Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 163209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 816(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 816(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
“Yeah, yeah.”
Jeremy hoisted himself up on the railing. Getting down from the third floor was marginally easier than getting up. The fall from three to two was the iffiest, a half-second longer than Jeremy always expected it to be, but he managed to not hit the patio set outside the sunroom when he landed. Dropping to the garden was easier, a hand-over-hand shimmy down and a push off the railing so he wouldn’t land in the bushes. Leo would be back inside by now, so Jeremy snapped a white rose off its stem and booked it for the far side of the yard.
It was a short jog back to his house. Jeremy checked his pocket for his keys as he reached the looping driveway out front. The rose was tucked into his cup holder for safekeeping, and Jeremy glanced toward the front of his house as he turned the key in the ignition and pulled away.
Tumbling with Leo this close to home was risky, but it had been the right move. The inevitable ache from a family meeting now sat no heavier than a bruise on his heart, easily ignored beneath the memory of Leo’s eager hands.
Jeremy drummed his fingers on the steering wheel in an uneven beat before cutting the radio on to drown out his thoughts. He couldn’t carry a tune to save his life, but he belted out whatever lyrics he knew with all the enthusiasm he could muster. It was enough to settle him, and by the time he reached Laila’s house he had put dinner completely behind him. He parked at the base of her driveway, neatly blocking her car in, and brought his things inside with him.
The TV was on, but from here he couldn’t tell what was playing. He toed out of his shoes and went in search of his friends, only to hesitate in the living room doorway when he realized the girls had fallen asleep there. Cat was slouched against the back of the couch while Laila used her thigh as a pillow. Jeremy dug up the remote to mute the TV. Neither stirred at the abrupt silence. He wondered if he ought to wake them, as it was too early to be in bed, but there was plenty of time this weekend to fix their schedules.
Jeremy found Jean in the kitchen. The gray-eyed backliner was perusing one of Cat’s tattered cookbooks, and the relaxed line of his shoulders was reassuring. Jeremy studied his calm expression and tried not to think about Leo’s unkind assessment. Jean put a finger to the page to mark his spot and looked up, and Jeremy smiled apologies for interrupting him.
“Any idea how long they’ve been out?” he asked.
Jean glanced toward the clock and said, “An hour at most.”
Jeremy set his things aside and went in search of a makeshift vase for his rose. He collected a clean glass from the cabinet, filled it halfway with water, and dropped the flower in. There was room on the windowsill for it, so he set it between a picture of Barkbark von Barkenstein and an empty terracotta pot. He framed the view between his fingers as he took a few steps back.
Satisfied with the setup, Jeremy turned back to Jean for his opinion. Jean didn’t notice, as he was staring at Jeremy’s study guides with a look of palpable disdain. Jeremy forgot whatever he’d been going to say but quietly went to the island and turned the guides over. Jean slanted a cool look at him, but Jeremy only said, “Did anything happen while I was gone? Any updates or calls we need to deal with?”
He expected Jean to allow the change in subject. With one or two exceptions, Jean had avoided their personal business all summer long. Even this afternoon’s fiasco with Jeremy’s phone had gotten little more than a fleeting dig. This should have followed the pattern—except of course it wouldn’t, because law school and an Exy career could not coexist. Jeremy should have taken that into account, but Jean’s annoyed, “These aren’t yours,” caught him off guard.
“Yeah,” Jeremy said. “I’m taking the exam this fall.”
Jean gave him a minute to come up with something better, then said, “No.”
“Family tradition,” Jeremy said. He meant to leave it at that, but the look on Jean’s face told him that wasn’t good enough. Jeremy pushed the books in slow circles with his fingers. “That’s why I’m studying English, you know? It’s a decent starter degree for getting into law school.”
It hadn’t been his first choice by a long shot, but it was better than his mother’s suggestions of political science or criminal justice. It had taken weeks to wear her down even after he brought home articles to justify his choice. He didn’t dislike it as much as he’d thought he would, but it helped that he offset his classes with fun electives each semester. Equally helpful was watching his teammates in more ambitious degrees suffer through sleepless nights and lethal levels of caffeine at exam time.