Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 35763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 179(@200wpm)___ 143(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 179(@200wpm)___ 143(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
“Go shower.” I push at Rich. “Dinner will be in forty.”
“Fine.” He pretends to be annoyed, but I don't miss the death glare he shoots toward West. At school, people run from that stare. I've even witnessed Karl retreat from it, but West remains unfazed.
They share a nearly identical physique. They both stand six and a half feet tall and have broad shoulders. Rich might be a bit leaner, but I know what he’s up to. Willa might not know about his extracurricular activities, but I do. The mark on his face is evidence of it.
“Would you like a glass of tea?” Willa asks West.
“That would be nice.” His expression softens as he gazes at her, and I swear there's a hint of sadness in his eyes. I can’t help but wonder why, but with West, that’s all I have: questions with no answers. I almost want to get stuck in a room with him again. For more reasons than I’m willing to admit.
His gaze flicks over to me, that softness fading away. No, there is an expression I always get that I can’t decipher. I think it’s annoyance or irritation of some sort. It shouldn’t hurt my feelings, but it does.
“Will you be joining us this evening for dinner?” Willa asks, handing him the tea.
I watch him out of the corner of my eye. His gaze is still on me. “No.”
“Okay, well, you’re always welcome.”
“Thank you, Willa.” With that, he retreats, carrying his tea, back to his wing.
“He doesn’t seem too bad.”
“No, he doesn’t.” Bad isn’t the word I would use.
“Maybe in time everyone can get along.”
“That would be nice.”
“Ah.” Willa rests her hip up against the counter next to me. “You notice he gets weird when you and Rich are together?”
“No.” Does he? “Why would he do that?”
“I mean, I’m not sure. I just kind of thought it.” It's not abnormal for my mind to begin reflecting on all of the encounters between West and me. I do it often. In fact, I can’t stop doing it, and it’s driving me a little nutty.
“Everyone is just getting used to each other.” I try to reassure Willa and let her know that whatever she might be noticing doesn’t bother me. It does, however, make me wonder.
Chapter Seven
WEST
Iscroll through the information I was sent over about Eden and Teddy. Eden had her daughter at a very young age. Despite the absence of a father on the birth certificate, I was still able to locate one. After reading over who her sperm donor is, it’s best he’s not in their lives.
He’s been in and out of jail a few times for petty theft and possession of controlled substances. He never keeps a job long and is always moving around. No, Teddy doesn’t need someone like that in her life.
They’ve already had it hard enough. Eden’s parents kicked her out when they found out she was pregnant, and she went to live with her older sister, who was married and had just had a kid herself.
It didn’t take long for Eden to get on her feet, but she’d stayed close to her sister. I have a lot of respect for her. Getting pregnant at fifteen and still keeping your shit together shows strength. I think Teddy and her mother grew up together a bit. You can see that even now with how Teddy is around here. The way she assumes a motherly role, showing concern for the well-being of everyone around her. Proactive too.
“Reading up on the Pelligrinos again?” Jack asks, coming into one of the rooms I turned into an office. We’d taken over one of the wings. It was the one I stayed in when I lived here as a kid. I close my laptop. I don’t respond to his question. “They’re good people, West.” He sets down a tray with coffee on it.
“You can never be too thorough.”
“But you can be too obsessive,” he counters, placing the cup next to me.
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“You don’t pay me well for no reason. I pay attention.” He smirks, and I know he’s about to piss me off with a dig. “Not as much as you pay attention to Teddy, though.”
“Fuck off.” I take a sip of my coffee, desperately in need of some caffeine. I’m sleeping like shit here. “Is it that obvious?”
“Maybe not to anyone else.” Jack takes a seat at the desk we brought in for him. "Willa is opening up more, but Rich is still a bit prickly."
“Prick is the word.”
“He reminds me of you.” I shake my head and open my laptop again, but it’s pointless. My lack of sleep and my obsession, as Jack refers to it, are preventing me from accomplishing anything. “If you like that girl, why are you an ass to her?”