Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 136296 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 681(@200wpm)___ 545(@250wpm)___ 454(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136296 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 681(@200wpm)___ 545(@250wpm)___ 454(@300wpm)
Nine
Turn a Corner
Maverick
When I get home, the living room is empty. I grab a beer and head upstairs, running into my younger brother, River, in the hall. He looks surprised to see me.
“Hey.” His brows pull together in his customary furrow.
“’Sup? You heading out or grabbing something from the kitchen?”
“Uh . . .” His gaze darts around. “Going to a friend’s house.”
River has always been the emo-kid in our family. He carries the weight of the world on his shoulders—wants to fit in, but hates everyone except for Lavender, sometimes me and Robbie, and our parents. Also, he desperately wants our dad’s approval, but chose football over hockey when he hit high school.
I nod once. I know better than to dig with River.
“You by yourself?” He looks over my shoulder, as if he’s expecting someone to magically appear behind me.
“Yeah. I came from my night class. Is Lavender home?”
He pokes at his lip with his tongue. “Yeah. She and Kody are upstairs.”
“Everything okay there?” River hasn’t ever been Kody’s biggest fan.
“With the two of them? Fine, I guess. She seems happy and like she’s got him by the balls, which is how it’s always been.”
“That’s accurate. But I meant is everything okay with you, in respect to them.” I point to the ceiling. River had a pretty epic meltdown when he found out Lav and Kody were dating. Since then, things seem okay, but sometimes it’s tough to tell with River.
He rubs his lip. “I think it took me a bit to come to terms with how different it is now, and that Lavender doesn’t need to be protected. Back when we were kids and Kody was always coming to the rescue, I used to feel like I was failing as her twin, because we were supposed to have that bond.” His eyes lift to the ceiling. “Those two have this connection that’s impossible to compete with, and Kody has always been all-in when it comes to Lav. It’s easier now, because it’s obvious she’s the one in the driver’s seat, you know?” He runs a hand through his hair. “Gotta be kind of weird for you, though.”
“Eh. We all knew it was coming. And you’re right about Lavender being the one running this ship. I mean, I think she probably always was, but now she’s aware.” It’s clear she’s learned how to stand on her own.
River nods thoughtfully. “As much as she hated staying home last year, I think she needed it—not necessarily the being-at-home part, but the not having us all watching over her.”
“It’s like she aged a decade in a year,” I muse.
He smiles, and it’s full of pride. “She’s pretty badass, isn’t she?”
I laugh, thinking about the stunt she pulled in a white thong bikini, and the whole talking to Clarke to piss Kody off. And then her brief stint in the dorm before she moved back in with me and River. “Yeah, she really is.”
River claps me on the shoulder, his expression turning serious. “I’m glad you pushed for her to live here. I don’t know whether it would have happened if I’d been the one to suggest it.”
I poke him in the side. “Shh . . . That’s not something I want her to know. At least until I’m out of here.”
“Dude, I’m implicated as much as you are because I went along with it. I’m taking that to the grave—or at least until their wedding, because that would be a fun bomb to drop then.”
We fist bump, and he heads down the stairs, off to wherever.
I spend the next hour trying to work on an assignment, but my brain is on overdrive, and I can’t settle. It’s approaching midnight, but there’s no way I’ll be able to sleep at this point. So I decide to go for a run.
I pull on my running shorts, then layer on a T-shirt and a hoodie, grab my baseball cap, and head downstairs. My running shoes are shoved into the corner. I shake out the deodorizer balls, jam my feet in, and tie the laces.
Once I’m outside, I tuck my earbuds in and blast my running playlist, taking a right on the first side street, then another right and a left until I’m out of the student housing section and into the regular subdivision—houses owned by people who manicure their lawns and care about curb appeal.
When I reach Hackett Street, I make another left. I don’t usually take this route, but then I don’t often go for a midnight jog either. Halfway down the block, I notice a gaggle of guys approaching someone putting out their recycling. It’s a ballsy move to do that now. I always wait until morning, because putting it out at night is a crapshoot as to whether some drunk dickbag is going to kick it all over the road.