Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 69847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
He nodded, looking slightly bummed.
He wanted to see them up close.
I would get him to them one day, even if I had to take them to him myself.
Everyone loved the idea of tigers, but actually getting out and interacting with them was a no-go.
“My mother was under the impression when she first met my father that she was in love with him deeply, and him her.” I rubbed my temple. “But the problem is, my dad was a roamer. He didn’t love anyone or anything but himself and his kids. Not a single woman that he knocked up was the love of his life. They couldn’t be when the circus was the love of his life.”
“Wow.” He winced. “I’ll bet your mom didn’t handle that well.”
I again watched his muscular hands and forearms as he started to pull back onto the road and head toward his friend’s place.
“My mom didn’t know about the other women—just like those women didn’t know about the previous women—until he moved on to the next one. My mom only found out that he definitely wasn’t in love with her, and in fact had already been seeing Zip’s mom, when she was a few months pregnant with Hades and me,” I said. “And needless to say, she didn’t take it well. When she tried to leave and never look back, my dad hired investigators and threw money at his problem until she came back. She tried to stay with us, tried to ignore my father, but my mom’s a very emotional person. She freakin’ hated being put on the back burner, and eventually, after a bit of time trying to stick it out, she decided that for her happiness and emotional wellbeing, she needed to leave. She was unfortunately stuck with leaving us behind, though. Again, my dad had a lot of money and power, with tons of friends in high places in his back pocket. She left, leaving us behind. And my dad guilt tripped us all into staying despite the majority of us wanting to find something beyond the circus life.”
“Oh,” he blew out a breath. “Why don’t y’all leave now?”
I gestured toward the circus behind me, even though it wasn’t in sight.
“My dad made a stipulation in his will when he died,” I finished explaining. “We all had to stick with the circus, every single one of us, for two years. If we didn’t, then the circus, capital, and every single penny went to charity. Whereas I couldn’t care less, the rest of them didn’t want to let that kind of money go to waste. I’m doing it for them.”
“Huh.” He nodded. “That sounds like a good enough reason to stick with it. How long has it been?”
“Nine months,” I answered. “Dad passed away from a heart attack. Then it took a while for Keene to get home. He had to finish his time in the Marines before he could. Our countdown clock didn’t start until he joined us.”
“That’s…unfortunate,” he murmured, his eyes going to the side to the Dairy Queen we’d just passed.
I looked where he was looking to see the truck from earlier—Titus’s—in the parking lot.
“Looks like they’re getting ice cream,” I murmured.
“You want to go?” he asked.
I thought about it for all of half a breath before saying, “Absolutely. I’m on vacation and don’t have to watch my weight starting now.”
CHAPTER 4
I’m humble. But I’ll smack a hoe.
-Ari to Slone
SLONE
“You don’t have to watch your weight?” I raised an eyebrow at her with skepticism and a little bit of indignation. I had a young, influenced easily, girl.
If Ari thought she was fat, what hope did my kid have? Briley was huge for her age. She looked like she would be taller than most women shortly, and there was no way in hell she would be known as the petite one.
She’d struggle with body image for the rest of her life already. Just to think that someone like Ari did when she was so small was quite honestly terrifying for what I had in store for me later in life as Briley grew into her body.
“I have to fit in all the cute, way too revealing costumes. Another stipulation of my father’s will.” She rolled her eyes. “No joke, he has a list of what we are and are not allowed to do, wear, say, and execute when it comes to Singh Circus. You would not believe the kind of stipulations we have.”
I didn’t like the sound of that at all.
“Which is?” I asked curiously as we pulled into the Dairy Queen and parked.
“Well,” she said as she unbuckled and reached for the door.
By the time I rounded the hood of the truck I’d rented, she was out and standing beside the front door that was closer to her than it was to me.