bathroom made for an interesting challenge. Mom’s equipment occupied much of the floor space and littered the counter. Catheter equipment, a nebulizer, and a basket of medications had to be moved before I could wash my face. I could piss through the opening in the raised commode seat but had to move it to sit. The bench took up ninety percent of the small walk-in shower space. Kenny and I constantly moved equipment in and out of the bathroom, depending on who needed the space. I’d kill to add a second bathroom, preferably an en-suite for my mom’s room, but that was money we’d only have if one of us won the lottery jackpot.