Page 15 of Crave Me

“You still came out second, son. And you’re my wild child. You know it. I know it. Hell, the whole town knows it.”

“You have met Carter, right? Your actual middle child?”

She rolls her eyes at me. Carter is the baby, even though he’s second to last, and Kinsey is the youngest. She’ll make excuses for him until her last breath. He can do no wrong.

“At least he’s quiet and doesn’t give me a hard time about anything. You, my love, have always been hardheaded, stubborn, and destructive.”

I keep my eyes focused on Blaire while my mother lists all of my negative qualities. She’s composed herself and is noddingalong with everything my mom says. Fuck. They’re going to bond over how difficult I am.

“But you’re also the most loyal, passionate, and protective of my five.”

I turn to give my mom a halfhearted smile before returning my attention back to the stunner sitting across from me, her red hair falling into her pretty face. I have the strongest urge to reach out and tuck it behind her ear.

“Well, I haven’t seen any of the latter qualities but boy do those first ones sound familiar,” Blaire says.

The two women laugh lightly at my expense and something inside me softens. Ivy arrives, so I give up my chair to her, moving to the back of the room and taking up residence on the chaise lounge. I pull out my phone for a distraction, allowing them the privacy to talk wedding shit.

Me:

Grandpa caught me drinking his whiskey again

Liam:

Location?

Sawyer:

Ignore this idiot. You can’t abuse the code phrase dickhead.

Me:

I’m not abusing it. I need out asap

Liam:

What’s going on?

Sawyer:

I made him shadow Blaire all day and he’s being a whiny little bitch

Liam:

Dude c’mon

Carter:

You did what?

Sawyer:

Yep. Got sick of him bitching about her job being pointless so now he can spend his day learning otherwise

Liam:

Reigning with an iron fist

Me:

---