Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 85484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Moss laughs louder.
“I’m gonna kill him,” I say, storming out the front door. “The boy has bit off more than he can chew this time.”
The evening heat blasts me in the face as I peer through the golden hour. Standing in the middle of my yard with its face toward Moss’s house is an oversized, multicolored metal rooster. It’s probably ten feet tall.
I glance at Banks’s house as I make my way down the walkway. “Where did he even get this thing?”
“I have no idea. I just got home, and he was driving away with a shit-eating grin, towing a trailer.”
Shaking my head, I knock against the thing with my knuckle. The metal pings. I rap against it again.
“What are you doing?” Moss asks.
“Making sure this isn’t some type of trojan horse. For all I know, it could be filled with something that’s set to explode in the middle of the night.”
Moss looks around. “I’d be quiet in case he’s listening. He probably didn’t think that far ahead. You don’t want to give him any ideas.”
No shit.
“How am I going to get this out of here?” I ask, taking a step back.
Moss stands beside me. “No clue.”
“Was Maddox in on this?”
“Surprisingly, I don’t think so. I don’t think he’s been home from work yet. I mean, did he know? That’s another question.”
The streetlights flicker on. The light reflects off the colorful metal, nearly blinding me. I shield my eyes and step to the side.
Banks’s truck roars as he comes up the road. You can almost feel his glee in the rumble of the engine. He pulls into his driveway and gets out of the vehicle. He does not come toward us.
“What the fuck is this?” I shout.
“Don’t you love it?”
“I’m going to love beating your ass over it.”
Even from this distance, I can tell that Banks is grinning. “I had a really nice wolf picked out, but you shot down the wolf pack.”
“Wolf pack?” Moss asks.
“Don’t,” I warn Moss.
He snorts.
“Since you were a no to the wolves, the only thing I could think of was getting you a giant dick—you know, something I know you could relate to. But Mom refused to let me put a giant dick in your yard because your house is too close to hers. So I did a little work-around and found a huge cock instead.”
I rub a hand down my face. I hate him. I really do.
“Don’t worry,” Banks says. “I didn’t tear up your lawn, old man.”
I drop my hand. “If this thing isn’t off my lawn by morning, I’m going to throw it through your fucking window.”
Banks walks into the road. “You’re just mad that you got shot down yesterday. Don’t take it out on me.”
Here we go.
A wash of warmth floods my veins at the memory of Pippa. What an interesting, gorgeous woman.
“Banks, shut the hell up.”
“You know,” he says. “You might be able to land her if you had a better attitude.”
Moss holds out his hands. “Can someone tell me what’s going on?”
“And you could walk without a limp if you would’ve had more common sense,” I tell Banks.
“I can walk just fine.”
“You won’t be saying that tomorrow if you don’t get this thing gone.”
He stops in the middle of the road, halfway between Moss’s house and mine. “Or what?”
Is he serious right now? “You wanna challenge me, Sparkles?”
He narrows his eyes.
Banks is the best fighter out of all of us. He’s scared of no one … except me. I’m not absolutely sure I could take him if we were really fighting, but I’ll never tell him that.
Maddox races up the road and pulls into his driveway. He’s out of the Jeep before the engine shuts off.
“What the hell is that?” he shouts, laughing.
“Banks’s ticket to hell,” I say.
Maddox points at me. “I want you to know I had nothing to do with this. Not a damn thing.”
Banks gasps. “Why are you throwing me under the bus like that?”
“Because I have a reason to live now.”
“It’s like you got married, and now I’m nothing to you,” Banks says. “I thought we were closer than that. What happened to bros before …”
Maddox fires him a warning look.
“… before throws,” Banks says, improvising.
“Good life choice,” Maddox says.
I cross my arms over my chest. “No. You don’t get to set boundaries with him now, Mad. I’ve already called dibs on that. He’s yours. Forever.”
Maddox rolls his eyes. Before he can say anything else, another car comes up the road. Mom and Dad stop next to the curb.
“Interesting lawn decor, Jess,” Mom says, giggling.
“Like it? Banks can bring it to your house.”
Dad slings his arm out the window and grins cheekily. “Your mom has all the cock she needs at home.”
Moss and I chuckle as Banks loses his mind like he does every time Dad makes a joke about having sex with Mom.