Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Not for nothing, that Texas trip did end up helping me. I got my memory back. And ate my weight in beignets. Threw them up, too, but that was beside the point.
They’d tried to help. They were good people. Great people. And it wasn’t their fault Doctor Cohen – and Oliver – had laid down the law.
“Yeah. Okay.” I nodded, pointing to the tray Farrow held. “As long as you can confirm these are Haribo twin snakes in there.”
Dallas’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. “You think I’d do you dirty with some nasty-ass Smart Sweets that cling to teeth like a grade-A stalker?” She blanched. “Ma’am, I want your forgiveness, not a restraining order.”
“Wow,” Tiff whispered from behind me. “Are all rich people like this?”
I glanced between Fae and Dallas. “What made you choose today to come see me?”
“Honestly? The smell of barbecue.” Dallas strutted to my friends and stuck a hand out, introducing herself to them one-by-one in the outdoor kitchen. “We were going to wait until the evening before we groveled, but we can never pass up a good triple-triple.”
“You can’t pass up a triple-triple,” Fae corrected, nose scrunched. “My arteries, on the other hand, do not pass the vibe check.”
Dal had already stacked three cheesy patties onto a bun. “So, did we miss anything?”
Hazel hopped out of the pool and wrapped herself with a towel. “Only the sight of Briar and Oliver wildly dry humping in the kitchen.”
“Oh?” Farrow snorted. “You thaw quickly.”
“Thaw?” I buried my face into my hands. “I folded like a beach towel at a five-star resort.”
Dal pouted. “You should really give him a chance.”
“No way.” Farrow waved her index finger. “Not before he proves himself.”
“Only because your husband made an actual fool of himself to grovel for you. Some of us never got such luxuries.”
“What are you talking about? Yours took an actual bullet for you. The dude almost died.”
Oh-kay, then.
“Easy there.” I forced myself to laugh. “Whatever’s happening between me and Oliver, it is strictly casual.”
Or at least, that’s what I told myself.
Was I staying for Sebastian?
Or Oliver.
Chapter Sixty-Three
Oliver
Ollie vB: Does anyone know someone high up at the New York Times?
Zach Sun: If this is about the anal beads jewelry store you wanted to open, I doubt they’d review it.
Ollie vB: Someone’s jealous.
Romeo Costa: You spelled disgusted wrong.
Ollie vB: No, it’s not about my anal beads startup. It’s something else.
Zach Sun: Is it hush money or intimidation, so they don’t run an article about you? Because that won’t work.
Ollie vB: Why must you always think the worst about me?
Romeo Costa: Uh, because we’ve known you more than five minutes?
Zach Sun: Farrow says you and Briar made out in the kitchen.
Ollie vB: I don’t kiss and tell.
Romeo Costa: According to Dallas, you did a lot of telling without doing any of the kissing. Is it true that you are not a lothario?
Ollie vB: JESUS CHRIST.
Ollie vB: Do women share EVERYTHING?
Zach Sun: Save for menstrual pads, I think so.
Romeo Costa: I wouldn’t put it past my wife to be that kind of an oversharer, too.
Zach Sun: So, what’s the purpose of hooking up with your squatter?
Ollie vB: She is not a squatter. She is my fake fiancée.
Romeo Costa: Nah. You don’t get to use that trope when the girl in question doesn’t consent to being your fake fiancée.
Ollie vB: If I were you, I would not weigh in on the topic of consent.
Romeo Costa: That was entirely different.
Ollie vB: HOW?
Ollie vB: You dragged Dallas kicking and screaming and all but locked her away. Your whole relationship is one big Stockholm syndrome, my guy.
Romeo Costa: We’re a different genre.
Ollie vB: DIFFERENT GENRE?
Romeo Costa: Yes. I’m not a fuckboy, like you. I’m an emotionally damaged, dark alpha hero, who just needed a little guidance to fall in love.
Zach Sun: Someone dipped into his wife’s smut collection after hearing her rave about Briar’s smut-reading ex. Exactly how jealous were you?
Romeo Costa: Enough to crack open a spine … of a custom-bound Wattpad novel. Do you know what the kids are reading these days?
Romeo Costa: Never mind. Back to the fuckboy.
Ollie vB: First of all, I’m a fuckMAN, thank you very much.
Ollie vB: Second of all, the only guidance you need is a map to the nearest prison. You kidnapped that girl.
Romeo Costa: Well, she seems content enough to stay, and we’re even working on a second kid, so …
Ollie vB: Gross.
Zach Sun: @OllievB, what are you planning with the New York Times?
Ollie vB: Oh, you’ll just have to wait and see.
Chapter Sixty-Four
Briar
Hell hath no fury like a woman caught riding her archenemy’s finger like a cowgirl strapped to the world’s largest bull.
I decided to process the encounter the healthiest way I could – by spending the next few days avoiding Oliver as much as possible. With a mansion so huge and a packed tourist schedule, I breezed by with only a few glances here and there.