Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 115198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Nineteen
ANNA
I have always been an oversharer. Whether I slept badly, am experiencing some minor tummy upset, or have strong emotions about the ending of a long-running TV series, chances are, if you ask, I’m going to tell you how I feel. If someone doesn’t really care how I am, then why not just say hello and go about it? I prefer honesty, I prefer openness, I prefer real. I know I’m lucky to have been raised by a dad who impressed upon me the importance of sharing my emotions, but I don’t think I realized just how lucky until I was surrounded by a half dozen dysfunctional Westons.
It’s not that family breakfast the next morning is awkward, exactly, but the elephant in the room—that Ray Weston is a controlling, narcissistic asshat and his entire family has to make excuses for his behavior and accommodate his moods—is impossible to ignore. Everyone is walking on eggshells. People cut their food delicately, with intense focus, asking about the weather, remarking upon the size of the waves down on the beach, laughing loudly at his jokes that aren’t particularly funny. Charlie is getting married in a matter of days; she is about to embark on the emotional journey of her lifetime with a man who gazes at her like she’s made of stardust, and somehow Ray is the center of attention. No one is asking Charlie and Kellan anything about their nerves, their hopes, their shared dreams.
Just watching ten seconds of this family at a meal, even if Liam had told me nothing at all about them, I’d know Jake Weston was the charming underachiever who evaded his father’s attention, Alex Weston was the intense pleaser who chased his father’s attention, and Liam Weston was the golden child who naturally exuded the kind of capability and virtue that a narcissist gloms onto and takes credit for. I’m sure West rarely rocked the boat, and I’d bet all the money he’s paying me that his decision to pursue a doctorate and the almost five-year estrangement that followed was his first real bird flip to his shitty dad. Which, good for him.
And yet, here we are.
Next to me, West stares out at the water, chewing a bite of egg-white omelet so thoroughly I think it ceases to exist as matter. When he senses my attention, he blinks over to me, gaze unfocused, and returns my smile with a distracted, flickering one of his own. But even if he’s mentally aloof, physically, he’s close: his shoulder is pressed against mine; he eats with his left hand and has his right hand planted firmly on my upper thigh. It’s supposedly all for show, but news flash, Dr. Weston: nobody can see your hand under the table.
It didn’t surprise me that he put himself back together almost immediately after our hug yesterday. He’s clearly been taught that feelings are bullshit and the only action that’s acceptable is one that benefits his father. “I’m gonna grab more coffee and then we can go,” he says. “Want anything?”
“I’m good.”
West stands from the bench and his spot is immediately filled by Blaire.
She nods to West’s retreating form. “Somebody seems a little tense this morning.” My eyes immediately drop to her boobs, and my goodness that’s a lot of cleavage for brunch. “Bad sex earlier?”
I choke down a sip of my ice water. “Um… no.”
“Yeah. I’d guess not.” She takes a long drink from her mug. Something tells me there’s more than just coffee in there.
“Blaire, can I ask you a question? Weston wife to Weston wife.”
She slides closer, a devious glint in her eye. “Kinky.”
“No,” I say with a laugh. “About the family.”
She picks up a fork and takes a bite of West’s abandoned omelet. “That’s less exciting, but let’s hear it.”
“Is it always like this between Ray and the guys?”
“You mean like a lion ready to devour its young at any moment?”
“Yeah,” I say.
“Unfortunately.” She sets down West’s fork. “But you learn how to navigate it, you know?” She takes another long drink, draining whatever’s in her cup. “The first time I visited House Lannister,” she says with a smirk, “Alex was a nervous wreck. I’m sure you’ve seen how he gets with his dad, and I know I can be a handful. I’d already met Janet and Ray, of course—I’d worked for the company for three years by that point—but I was officially being introduced as The Girlfriend.” She lowers her voice. “I was also fifteen weeks pregnant at the time, so you can imagine that didn’t help. Janet was so catty, my lord. Just scathing. I’ve always lightened my hair and she asked if I’d considered dyeing it brown, because the blond wasn’t doing my intelligence any favors. I was also pregnant, like I mentioned, and already starting to show, though nobody knew it was anything but a few extra pounds. That first night at dinner, Janet called me voluptuous and talked about how lucky I was because she’d never been able to put on weight.”