Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 67432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
“What? What happened?” William asked as we all turned the corner into the living room, where Jen stood like a statue, her arm outstretched and pointing toward something dark in the corner of the room.
“That happened!” She took a couple of shaky steps backward, her entire body giving a repulsed shake. “I was just about to curl up on the couch and read my book when I see that thing moving in the corner of my eye.”
I took a couple of steps closer and realized what I was looking at: a tarantula. A big one, hairy and aiming all its hundred little eyes in our direction, its front legs up and its fangs bared in a warning to all of us.
Don’t get close, or I’ll fuck you up.
I lurched back, nearly falling over the coffee table. “Oh hell no,” I said. “Nombre no. I do not do spiders. No way.”
I was so scared that my Spanish was slipping out. Colton chuckled and stepped forward. He grabbed a large clear vase off the table, taking the roses out and placing them gently on the ground. “Anyone have a thick piece of paper?”
The tarantula didn’t move. Matthew and Krystine came running in at that moment, looking like they had just been about to get in bed, wearing matching silk pajamas. “Everything al—holy shit,” Matt said when he realized what we were all staring at. “That’s one big fucking spider.”
Krystine shrieked and bolted in the opposite direction. Colton spotted a magazine and grabbed it, ripping off the cover so he had one solid and thick piece of paper with him as he crossed the room.
“Be careful with the vase,” I said to him as he got closer. “Don’t break it in your hand.”
Part of my intense fear subsided as I grew worried for Colt, even though he looked like he was in complete control of the situation. He moved slowly, tiptoeing toward the intruder. Wendy made a sound as she clutched her arms tight around her chest, Archie at her side. He had a large knife in his hand.
When the hell did he get that?
“Just let me handle it,” Archie said, taking a step forward.
Colton put a hand back while still facing the tarantula. “I’ve got it, don’t worry.”
“Babe,” Wendy said, looking down at the knife. “You’d need a flamethrower if you wanted to kill it.”
Colton inched forward. If he was scared, then he was doing a great job of hiding it. I felt bad sticking back while Colton forged ahead to face the danger, but arachnophobia was a bitch—especially when the subject of that arachnophobia was a nasty-looking spider that was nearly the size of a small house cat. I’d taken down gangsters and mobsters and stalkers, but facing a tarantula was where I drew the line.
Thankfully, Colton didn’t seem to have the same issue. He raised the vase over the spider, which pivoted so that its raised legs and fangs were aimed directly at Colton. I held my breath. Logically, I knew that there’d be no actual danger to Colton unless he was deathly allergic to tarantula venom, but logic didn’t stop my heart from racing and my palms from sweating.
Colton moved like swift lightning, dropping the vase over the spider, the rim of it clicking against the floor as he trapped the hairy monster inside. Everyone in the room let out a collective sigh of relief, which quickly turned into a collective gasp as Colton nearly let the tarantula loose as he tried to squeeze the paper underneath the vase.
He maintained control and trapped the spider inside the vase, rising back up to his feet and holding it in the air like a trophy. “See, that wasn’t that bad,” he said, smiling.
I couldn’t even look in his direction. “Okay, okay, go throw it outside. Preferably outside of the property line.”
Archie ran ahead of Colton so he could open the door for him, the butcher knife still in his hand. Colton went out into the yard and released his new friend, where I hoped he’d promptly be eaten by a hawk or falcon or whatever other natural predator that terrifying creature might have.
“You okay?” Colton asked me as he came back into the living room. “You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” I said, just now realizing how light-headed I felt.
Jen rose up from the couch and took her brother into a tight hug. “Thank you for always saving the day, Colt.” She grabbed the book she’d been planning to read and started toward the arching doorway. “And with that, I’m out. I need to go lay down after that.”
The rest of the group started to disperse. It was already late, and frankly, Jen’s idea didn’t sound all that bad. I wouldn’t mind spending some time with Colton in bed, especially now that we didn’t have to worry about kissing limits or pillow borders.