Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 61953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
“Next time,” Whitt said tactfully. “We should get going.”
“Okay. Love you three. Have fun and send me pictures when you can!”
We all agreed that we would.
I hung up the phone and put it back in my purse. “Shall we?”
The boys nodded, and then we headed out to my little Kia. Mom had wanted to get me something fancier for the fucking horrid twenty-seven-hour drive from Seattle to Lubbock. But I knew that fancier meant money from Owen, which meant strings attached, which meant hell. So, I’d been happy with what we could afford. She’d served me well enough so far.
Not that Whitt agreed. “I should just drive the Lexus,” he said, looking mournfully toward the garage where his shiny silver car rested.
“Sure,” I said automatically. A wicked smile coming to my face. “And since I’m the DD, I can drive you all home in it later.”
Whitt blanched. “Fine. No. You’re not driving my car.”
Whitt didn’t let anyone drive his big-boy car. So, it was my Kia after all.
West piled into the backseat, and Whitt took the passenger as I sank into the driver’s side and connected my phone. David Bowie blared through the speakers.
Whitt jerked to life and reached for the stereo. “Christ, do you even have eardrums at that volume?”
I blinked at him lazily. “Earsplitting is the only volume to listen to David Bowie.”
“She’s right,” West agreed, putting his fist through the middle of the seats. I bumped him, and we both laughed at the look on Whitt’s face.
Jordan and Annie’s wedding was on the south side of town at the vineyard that Jordan and Julian had opened with their friend Hollin Abbey. The place had come a long way since its conception with award-winning wine and a booming event business. Jordan had told me once while I was touring the place that it had started as a line dancing dance hall and it was where he and Annie had first gotten together.
It was hard to picture that as I drove up to the immaculate venue. The barn that he’d told me had been half falling down was strong and sturdy with fresh wood stain and a new roof. The vineyards were in their first couple of weeks of bud-breaking, blooming green everywhere in the spring weather. The lawn between the barn and the cellar was a rich green and covered in white chairs and florals. The happy couple couldn’t have asked for better weather. Lubbock was notoriously unpredictable in the spring, alternating between eighties and fifties, breezy days and dust storms, sunshine and flooding.
The parking lot was already packed with what looked like half of the town to celebrate the occasion. I parked at the back of the lot next to a fancy Porsche sports car.
West whistled at the shiny red exterior when he stepped out. “Nice ride,” he said.
Whitt sucked his teeth. “My Lexus is just as nice.”
“Be for fucking real,” I muttered as I admired the car.
“This is a Porsche 718 Cayman,” West said, his voice dripping with lust. He’d always wanted something like this. “This thing goes zero to sixty in less than five seconds. It tops out at a hundred seventy-something miles per hour.”
“Come along before you have an orgasm over the thing.” I pushed him in the back, and he shot me a look.
I grinned at him, and the three of us headed toward the vineyard.
“My car is just as nice,” Whitt muttered again.
I patted his shoulder. “Keep telling yourself that.”
“I wonder who it belongs to,” West said. “Need to see if the guy will let me drive it.”
“Excuse me. It could be a woman.”
West laughed. “Sure, but it’s probably not.”
I looked to Whitt for help, but he just shrugged and agreed with West.
“Y’all are the worst. One day, I’m going to stop all this gendered shit from you two.”
West threw his arm around my shoulders. “And one day, we’re going to stop you from using the word y’all as if you’re from the South.”
I pushed him away with an eye roll. I’d adopted y’all as soon as I moved to Lubbock. It was superior to other options. My brothers were just ribbing me.
We stepped into line with the rest of the crowd. I’d only been in Lubbock for a few months and didn’t know all of the Lubbockites. I’d met my Wright cousins—Jensen, Austin, Landon, Morgan, and Sutton—as well as their respective partners. The other guys at the vineyard were familiar, as well as the girls who were on the soccer team I’d subbed in exactly one game for. I’d played casually in high school, but my joy from the game had been more…social than fitness-related. Everyone else at the wedding was a relative stranger.
Including West’s roommate, Nora, who he was super into. Even if he hadn’t exactly admitted it.
Finally, we reached the front of the line. West and Whitt were engaging with the ushers while my eyes roamed the outdoor space. Now that I had a full view, I could tell they’d sunk money into this wedding. Good for them.