Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 47597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
"I'd rather stay with her."
"Uh, no way." Nadia looks at me like I've lost my mind. "You are not staying with me and Teo for two weeks. We're getting married."
Why does she insist on betraying me?
"You won't even notice us."
"No way," my sister says. "I'm stressed out enough trying to do all the wedding things and deal with morning sickness."
"Please?" I turn puppy dog eyes on Teo.
"She's the boss," he says, grinning at me.
Jareth chuckles quietly, and I have to resist the urge to stomp on his foot again. We cannot stay with him for two weeks. There's no way I'm going to be able to keep up this charade twenty-four hours a day!
"It'll be fine," Connor says smoothly while I'm busy glaring at everyone. "We appreciate it, man."
Jareth just grunts in response.
I narrow my eyes at him. Does he have to be so rude to Connor? "Maybe we should stay with Mom and Dad."
"They're in one of the cabins. There's only room for them and your brother."
"What about…?"
"The rest of the wedding party is booked into the other cabins. I have plenty of room," Jareth interjects before I can ask about Innessa or anyone else. "You won't even notice I'm there."
Well, now who's the dirty liar? It isn't me.
I don't know what Jareth is up to, but I don't trust the innocent look on his face in any way, especially when he winks at me.
Connor was right. This is going to be a shitshow.
"Will you stop pacing?" Connor asks an hour later, watching me from the bed in his room at Jareth's place. He's sprawled out across the tiny twin bed like he owns the place, clearly content with the situation.
I am not content. This room is basically a closet with a view. The bed in the room Jareth put me in is plenty big enough for two people, but Jareth shoved Connor into this room like he couldn't freaking wait to get him away from me. He acted all innocent about it, too, pretending like he was just giving us separate rooms to keep my dad happy. Ha! Like I'm falling for that. He put Connor in a closet to keep him out of my bed, more like it.
"He's up to something," I mumble, turning to complete another two-step circuit across the hardwood floor. Jareth's house is gorgeous. It's built like a cabin, with big windows looking out over the mountains, log walls, and gleaming hardwood floors. It fits the vineyard like it sprung up from the ground. It does not fit Jareth, however. I expected…I don't know. Maybe empty beer bottles and notches on the bedposts, I guess. It's suspicious.
Jareth is suspicious.
The whole situation is suspicious.
What does he think he's doing?
"You think?" Connor laughs at me. "He was ready to rip my head off when he saw us holding hands."
"Exactly!" I cry, spinning to face him. "He was so rude to you, and you just agreed to stay with him for two weeks! He's probably going to murder you in your sleep and then chain me to his bed. I bet that's why he put us in different rooms. It'll be easier to overpower us if we're isolated."
"Uh…why are you complaining? Being chained to that man's bed sounds like a good time to me. And it's not like you want to share a bed with me anyway."
He's not wrong, but still. I launch a pair of his socks at his head on principle.
He snatches them out of midair like an annoying Batman, chuckling. "You must really like him if you're this worked up."
"I do not like him."
"Right," my best friend says, smirking at me. "And I don't want Jessup to blow my back out."
"Why do I even try to talk to you?" I groan, settling down onto the foot of his bed. "It's useless. You're way too chipper and horny."
"Well…yeah. Someone has to balance out all the attitude and aggression coming from your side of this friendship."
"I am not aggressive."
"You're right. You're not. You just hide behind a facsimile of it because admitting that love scares the shit out of you is absolutely not your style. You'd rather rip off your own fingernails than do that."
He might have a point.
"I don't hate love." What? I said he might have a point, not that I was going to admit it.
"Didn't say you did. I said it scares the shit out of you."
"And it doesn't scare you?" I arch a brow at him. "You talk about getting laid all the time, but you never actually do it. We both know that isn't because you're afraid everyone will find out that you're gay." Most days, I'm not entirely sure he cares if anyone knows. He doesn't hide the truth because he's ashamed of it. He hides it because telling the world severely limits his future options.