Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 106(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 106(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
“What?” Wendy is trying to knot my damp towel tighter around my body, but I shake her off. At roughly the same time, I realize I’m staring hard at Joe’s ass in his snug uniform pants. Stop. “How am I looking at him?”
Charlie narrows her eyes at me. Blue ones, so similar to mine, even though we’re not related by blood. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen you look at anyone that way before. I’m not sure what it means.”
I scoff. “You’re imagining it.”
“No, I’m not. I have Bella sense.” She steps closer, studying my face with a touch more scrutiny than before. Sometimes I do think Charlie can read my mind, despite not being natural sisters. She was adopted by my mother and father before I could even walk, because they wanted me to grow up with a support system, but they also wanted to help a friend who couldn’t raise her baby. Whatever the circumstances, I consider her my sister and best friend. “Tell me why you’re looking at Joe funny,” Charlie says now. “I’m going to find out anyway.”
I tilt my head in Wendy’s direction. “Can you wait until we’re alone?”
“Good timing,” Wendy says brightly. “I was just about to load you into the back of the police car.”
“Oh, goodie,” Charlie responds. “Is there a phone charger I can use?”
“No,” Wendy answers with a smile, circling around behind me and Charlie, ushering us toward the back of the police car. She puts her hand on my head and ducks me into the opening. Charlie follows me into the backseat, silence prevailing for a whole three seconds before she fills it.
“You were checking out our stepdad.”
No use in denying it. “Fine. I’ve been noticing him in a…different way, lately, I guess.”
Charlie stares at me in horror for a few beats, before whispering, “Me too.”
I jolt forward in my seat, the awkward position causing my towel to unknot, revealing one of my breasts and half of the other. I’ve just gone skinny-dipping in broad daylight, however, so obviously nudity isn’t high on my list of concerns. “You think Joe is kind of…sexy, too?”
“No,” Charlie says slowly. “I think he’s extremely sexy. A certified smoke show.”
“Oh. Okay. You want him.”
“Yes.”
“So do I.” Jealousy nips at my cheeks out of nowhere, making them smart. I disguise the green monster with a high-pitched laugh, however. “But we’re not going to do anything about it, right? I mean, we misbehave to get his attention once in a while, because it forces him to spend time with us…which we love. But anything more would be weird, right? He was married to our mom. We call him Daddy.”
“Yeah,” Charlie scoffs. “It would be totally weird.”
I settle back. “Right.”
“But, like…what if something accidentally happened? Like there was a terrible storm and I crawled into his bed because I’m scared. And when I reach for his hand, I hold his dick, instead. We look at each other while lightning flashes—”
“Okay, you’ve thought about this a lot.”
“But now that I’ve crossed the line, we just cross them all. You know?”
I frown at my sister, the green monster thrashing around now, highly agitated. “I’m older than you. If he crosses the line with anyone, it’s going to be me.”
“Oh, right, a couple of months makes a huge difference when he’s twenty-four years older than both of us, Bella.” Joe is off the phone now and walking toward the vehicle while Charlie wets her lips, watching him approach with a growing flush on her face. “No. It’s going to be me.”
I gape at Charlie. “Care to make a wager?”
“A what?”
“A wager.” What in the name of everything holy am I doing? I don’t know, but two things are occurring to me at once. One, now that I know Charlie wants to sleep with our stepfather, too, I am inundated with permission to go there myself. To a place where he’s not quite so off limits. “Whoever seduces Joe first…” I begin.
“What is the prize?”
We let out a breathy sound simultaneously. “He is the prize.”
Said prize nearly rips the door of the police car off the hinges in the process of opening it. He props a meaty forearm on the roof of the vehicle and leans down to speak with us, but when he sees my breasts have been exposed by the slipped towel and my back is arched, presenting my tits to the air, he inhales an unsteady breath, his Adam’s apple moving high and low in his throat. I curse the fact that his eyes are hidden behind his sunglasses, because I would do anything for confirmation that they’re glued to my breasts. My thighs. All my exposed parts. “I got the mayor to drop the charges,” he says, finally. Then he slams his fist on the roof of the car. “But don’t feel too relieved. Wendy is going to drive you home. And you’re not going to like dealing with me there, instead.”