Series: Webs We Weave Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 126927 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126927 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
“You’re the kind of guy our mom would set Phoebe up with,” Oliver mentions. “If she met you, I’m sure she’d already have wedding invitations made.”
Oh God. I almost go for a donut so I can throw it at him.
Nova cringes at the idea of me dating.
“Thank God she’s not here, right?” I say to Jake. “I mean, in another life maybe I’d fake date you to get her off my back. But . . . that’s another life.” Why am I still talking?
“And thank God that’s another life,” Jake says bluntly.
Oh, ouch.
Does the idea of fake dating me really turn him off?
I’m roasting alive. Turning on my heels, I hide my face from him and then look up.
Oliver slips me a sweet smile into a sip of beer, like we’re in on a joke and Jake is the outsider. It relaxes me, and I already realize how much I really love having my brothers here.
“Well, I hope your stay in Victoria goes smoothly,” Jake tells my brothers. “If you need any advice about spots in town, Phoebe has my number.”
He spins around for the door.
“Wait,” I say, confused. “You haven’t checked the rooms for Rocky yet. You don’t want to look?”
His eyes flit to Nova and Oliver for a second then back to me. “I trust you.”
No, he doesn’t. I just think he’s not in the mood to go through my brothers.
“Thanks,” I say, accepting that fake little trust like a precious trinket.
He nods once and leaves.
Nova and Oliver are quiet for a standard five minutes. The three of us unspeaking as we settle more around the kitchen. Nova starts the microwave, and Oliver switches on the fan, creating more ambient noise.
I take one of the chocolate donuts with pink sprinkles.
It’s interesting how the three of us can be apart and come together again like no time has passed. It’s that way with the Tinrocks, too, but for me and my brothers there’s something deeper here.
We shared a womb together, after all. But it’s even more than that. We have that scarlet A from our dad’s missteps that sent him to prison. His absence left our mom with three kids to raise, and it was never easy. When I was six, we lived in a glittering penthouse in Chicago, and she’d been cooking nonstop since her new husband called and told her he was returning home early from his work trip in New York.
She was always a loving, dutiful wife to each and every husband she married.
And we were never her triplets. Usually, one of us was from a different marriage. Sometimes we were half-siblings. Other times, Nova was the eldest, and Oliver and I were twins.
Our relationships always varied but our truth remained close to our hearts.
Each of her husbands was different. Some worse than others.
Sheamus couldn’t stand Nova, and when he laid a hand on him, our mom packed our bags and left in the middle of the night. She gripped the steering wheel of her white Corvette. “I promise that won’t ever happen again.” Steely-eyed and remorseful, she braved a glance to Nova. He didn’t cry. He was glaring out the window, pain in his eyes.
“You hear me, spider?” She touched his shoulder. “It won’t happen again.”
But it did.
It happened in different ways to each of us because the men she married were never good men. The saving grace was knowing every house we lived in, every city we moved to, and every despicable man she married was always temporary. The moment our mom would find out what happened, she’d empty out their bank account and pack our bags once more.
We’d leave.
But she never made that promise again. Not after the first time. I think, maybe, she knew it hadn’t been a lie, but if she said it again, it would be.
Through it all, Nova, Oliver, and I grew closer. We were shelter, familiarity, and permanence.
Now they’re here in Victoria when they should be in Seattle, and their presence should bring the usual comfort, but my stomach is unsettled. They were helping keep my cover. Now what does Mom think?
I’ve never bailed on a job before. Not like this.
Before I can ask, Oliver tilts his head to me. “Ex-husband has you down?”
God.
“With Rocky, it’s an eternal hell—he never has me up,” I mutter, avoiding Nova’s intense gaze. They might know about my young crush and how Rocky never made a move on me, but I didn’t open up about the agreement Rocky and I made two years ago after that job. The Job That Shall Never Be Named. It felt too . . . raw.
Most of the time, it’s easier to be openly disgruntled than lovelorn.
Nova grips his beer in a fist. “Your landlord thinks something bad happened between you two.”
“Just small-town gossip. It’s been the same old, same old with me and him, and I’d much rather hear about you two.”