Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 60309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
“I think…I think it’s sweet how you all were trying to protect each other,” I say. “But maybe if security was there to begin with that wouldn’t have been a concern, right?”
Xander looks to Kinney like she can answer this.
“It was supposed to be a super small party, Mom. Without the narks.”
“A sip-in-snow,” I say, remembering that’s what Xander called it when he spilled most of the info. “Cute name. What exactly were you sipping?”
“Snow,” Kinney says.
My eyes go wide again.
Xander laughs.
Kinney blushes. “What?”
“Snow is slang for cocaine,” he tells his little sister.
My fifteen-year-old glowers and then rolls her eyes. “Obviously we’re not sipping cocaine.”
“Then what were you sipping?” I wonder.
“It was party punch, and before you ask, I had one sip to try it, but it was gross and I threw it in a bush.”
“She did,” Xander confirms.
“And you?” I ask him.
“Me, what?” He takes a swig of Sprite.
“Did you have any party punch?” I wonder, my heartbeat accelerates. We have a strict no alcohol rule, but Lo and I both knew that once our kids were teenagers, they might try beer or cheap liquor drowned in a sickly-sweet chaser. We just hoped they’d make good choices. Better than ours, at least.
“Maybe a little.” Erebor nudges her face into his legs.
I stare at the puppy for a long second. Her brother was bugged, a device planted on his collar, and I wonder if she might be too. Not a strong possibility seeing as how no leaks originated from this house. But… “Maybe we should take her collar off.”
“Why?” Xander frowns at me.
Shit. I don’t want to make him nervous. “It looks dirty. We should wash it.”
Kinney stares at Erebor. “Yeah, when’s the last time you gave her a bath, Xander?”
His frown deepens. “I…I don’t know…”
Kinney’s face cracks for a split second in guilt. “I didn’t mean it to be rude,” she snaps. “She smells fine. Dogs don’t need that many baths. Right, Mom?”
“Right,” I say. “And anyway, she needs a good haircut. Maybe I take her to the groomer this week?”
“I’ll come,” Xander says, but I see anxiety creep in him just from that one offer.
“We’ll figure it out,” I say into a casual shrug. “I can do it myself too. I’m this one’s grandma after all.” I bend down and give Erebor a good scratch. “Aren’t I, you big fluffy mountain?” I unclip her collar, and Xander gives me an appreciative nod.
I give him a smile back.
I couldn’t be prouder of him these past couple of weeks, and a fight at a high school party seems so mild in comparison to the strides he’s been making. This month, he’s begun attending Dalton Academy. No longer homeschooled, he had to face the social viper pit that is prep school. If my mom gave me the chance to be homeschooled, I probably would have taken it. Never looked back. Avoided the private school setting every single year until I left for college.
The fact that he even wanted to try was a big, enormous deal.
At seventeen, I wouldn’t have tried.
But I know that being at Dalton means seeing his cousin Ben more. And I wonder if there’s more to this than disagreeing about opening a door.
“Do you and Ben talk at school?” I ask, scooping some cookies onto a plate.
Xander sighs heavily. “This has nothing to do with school, Mom.”
“Okay,” I say into a nod.
Kinney sits on a barstool. “They avoid each other in the halls. Audrey says it’s like watching two north magnetic poles sharing the same space.”
I frown. That is…sad. But I’m not unaware of the friction between Xander and Ben. I just hoped it’d smooth over now that the two of them might have a chance to talk at school. Hope—a dangerous but wonderful thing.
Xander steals a cookie before I’ve plated them all. He tells me, “Just because we’re cousins doesn’t mean we have to be friends.”
“You used to be friends,” I remind him.
“I mean, were not not friends,” Xander says, avoiding my eyes. I can tell he looks a little guilty about proclaiming his anti-friend status with Ben. “We’re just different. I don’t think we’d ever choose to hang out together if we weren’t cousins is all.” He shrugs like that’s just the way it’s become.
And maybe that’s okay. The friends he clings to when he’s little don’t have to be the same when he gets older. I just don’t want a Charlie/Moffy situation where there are literal fistfights.
My brows scrunch. There was wrestling tonight. A broken table.
Oh no.
Kinney waves a hand at my face. “She’s doing the thing.”
Xander smiles. “Earth to Mom.”
“Luna’s sparkly green aliens aren’t taking you,” Kinney says like she will fight anyone off who tries to beam me into their spaceship. “They’re gonna have to get through me first.”
“And me,” Lo says, walking through the kitchen door. His voice sparks a grin so wide it hurts my cheeks. He strides over and wraps his arms around my waist. “The ugly little aliens can go kick a rock on Mars. They’re not getting you, love.”