Trace
My advice? Don’t ignore her. Remember my truck?
This time, I didn’t chuckle, I outright laughed.
Rhodes
She’s tiny but vicious, and she’s got a harsh vengeful streak.
Fallon
He told Mom I was sneaking out to meet Cooper at the river. He deserved way worse than a truck full of magenta glitter!
Trace
I tried for months to get that shit out. Nothing worked.I finally had to sell the damn thing. And it wasn’t even me. It was Kye!
Kye
Dude, you did not just throw me under the bus.
Fallon
Blackheart, you’re going down. Prepare for glitter Armageddon.
More glitter GIFs, emojis, and even a video were sent.
Arden
It’s six in the morning. Why are there 82 million glitter explosions on my phone?
Rhodes
Fal is planning epic retribution.
Arden
Makes sense.
I flipped the chat to silent and dropped the phone onto the mattress as I slid out of bed. My siblings might be interfering as all hell, but I was so damn lucky to have them. A pang lit along my sternum as Jacob’s face flashed in my mind. Who would he have been in this chat? A shit-stirrer like Kye and me? Law and order like Trace? Or something uniquely him?
We’d never know. And I’d have to carry the weight of that for the rest of my days.
25
SUTTON
Soft strainsof old-school Garth Brooks filtered through the speakers as I gently squeezed the piping bag. It was a delicate balance I’d learned over the years. Not so hard that the frosting exploded in a mess onto the cupcakes, but with enough pressure to get the exact flow I needed for each design.
Today’s project was a combination of unicorns and rainbows for an eight-year-old girl’s birthday. I’d gone all out with the rainbows, using blue frosting for the base and decorating them with fluffy, white clouds that anchored a gummy rainbow candy. I knew the little girl’s mom would be thrilled with the end result.
I moved on to the next set of clouds, trying to focus on the music. Because if I didn’t think about the music, my mind filled with thoughts of Cope. How it had felt to wake in his arms the other morning. The firm pressure of him pressed against my ass. How I’d wanted to arch into him and?—
“Sutton?” Thea cut into my thirsty space out.
I pressed too hard on the piping bag and sent a glob of frosting flying.
Thea’s eyes went wide, and her hand covered her mouth. “I’m so sorry. I thought you heard me come in.”
