Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 158872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 530(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 158872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 530(@300wpm)
“Where?” I ask dryly. The only other television in the house is in Remy’s basement sex cave.
Our perfect family night is now tinged with disappointment. I just want to disappear. My feet shuffle toward the stairs.
Griff glances at my brother and snorts in disgust.
Bunny #1 moves closer to Griff, murmuring something to him that I’m too far away to hear. He shakes his head, and she perches her tiny little behind on his leg and wraps her arm around his neck. Leaning close, she boldly whispers in his ear, so confident and secure that she has his attention.
I might as well be invisible.
Bile rises in my throat and I blindly turn away, groping for the staircase.
Griff’s voice telling me to stay never comes.
His footsteps following me upstairs don’t fall.
More giggles echo through the house. Someone squeals, “Threesome!”
Is that what Griff likes? Girls who don’t even know how to count?
My stomach lurches.
How did our night go from family movie time to amateur porn set so quickly? Embarrassment and resentment chase me all the way up to my room. How could Remy do this? Why didn’t Griff tell my brother to knock it off?
The familiar shameful, foolish ache blossoms in my chest. I’m nothing but a kid sister to Griff. I was kidding myself thinking we were a couple. Why should he publicly declare his feelings for me when girls like that are happy to jump in his lap any time?
I slam my door shut behind me, but it doesn’t stop the shrill laughter and deep murmuring voices from sneaking through.
Screw this.
I grab my noise-canceling earbuds off my desk and jam them in my ears, sealing myself off from the nightmare unfolding below. It’s a desperate attempt to protect myself from the familiar heartbreak threatening to consume me.
Furious and heartbroken, I tiptoe across the hall to the bathroom. Too scared I’ll cry if I look in the mirror, I brush my teeth while staring at the shower curtain. It’s a map-of-the-world design, and right now I wish I were anywhere on that map rather than in this bathroom holding back my tears.
When I’m finished, I hurry back to my room and shut off all the lights.
In the dark, I change into sleep shorts and a long-sleeved shirt. There isn’t a single person I want to speak to. I’m too embarrassed to tell Hayden what happened. Not after I gushed about Griff all last night.
I put my phone on airplane mode and scroll through my favorite playlist, looking for something to drown out the painful noise in my head.
Slipping under the covers, I inhale deep, ragged breaths and force my mind to follow the meditative story flowing through my earbuds, intended to soothe and calm my troubled heart.
But the space in my chest where my heart should be feels hollow. I left it in a million pieces on the floor downstairs for everyone to stomp all over.
It’s a long time before sleep shackles itself around my ankles and eventually drags me under.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Griff
What the fuck is even happening?
I should’ve known Remy was up to no good when he kept fucking around on his phone during the movie. But inviting these girls over to the house? This is bullshit.
Layla in my lap. In front of Molly. Remy implying Layla and I have a history in front of Molly.
Wait. Molly’s gone. Shit.
“Um.” Not wanting to put my hands on Layla, I slide myself to the side, out from underneath her bony butt cheeks. Unfortunately, she topples onto the couch, then slides onto the floor with a hard thump.
Shit. I wasn’t trying to hurt the girl—I just wanted her out of my lap.
“Sorry.” I’d offer a hand to help her off the floor, but I don’t want to give her the wrong idea.
Too late. Seems she arrived at the house with plenty of her own ideas. She curls her fingers over my knee and pulls herself into a kneeling position in front of me. Licking her lips, she drops her gaze to my crotch, making it clear what she’s after.
Nope. Hell fucking no. I jump off the couch like my ass is on fire, shooting a glare at Remy.
“What’s the matter?” He has the nerve to smirk at me. “I think Layla wants to take care of you. Don’t be rude.”
“Fuck off,” I snarl.
Layla’s confused eyes dart between Remy and me.
I glance at the staircase. Molly must’ve gone to her room. Should I run upstairs and check on her? Will Remy stop me? Oh, I’d love to see him fucking try. Enough anger’s burning through me that I’d probably relocate his jaw to his ass.
Just what I need to do—cause a scene in front of these girls and give them shit to gossip about later. Vile stuff that could get back to Molly and end up hurting her.