Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 131330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
I pull up outside the familiar property before making my way to the door and slamming my fist against the hardwood. I shouldn’t be here, but the second the idea formed in my fucked-up mind, I couldn’t take it back.
The door opens barely a moment later, and before Austin even gets a word out, I storm past him into his home. “The fuck are you doing here?” he demands, still not having forgiven me for threatening to spill his dirty Vixen secrets to Aspen.
“You need to call your sister,” I rush out, hovering in his foyer. “I think she’s about to get herself in trouble.”
His eyes widen, and his body stiffens, panic flashing in his eyes. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I was checking in with her last night after all the Vixen bullshit,” I start.
Austin’s sharp gaze snaps to me. “You were texting my sister?” he questions, cutting me off.
I shake my head as though that could somehow help. “That’s not important. She said she was meeting up with some guy she’d never met.”
His brows furrow, horror flashing in his gaze. “The fuck are you talking about?” he demands, his mind clearly racing a million miles per hour. “What guy?”
“Don’t know, man. She just said something about entering her whore era. I think she’s going to try and sleep with this guy, but she knows nothing about him,” I say, adding an extra hit of urgency to my tone. “What if he’s a convicted felon or tries to fucking rape her? She’s not thinking straight. You have to do something about this.”
Austin clenches his jaw, shaking his head with frustration. “You’re fucking kidding me,” he grunts, his hand digging into his pocket and pulling out his phone. “What the hell is she thinking?”
I don’t respond. Instead, I stand back and watch what siblings do best—fight. But there’s one thing I can always count on, when Austin thinks he’s protecting his little sister, he’ll go to the end of the earth. They’ll be okay though. They always are. She’ll get snappy and tell him to mind his own business, but in the end, he’ll force her to see reason, and going out with this loser—where’s the fucking reason in that?
Austin storms through his home, the call already connecting to Aspen, and I follow him into his living room. “Hello?” Aspen’s voice answers after the third ring as Austin falls heavily onto his couch.
“What the fuck is this I hear about you trying to hook up with some random asshole you’ve never met? Are you insane? Do you have any idea how fucking stupid that is?”
“What? How did you—fucking Izaac,” she grunts, clearly irritated as a wide smirk stretches across my lips. “What did he tell you?”
“Doesn’t matter what he told me, only that you’re trying to fuck some loser you’ve never met.”
“I swear, Austin. When in the ever-loving hell will you learn to mind your own goddamn business?” she demands, her tone hitching higher. “My sex life has got nothing to do with you. It doesn’t matter if I wanted to fuck my way across the country or spread my legs for a fucking stadium of assholes. Your only job is to love me—”
“The hell it is,” Austin throws back. “It’s my job to protect you, and right now, you’re making that very fucking hard.”
“I’m not a kid. I don’t need your protection.”
“Oh, right. Because hooking up with some stranger clearly shows how responsible you are. How could I have been so blind? My bad!”
“Fuck off, Austin. I’m really not in the mood for your bullshit.”
Austin groans, falling back against the couch as I sit on the edge of the coffee table, my brows furrowed, not liking the tone in her voice. Is something wrong? Usually, she’s all for a fight with her brother. It’s their favorite thing to do.
As if sensing the same thing I do, Austin finally lowers his voice and takes a new approach. “Just tell me you’ll reconsider?” he begs. “I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you. You’re my only sister, Aspen, and I know we fight all the time, but I love you.”
Aspen lets out a heavy sigh. “I’ve already told him to fuck off.”
My brows furrow, and I lean closer to the phone. “Huh?” I grunt, my gaze darting to Austin’s, both of us just as confused as the other.
“Fuck. Izaac’s there?” Aspen questions. “Jesus, Austin. You could have warned a girl. Take me off speaker.”
“Lay off him,” Austin says. “He was just concerned about you, and apparently, he had every right to be. I swear, Aspen. What has gotten into you lately? Vixen last week and random hookups this week. Is this some kind of cry for attention?”
I cringe, knowing that’s not going to go down well, and considering the look on Austin’s face, he clearly regrets his choice of words, but when these two fight, there’s usually not a lot of thought put into the bullshit they say to each other.