Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“I’m still not use to it,” April whispers, and all the girls nod.
“Just enjoy it,” my cousin Cobi’s wife, Hadley, says quietly as my gaze catches on Billie, who is sitting with Cat. Both the girls have kept to themselves most of the day, but I’ve noticed more than once the two of them whispering while looking over at Max and Mitchell, my cousin December’s stepsons, though she just refers to them as her boys.
“What’s that about?” Jax’s wife, Ellie, asks when Billie suddenly gets up from her towel next to the pool and tosses down her phone.
“I don’t know.” I get up and walk over to Cat, who is watching her friend walk towards the house, obviously upset.
“What happened?”
“Umm.” Cat lifts her head, her sunglasses meeting mine. “I…”
“Did something happen?” I glance down at Billie’s cell phone, and the image on the screen makes my stomach bottom out. Even only meeting Aaron once, his face is familiar enough that I recognize him immediately in the photo on what I know is a dating website.
Leaning down, I pick up her phone, then slide through the photos that were uploaded onto his dating profile.
“He had deleted it,” Cat whispers, and I take my eyes off the phone to look at her. “But he must have put it back up while he was gone over the weekend.” Oh god, I look at the house as Billie disappears inside. “Should I go talk to her?” she asks.
“I got her, honey.” I hand her Billie’s phone, then walk over to my lounger and grab my cover-up from the back of my chair.
“Is everything alright?” Willow asks as I put my cover-up on.
“Yeah,” I lie. “Do you mind keeping an eye on Zuri and Cooper?”
“Sure.”
“Thanks.” I turn and head for the house, avoiding looking at anyone as I walk through the yard. I don’t even look in Logan’s direction because I’m worried that my face will give away that something is happening.
Once I’m inside, I take off my sunglasses and glance into the kitchen, where my mom and aunts are all standing around the island.
“Did you guys see Billie come through here?” I ask as they all look at me.
“I think she went to the bathroom,” Aunt November tells me.
“Thanks.”
“Everything okay?” Mom asks.
“Yeah,” I leave them and head down the hall, stopping outside the bathroom door. “Billie.” I knock.
“Just a second,” she calls out, sounding like she’s crying, and my heart breaks.
“Can I come in?” When she doesn’t answer I push the door open and inch and peek inside. Seeing her standing in the middle of the bathroom with tissue pressed to her eyes I open the door enough to squeeze in then close it behind myself. “Hey.” I wrap my arms around her, and she starts to sob. “Oh honey, I’m so sorry.”
“You know?”
“I saw your phone,” I whisper as her tears soak through the thin material of my swimsuit cover-up.
“I can’t believe him.”
“Cat mentioned that you saw him on that site before.”
“Yeah,” she chokes out, “right after he moved in with Mom.”
“Can I ask why you were on there?” I’m not sure that right now is the time to bring that question up, but it worries me that she’s on an adult dating site.
“My friend Tori’s older sister found her dad on there when he was married to her mom, so we all started looking as a joke.” She lets me go and takes a seat on the edge of the tub. “I didn’t really think I’d find Aaron, but I did.”
“Okay.” I put down the seat on the toilet and sit down.
“When I found him, I was mad, but then he wasn’t on there anymore, so I’ve been thinking that maybe I was wrong, and it was just a mistake.” She shakes her head. “But Tori just sent me a link to his dating profile when we were outside, and some of the photos he used were taken at my mom's house, so they had to be uploaded recently. Right?”
“Maybe?” I hand her some more tissue.
“My mom loves him.” She drops her eyes from mine. “Like, really loves him, I can’t tell her what he’s doing.”
“No, you can’t,” I agree. “But your mom needs to know what is going on.” If I were her, I’d want to know that the man I moved into my house and had around my kids was on a dating site looking for other women. And if he’s hooked up with anyone else while they have been together, he’s putting her in danger, which is absolutely horrible to think about. “I’ll talk to your dad about it.”
“No.” She shakes her head.
“Honey,” I say gently. “Sh…”
“What if he thinks I did this?” she cuts me off. “What if he thinks that I’m just trying to get my mom to leave Aaron so that he and Mom will get back together?”