Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 102929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
He was there.
Permanent.
Embedded in my heart.
Julius turned eighteen, and Kraven and I turned seventeen. We spent our first Thanksgiving and Christmas together, and I didn’t burn the turkeys for either holiday. We put up a tree that we cut down ourselves. I figured we’d create ornaments out of paper or something, so I was surprised when Kraven said I could use what was in the garage.
I found a lot of amazing memories, but I tried not to use them. Especially the ones where the boys made the ornaments. I was surprised by how much their parents kept, giving me hope that maybe it wasn’t always bad for them.
There were several gifts under the tree. From clothes to shoes to a new backpack for me. My most treasured gift was the AirPods Julius upgraded for me. I couldn’t believe he spent that much money. He also managed to transfer all of my music from my old MP3 player to my cell phone. I had no idea when he managed to pull that off.
I made him a dinner coupon book featuring all his favorite meals and added a few pictures of us from my phone, which I then put in a frame for him.
Kraven and I exchanged gifts, too. I told him I’d tutor him in math, and later that night, there was a black cat, a stuffed animal on Julius’s bed. I didn’t have to ask Kraven to know it was him.
I’d been sleeping in Julius’s room. He was insistent about it after he got back from his weekend trip that afternoon. He still slept on the couch, not setting foot into his parents’ room. They wouldn’t even shower in there.
When Julius was at work and Kraven was around, we’d hang out. It was different from when it was with Julius and me. The more I learned about the brothers, the more I realized they were nothing alike. Complete opposites in almost everything.
As time went on, Kraven’s guard was still up, but he’d show me glimpses of who he was here and there. Julius was secretive, too, and I tried not to pry.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Julius grinned like a fool right back at me.
I looked around the room. “To who?”
“You’re cute when you play innocent. Alright, I’m game.” With the back of his fingers, he swept my hair behind my ear. “What are you thinking?”
“How frustrated you make me.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“Isn’t it?”
“Depends on who you’re asking.”
“Well, I’m asking you.”
He didn’t falter in replying, “You frustrate me too.”
“How?”
“You want to have this conversation here? Where Kraven could interrupt us at any moment? He seems to have a knack for that.”
In one quick, fluid motion, he backed me up against the wall in his bedroom. I sucked in a breath.
“Isla…” he muttered along my mouth. “This is what’s going to happen next. You’re going to be my good girl and get your sweet little ass on the back of my bike so I can take you for a ride.”
“So no kebabs?”
He chuckled along my mouth, vibrating my lips. My stomach fluttered, and my heart raced.
In one breath, he implied again, “I’ll kebab you later.”
Now it was my turn to laugh out loud. “Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”
“No.”
“Oh, come on! You know I don’t like surprises.”
“All the more reason to torture you.”
“I think you have that area pretty much nailed.”
He tried to grip my thigh to tickle me, but I intercepted his hand at the last second.
“Did you see that, Julius Knightly? I have catlike reflexes.” I wiggled my eyebrows.
He grinned wickedly, side-eyeing me. My gaze followed his movement, and he used it to his advantage, squeezing my inner thigh harder.
“No!” I thrashed around. I hated being tickled.
“What was that?” he mocked, squeezing tighter.
I squealed, laughing. “Please!” I begged.
“You want my mercy?”
“Yes!”
“Then repeat after me.”
“I can’t! Stop tickling me first!”
He did, leaving his death grip on me for good measure.
“I, Isla.”
“Are we getting married?”
He clutched on like a vise.
“Okay! Okay!”
He paused his attack, continuing, “Will do everything Julius asks today.”
“It’s not your birthday.”
For his big eighteenth, we celebrated with Roland. I made him a red velvet cake, and he invited a few friends over. It was nice. Julius took the whole weekend off from work, and all three of us binged Ozark in the living room. We ate an obscene amount of junk food and pizza, utterly addicted to the show. Relating to it way too much.
“I only get what I want on my birthday?”
I sassed, “It depends on what you want.”
He didn’t miss a beat. “What if I want you?”
It was the perfect reply and exactly what I craved.
I caved, repeating, “I, Isla, will do everything Julius asks today.”
* * *
Meaning every last word.
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
Isla
An hour later, we were walking into Central Park. I loved it there. It was one of my favorite spots to just chill and hang out with him. Sometimes I’d take the subway and do schoolwork all day. I’d buy a hot dog and a coffee, and I was set for hours. Julius wasn’t a fan of my riding the subway by myself when he wasn’t around, so Kraven would accompany me when he wasn’t busy.