Total pages in book: 238
Estimated words: 231781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1159(@200wpm)___ 927(@250wpm)___ 773(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 231781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1159(@200wpm)___ 927(@250wpm)___ 773(@300wpm)
But then Damon shouted at me. “Wait, wait, stop.”
I slammed on my brakes, seeing Griffin Ashby, the town’s mayor, dart in front of my truck.
Shit. That was close.
He looked over at us, dressed in his gray suit and yellow shirt and tie, narrowing his eyes on Damon as he crossed the street. Damon stared back, but when Ashby’s gaze twisted into a scowl, Damon stuck up his middle finger, taunting him.
Ashby looked away, stepping up onto the sidewalk and disappearing into the White Crow Tavern.
I hit the gas, taking off down the street. “What is it with you and him?”
Damon sighed, taking a cigarette out of his pack and sticking it between his lips. “I ruined his daughter.”
“Arion?” Michael asked. “Thought you said she had the brain power of a Pringle.”
“Not that one,” Damon mumbled, lighting his cigarette.
Ashby’s other daughter had to be only fourteen or so. I’d never seen her and Damon together.
But his gaze was turned out the open window now as he smoked, and if I knew anything about Damon, it was that if he was vague, it was on purpose.
Heading up into the hills, I drove down the darkened highway, the sun having set an hour ago and the sky nearly black now.
Kai flipped a page in his booklet. “What is that?” I asked.
“Course catalog.” He flipped another page, harder this time. “A fucking course catalog.”
“Come to Westgate with me,” Michael said.
“Or UPenn with me,” Damon added.
I smiled. “Or Fiji with me.”
“You’re coming to UPenn with me,” Damon told me.
Fat chance.
I flicked the ashes out the window and took another drag. College was months away, but decisions needed to be made soon. If I weren’t a Grayson, I’d never be able to get into Princeton, but the fix was in, and I was off to Jersey next summer whether I liked it or not.
I couldn’t think of anywhere I wanted to be less, but I also couldn’t think of anywhere better to be. That was my problem. As my dad said, “Until you can make a decision, we’ll make it for you.”
Apparently, a beach bum in the Polynesian islands wasn’t a lofty enough goal.
Kai tossed the catalog down on the seat next to him. “My father wants me on my own. He thinks we all need space.”
“From all of us, or just Will and me?” Damon asked, humor lacing his tone.
Yeah, Katsu Mori didn’t think much of us. Damon was trouble, and I was… nothing. At least Michael was ambitious. He was a leader, and Kai’s father respected that as a viable influence for his son.
But Kai just joked back. “Don’t be like that,” he cooed to Damon. “He was really flattered you approved of his taste in women when you adjusted yourself right in front of him at the sight of my mother.”
“In a bathing suit, Kai!” Damon pointed out, looking at Kai over his shoulder. “I mean, what the fuck? Jesus.”
I shook with a laugh, remembering that day last summer we were all at Kai’s house.
“And you all think I don’t have any shame,” Damon said. “If she weren’t your mom…”
“My father would still rip your dick up through your stomach and out your mouth?” Kai retorted.
Damon quieted, settling back into his seat and sticking his cigarette into his mouth. “Daddy’s boy.”
Kai shook his head, but I saw the smile fade as he looked out the window.
“Maybe we’ll stay in the area and go to Trinity instead,” Michael said, “so we can all be close to Kai’s mom.”
I snorted, all of us laughing as Kai rolled his eyes.
I took a puff off the cigarette, realization starting to dawn. It was months away, but it was coming. Different schools. Different states.
New people.
And that’s what scared me the most. People change us. Others become important, while others become less, and soon, we’d be gone.
She’d be gone.
I turned my eyes out my window, the inevitable sitting on my shoulders like a house.
“Okay, Devil’s Night…” Michael cleared his throat. “Probably the catacombs, but keep the cemetery in mind,” he told us. “I’m thinking about changing it up this year. There are some tombs, and that Bell Tower through the woods. What are you guys thinking for your pranks?”
I couldn’t think of anything yet. Nothing good anyway.
“I’m kind of thinking about getting out of town,” Kai answered. “Meridian City. The Whitehall district, maybe. Or the opera house? Maybe book a floor at a hotel?”
“The whole point is to be here with our people,” Damon told him. “On our turf.”
Kai was silent, and I saw him open up his course catalog again, mumbling, “Just an idea.”
I watched the both of them, kind of enjoying how they hardly ever got along. Kai was ready for tomorrow. Damon never wanted to leave today.
I had no idea where the hell I was half the time, let alone where I wanted to be.