Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 88408 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88408 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Then I left before the look in her eyes could make me change my mind.
Chapter 21
Lily
I was livid. Even after refusing to meet Leo’s eyes as I got into my dad’s truck, and leaving the clubhouse in a spray of gravel, I still couldn’t get my temper under control.
I understood where Leo was coming from and I loved him for it, I really did. He was trying to protect me, the way he’d done for as long as I could remember. But he’d forgotten one simple fact as he’d tried to make my decisions for me back in his room.
I was no longer a child.
He may be older than me, but I’d been making my own decisions for a while now. I wasn’t a scared, seventeen-year-old kid who ran when things got hard. I also wasn’t a pushover.
My phone rang as I parked in front of my parents’ house.
“Hello?” I barked, annoyed that anyone was interrupting my internal tirade.
“Wow, you sound chipper,” my sister-in-law replied, laughing. “Bad time?”
“No,” I said shortly, then felt instantly like shit. “Sorry, I got into it with your brother today, and I’m still pissed.”
“Oh no, what did he do?”
“It’s nothing,” I replied, unwilling to discuss any of it with Trix. She was Leo’s sister and she was married to my brother, and I’d realized early on that it wouldn’t be fair of me to complain about Leo to her. “What’s up?”
“I was just wondering if you were going to the party tonight?”
“No,” I replied instantly.
Trix laughed. “Don’t feel like celebrating Cecilia?”
“I’d rather break my own arm,” I replied dryly.
“That’s imaginative,” she said in surprise. “I was just calling to see if you weren’t going, if you could watch the boys tonight? I’m not sure how late we’ll be home, but you could just crash at our place if you wanted.”
“Sure,” I said as I climbed out of the truck.
As I walked inside, Trix filled me in on the details of when she needed me, and I was paying close attention, so I didn’t realize how quiet the house was until I’d gotten off the phone. I retraced my steps back to the entryway and found my dad reading in his bed in the living room.
“Hey, how’d you get left here alone?” I asked, grinning when he snarled at me.
“Ceecee took your mom and Charlie to get their nails done,” he replied.
“What’s she driving? I had the truck.”
“Rented a car,” he said easily.
“Well, isn’t she fancy?” I mumbled under my breath.
My dad made an annoyed sound in his throat, and I immediately regretted saying a word. I usually tried to keep my thoughts to myself when it came to Cecilia. My parents loved us all equally, and they hated when one of us said anything bad about the other. As far as they were concerned, family loyalty trumped everything. I agreed with them, to a point. I wouldn’t bitch about Ceecee to anyone, but I kind of hated that I couldn’t even say a word against her to my own parents. Nonetheless, I knew better, and if I hadn’t still been pissed about Leo, I would’ve kept my mouth shut.
I made a face of apology and sat down gingerly at the foot of his bed. “Why did you drop out of Yale?”
“You thinkin’ of droppin’ out?” he asked, dropping his book into his lap. I almost rolled my eyes when I saw a very famous theoretical physicist on the back cover.
“No,” I said, meeting his eyes. “But maybe transferring?”
“Is that a question?”
“I don’t know,” I mumbled.
“You wanna transfer schools, I’m not gonna talk you out of it,” he said, surprising me.
“What? You practically bullied me into going to Yale.”
“Nah,” he argued with a wave of his hand. “Did I want you to go? Hell, yeah. Wanted you to see what was out there. Spread your wings a little. There’s a lot more in this life than the Aces’ clubhouse, Lilybug.”
“I just don’t know if I want to be anywhere else.”
“I can understand that,” he said with a nod. “To answer your question, I dropped out because my family needed me.”
“Because of Aunt Callie?” I asked, getting more comfortable on the bed.
“Yeah, your Aunt Callie. Also, your great gram. She was gettin’ older, and every time I came home to visit, I’d notice her slowin’ down more and more. Scared the hell outta me.” He chuckled. “Also hated that place with the fuckin’ trust fund babies and chicks that cared more about their hair than what they were studyin’.”
“And you ended up with a woman who won’t leave the house without full makeup,” I joked.
“Far more to your ma than her looks,” he said with a soft smile.
“True,” I said with my own smile.
“Leo got anythin’ to do with this decision?” he asked, his face growing serious.
“Yes,” I replied honestly. “But it’s not only him. I want to be home. I miss seeing everyone and going to Charlie’s basketball games and hanging out at the parties that I’m finally old enough to drink at—”