Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 133655 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133655 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Shit. This isn’t good. This isn’t just tension. This is war. And a war between our families is the last fucking thing I need. I give Julia one last squeeze and then step around her to intervene, hoping I can salvage something from this shit before it goes too far.
“Mr. Brooks, sir. I’ll handle the crocodile. I won’t let it stay here, I promise.”
My dad’s chest puffs up to say something, and I cut him off. “Dad, not now.”
“Not now,” Kline repeats then. “Not ever. I know you have some sort of fantasy about our kids ending up together, but I’m telling you right now, I’ll put myself in the grave before I let us become actual fucking family.”
“Kline,” Georgia whispers, grabbing his forearm and glancing to me and Julia with worried eyes. My heart jumps to my fucking throat, but I do my best to keep my composure.
“I’m serious! I won’t be fucking related to this man, and if any of my daughters want to be, they will have to do it over my dead body!”
Kline’s words hit me square in the chest, leaving debris of forbidden love and despair and downright desperation behind. The Brookses and the Kellys have been friends for the entirety of my life, and now what? We’re switching fucking storylines and becoming the Capulets and Montagues?
Romeo is a cool fucking name and Julia is eerily close to Juliet, but I don’t want us to have to die at the end of this semester because our parents have forbidden us from being together.
I want to be with her. For a long and happy life. Once I convince her to love me back, that is. Though, it’s becoming difficult to get Julia to love me back when our parents are in an outright war.
“Like I’d ever date a Kelly,” Evie mutters, her verbal choices today feeling very confrontational if you ask me.
“Like a Kelly would ever want to date you,” Gunnar chimes in.
“Gunnar, you and I both know I’d be the best you ever had,” Evie says, blowing a kiss in Gunnar’s direction, and her mom Georgia screeches in shock.
“Evie!”
My mother, on the other hand, provides a fucking slow clap of admiration. “Damn, girl. Aunt Cass loves the confidence.”
Kline watches the whole exchange go down before storming out the back door on a huff. The door slams behind him and leaves the rest of us standing there speechless. Or what should be speechless. My father, unfortunately, is missing the gene.
“After all I’ve done for that fluffing asshole,” Thatch mutters. “This is the thanks I get? Come on, Cass, we’re leaving.”
Cassie and Georgia make apologetic eyes at each other, and Gunnar shoves away from the wall to follow my dad, flipping Evie the bird. To which she just blows him another kiss. And I linger there, unsure what to do or where to go from here that won’t make things even worse than they already are.
“Lia,” I turn to whisper, hoping she’ll have some kind of answer.
“It’s okay,” she whispers back. “I’ll cool him down. Just…make sure you get rid of that fucking crocodile and pronto.”
I jerk my chin at Finn, and he moves around Scottie to come help me lift the offending Rubbermaid off the counter and carry it outside.
But Nathan is already pulling away from the curb when we get outside, and my dad is hanging out the back window, shooting me the finger.
I sigh as Finn and I set Crocky on the ground, and I pull my phone out of my pocket to call Gary.
“So…fun party,” Finn says as Crocky hisses and thrashes his tail around in the container so hard that both Finn and I have to place our hands on the top to keep it from falling on its side.
Oh yeah. A fucking thrill and a half.
Especially considering my goal to win Julia over just got ten times harder. I’m not in the fold—I’m officially removed entirely.
Friday, July 4th
Ace
The Fourth of July at Aunt Paula and Uncle Brad’s—aka the Winslow family’s—lake house isn’t so much a holiday as it is a generational event. A full-cast production of chaos and food, laughter and fireworks explosions, and overrun with more relatives and friends than should be able to fit in the cabin.
Everyone’s here.
Julia’s family—Kline, Georgia, and her sister Evie—claimed the guest rooms with lake views. My parents and my lunatic brother Gunnar, who set up a floating beer pong table in the shallow end of the lake the instant he got here.
Finn’s whole family—his mom Helen and his siblings Reece, Jack, Travis, and Willow—rolled in with enough snacks to feed a teenage militia.
Of course, the Winslow clan descended in full force. Wes and Winnie are here with their kids, Lexi and Wes Jr., plus the Winslow brothers—Remy, Ty, Jude, Flynn—and their spouses and kids.
And Scottie and my good buddy Blake Boden are here too.