Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 96600 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96600 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
“Uncle Matthew,” he said with a nod, like a fancy nineteenth-century gentleman meeting an acquaintance on a stroll. “I was looking for my mother. Have you happened to see her?”
“You know, I just came from the bathroom, and that hall was like, totally deserted,” I said quickly. That was not a core memory that a child, no matter how mature they might seem, should ever have to grapple with. “But I did hear her kicking around the idea of the winery trip.”
“Hmm,” Bennett intoned seriously. “That seems unlikely. Mother feels the winery is too touristy. But perhaps she was in a better mood than she was this morning.”
“Perhaps,” I echoed.
“I’m sure she’ll be in a great mood when you see her,” Matt quipped, then quickly added, “Sometimes, it’s fun to slum it a little.”
Though I knew those words were meant as a withering criticism of his sister, they stung. Being with normal folk was “slumming it?” Was that what Matt was doing with me?
“Well, in any case, I’m off to the nursery. I find being around so many people exhausting. I need to decompress,” Bennett said in the voice of a world-weary thirty-seven-year-old. “If you do see Mother, tell her I was looking for her.”
“Absolutely,” I promised.
We watched him go, and an unexpected lump rose in my throat. He might be the creepiest kid ever, but he was still a kid looking for his mom, who was busy getting railed by a guy who wasn’t the husband who constantly cheated on her. No wonder the kids were creepily precocious; their homelife was a fucking wreck.
“Hey,” Scott said, appearing behind us like an overzealous school dance chaperone.
Matt and I turned to him, almost guiltily, as if we were children about to get a scolding.
And Scott was more than ready to play the part of the disapproving parent.
“It’s time we had a talk.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
(Matthew)
I needed neutral ground where Scott, Charlotte, and I wouldn’t be disturbed. Though the house was huge, it was now crammed with guests and bustling with staff at every corner.
That left us with only one place to be, and it wasn’t neutral ground.
God, I hope we didn’t use any sex toys and leave them around, I thought, racking my brain as we entered my bedroom. Scott had been here plenty of times. He’d even crashed on the sofa here once during spring break, not because there weren’t other rooms but because it’s where he would pass out anyway after marathon Halo sessions.
But his sister hadn’t been staying with me then.
The staff had made the bed and cleared away our breakfast dishes, so at least there weren’t physical reminders that Charlotte and I had been having sex in here recently.
The stain on the back of the sofa could have been from anything.
“Look, we’re tense,” I said as the three of us stood awkwardly near the door. “Why don’t we go out on the balcony, smoke a joint, and say what’s on our minds?”
“I haven’t smoked in years,” Scott said firmly.
“That’s a fucking lie. You did bong rips at your bachelor party.” Maybe I shouldn’t have brought up the failed wedding attempt.
Scott let out a heavy sigh. “Fine. But I have things I want to say before I get high and you trick me into thinking I’m cool with all this shit.”
“I’m glad this is already shaping up to go so well,” Charlotte muttered and brushed past us on her way to the French doors.
“You’re really signing up for a lifetime of that?” Scott asked under his breath.
I gave him a warning look, and he wisely silenced himself.
I got the stash box and rolling tray and headed out to join the nonspeaking siblings at the table.
Charlotte’s arms were crossed over her chest, but her surly look dissipated when she turned to me. “There are still people in the garden. Is that okay?”
“Who cares? I live here.” I dropped the paraphernalia on the table. “Scott, why don’t you start?”
“Thank you, Matt.” He cleared his throat like he was presenting at a board meeting. “I hate this.”
Charlotte scoffed.
“Hey, let’s keep an open mind, respect each other’s feelings here, okay?” I said sternly, looking to both of them. “I can’t be a mediator in this because I’m a part of it. But you two need to approach this conversation as adults and not as siblings. Scott, you hate this. Why do you hate it?”
“Because you’re my best friend, and she’s my sister. I’ve covered this several times, with both of you. And yet you still went ahead and… Well, you went to Ascend Red. That alone, a lesser man would break your teeth for, Matt.”
“I wanted to go to Ascend Red,” Charlotte interjected. “I’m a grown-up. I can go grown-up places and do grown-up things. You have to stop thinking of me as a child.”