Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 176012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 880(@200wpm)___ 704(@250wpm)___ 587(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 880(@200wpm)___ 704(@250wpm)___ 587(@300wpm)
But no, they would’ve freaked first if they knew I bought a house. Jared wouldn’t have been able to resist melting down.
I slide my phone out of the backpack and start to call Lucas. Or text him. How dare he take it upon himself to make a decision like this about my home, and let’s not pretend for a minute it’s because he’s actually worried about my safety! It’s for him and my brothers—and my father, for that matter—to know whether or not I’m staying out too late, having men over, or not coming home at all some nights. I could scream at him. What does he think he’s going to see, and what would he do about it? Piss me off some more?
I squeeze the phone in my hand, pacing back and forth, about to rail at him.
But he expects that. Even if I didn’t see the cameras, he would assume someone saw him installing them, and instead of warning me when I saw him earlier, he decided to let me come home while he tried to get away with it.
I don’t want another fight.
I want revenge.
Crossing the living room, I grab the Cubs cap off the couch and lift the window, wincing at the squeaks the rusted, old metal makes. Sticking my head out, I hear Farrow’s music playing from car speakers as everyone sets up for the party, and look up at the camera focused on my porch.
When he checks his app, he’ll see footage of Farrow talking to me just a minute ago. Reaching up and staying out of view, I throw the hat over the front of the camera before tilting it on its ball joint to face inside my house.
Right on the living room. It’s no doubt motion-activated, but he might assume it’s from the wind or a glitch.
Pulling the hat back off, I close the window and have a seat on the couch. Taking out my phone, I call Dylan. I don’t have the patience to have this discussion over text.
“Hey,” she answers.
“Can you guys get away for a while tonight?” I ask her.
They stay pretty booked at the summer camp, but since she and Aro’s boyfriends also work there, they don’t want to be anywhere other than with them.
“Can who get away?”
“All of you,” I reply.
Hunter, Kade, Hawke…everyone.
She pauses, crunching something in my ear as she eats. “I can work it out, sure.”
I spot my notebook on the coffee table, my pen still laying discarded from when I read through it the other night and had another idea to add to the list. I flush with heat, remembering Lucas was down here alone last night. Did he see it?
My lungs empty. That’s why he left without a word last night. And probably why he decided I needed more supervision.
I slam the book shut.
“Come to that house you stayed in during Rivalry Week.” I clear my throat. “8 p.m.”
“Will there be alcohol?”
I roll my eyes the tiniest bit. I should’ve known it would be expected. No party without it.
“Yesss.”
“Quinn!” she exclaims, shocked. “Yay!”
“Shut up.”
And I hang up, shaking my head at how everyone underestimates me.
But I’d love to see the look on Lucas’s face when the notifications start rolling in.
A few hours later, Hawke is growling at me. “You bought this place?”
“Music’s too loud!” I shout over Mace’s playlist blasting on my Bluetooth speaker. “I can’t hear you!”
He scowls as I lean my ass against the column between the foyer and the living room, clutching a plastic cup full of something Dylan made.
Hawke is exactly like Jax. They don’t like surprises. Luckily, I know they’ve been keeping that hideout for years, so if they want their secret safe with me, then mine better be safe with them. At least for a few days.
Dylan steps in, dragging Hunter from where they were dancing. She nudges Hawke away from me. “Take Aro up to the attic and explore.”
Kade hands him a shot, and Hawke gulps it down, those azure blue eyes unrelenting on me. They’re not suspicious really; although, I am sure he’s wondering if I have anything else up my sleeve, but they’re more aggravated than anything. As if he failed in his duty to be the all-seeing eye.
Aro takes his hand and leads him up the stairs. The lights lower, but the crowd is too thick to tell who hit the switch. Farrow leans into a girl by the window, while his boys are probably still in the kitchen, judging from the noise of their laughter.
Codi, Mace, and a few others spread out on the couches and chairs. Codi leans back against the arm, hugging one knee, and she smiles, but it’s guarded. As always. I thought she might be different on her turf, but it seems she’s quiet everywhere.
Kade pops a cheeseball into the air and catches it with his mouth as some pissed-off kid argues with him about football or something, and Hunter hugs Dylan from behind, the three of us watching more people pile in through the front door.