Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
It’s obvious Emma is fighting with herself, trying not to grin, choking back a giggle. “You know we shouldn’t do any of those things. We really should go to our next classes—we only missed the morning.”
“Did you hear some confusing bullshit just now?” I ask my brother, scratching my head. “I heard a voice, but I couldn’t understand any of the words that were being said.”
“I’m serious.” Emma waves a napkin at me, but still can’t keep a straight face. “It’s the right thing to do. This morning was fun, but…”
“You are going to log in from home,” Easton tells her before he gets up to settle the check.
“I already did that almost all last week,” she murmurs with a sigh. “I don’t wanna make it seem like I’m taking advantage.”
Now I’m starting to understand why we ended up in this girl’s life. She needs somebody to talk sense to her who isn’t her grandma. “How is it taking advantage if you’re only using a system they set up to help you? Explain that thought process.”
“Okay, okay,” she mutters, even rolling her eyes.
“If anything, wouldn’t it be insulting if you didn’t use what they set up for you?”
“I said okay.” She’s shaking her head as she stands. “I swear. The two of you would make great lawyers.”
“You know, you’re probably right.” Of course, we would have to make it through law school first. Considering I’m blowing off an entire day’s worth of classes for no real reason other than wanting to, I don’t think my chances are all that great.
She still isn’t satisfied by the time we leave, reaching into her backpack. “You have to let me give you something for all of that. It doesn’t feel right letting you pay.” Easton only whistles and walks out the door, making Emma chase him while I laugh behind them.
“I’ve never met anybody who fought having somebody buy them brunch,” I call out while he jokes with her on the way back to the truck.
“Listen,” Easton adds while Emma stomps her foot, “you don’t need to be spending your money on trips to the diner. You have more important things to worry about.”
I already know he made a mistake before she comes up short and goes still. “What? What does that have to do with anything?”
Shit. Usually, I would let my brother get himself out of the hole he dug, but this sort of affects me, too. We were having such a good time, and I feel it slipping through my fingers. “You were saying things are a little tight,” I remind her once I reach them, standing at the curb. “That’s all he is talking about. You’re going through some shit. Let us take care of you.”
She pulls her head back slowly before letting out a silent laugh. “Seriously? Is that what you think you need to do? I don’t like the sound of it, to tell you the truth.”
“Why is that such a bad thing? We both feel the same way,” Easton tells her. “You’ve been through so much already. We want to make it a little easier on you if we can.”
“I didn’t ask you to do that,” she replies while her shoulders start to rise. God dammit. What’s the problem this time?
“Nobody said you did.” It’s hard as hell keeping the anger out of my voice. “Why are you acting like this?”
“Why? I’ll tell you why.” For somebody as small as she is, she manages to make herself look really tall when she feels like it. “I am nobody’s charity case. This is exactly why I didn’t want you to know.”
“Why won’t you just let people be nice to you?” Easton is not doing as good of a job as I did of keeping his voice down.
“Because your idea of nice means making me feel small,” she almost shouts back. “You don’t understand, because you don’t have to, but when people go out of their way to keep doing these things for you, eventually you get the feeling you owe them something back. I don’t want that. And I don’t want to be anybody’s way of feeling better about themselves because they helped somebody who hasn’t been as lucky as them. Do you hear me?”
I do, and every word pisses me off a little worse than the one before it. She always finds a way to turn everything around. “You have to get used to the idea of people wanting to help because they care.”
“Thank you for the advice.” She lifts her chin before adding, “I want to go back to campus so I can get my car. Can you take me there, or do I have to get a ride?”
“For fuck’s sake,” Easton groans. “Why are you doing this?”
“Will you take me, or not?” She turns her attention to me, being the driver. How can she look at me like we’re strangers when we were having such a good time together a few minutes ago? Am I kidding myself, thinking about any kind of future with her? We can barely make it through two full hours before somebody’s misunderstanding somebody.