Page 7 of Wild Dreams

"You can't spreadsheet your way out of this one," Xan said to Oliver. "That story was messed up."

Oliver lowered his glasses. "Joey wanted to know what it was about. I had to tell him a very watered-down version of the facts."

I had a feeling Joey clung to Oliver because his mother wasn't around much. Tina was usually traveling around, playing gigs in various bars. It was no life for a kid. At least she'd admitted that Oliver would be the more stable parent. It was smart of her to realize that, but it came at a cost for Joey.

Eli turned around. "It was boring in the beginning. I didn't think I'd get through it. I was questioning Chance's choice."

"Marigold recommended it after she read it."

"When the main character started talking about her life story, it got good," Xan added.

"What was the deal with her wearing all that denim? Does that make her a psychopath?" Xan asked me.

I was impressed that the guys had read the book, and we jumped into the discussion. I'd planned to go through the discussion questions in the back of the book, but maybe I wouldn't need to. "I don't run into a lot of psychopaths."

"Thank God for that," Oliver said.

My job was small-town sheriff. I dealt with complaints, property disputes, and the occasional domestic violence case. Serious crime was rare. It didn't mean that I didn't work long hours.

"I knew something was going to happen to the other woman's husband. I had a bad feeling." Eli moved to sit on the couch. "Scarlett kept asking me what I was reading."

"Did you tell her?" This was supposed to be a men's-only kind of thing. As much as I liked my sister, I didn't want her intruding on guy time, even if she was dating my best friend.

Eli sighed, lifting his book to show me the cover. "I read paperbacks. I couldn't exactly hide it."

"You get a chance to read the whole book, Xan?" I knew he'd had difficulties reading growing up. A teacher suspected, dyslexia, but it wasn't something they treated back then.

"Nah. I got to the part where she confessed about dating a man twenty-eight years older than her, and I was a little freaked out, to be honest."

Xan might have been a bit of a player, but he was genuinely a good guy.

"Have you tried listening to the audiobook?" Oliver suggested.

Xan leaned back on the couch. "That's not a bad idea."

"You have to finish it, because I'm not so sure he lured her into a relationship," I said.

"I think it was the opposite," Eli added.

We talked more about what we thought was real. Then I went through a few of the discussion questions.

"What's the consensus? Should we do it again?" I liked bonding with my friends over mountain biking or climbing, but there was something about reading the same book and discussing it together that was also enjoyable.

"Scarlett thinks it's hot." Eli looked around the room at us.

"What?" I asked him, not sure I wanted him to repeat his comment about my sister.

"Scarlett thinks that men sitting around discussing a book is hot." Eli threw up his hands. "I'm just putting it out there."

Xan leaned forward. "Seriously? I would think being the best skier in town would do it."

"Killian's the best skier," I said, absentmindedly used to his competitive ways.

Xan pointed at me. "But Killian's not here."

Eli stretched his legs out in front of him, crossing one over the other. "He mentioned coming home for Christmas."

"Are your parents coming home too?" I asked Eli, remembering they were traveling the world for their retirement.

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