“Yeah, I know.” She heaves a sigh, like I’m an idiot.
Which I am.
“I’m sorry,” I mumble, embarrassed at my terrible idea. So much for being the hero.
But she merely shakes her head, a tired schoolteacher. “I can’t believe you thought you could third-act break up with me.”
“A what?”
“You need to read more.”
I tug her to me, lifting her up so she wraps her legs around my waist, and I carry her to our bedroom. “I’ve seen what you read, you little pervert.”
That earns me a giggle, and I kiss her, hoping to swallow the happy sound. By the time I reach our bed, her cheeks are no longer red from crying, but I hope to make them red for a wholeother reason. “What was that I saw the other day? Something about dinosaurs?”
She helps herself to scooting backward on the mattress, shucking my hoodie to reveal a tank top. “AJurassic Parkfan fiction I found.”
I work her leggings down and off. “Jurassic Parkfan fiction?”
She shrugs. “I was into monster romance for a while and then started wondering if there was something with dinosaurs. And I couldn’t find anything that rang my bell until someone pointed me in the direction of this Wattpad writer, and…” She blows out a breath. “It’s basically erotica about a guy who can shape-shift into a dinosaur…’cause science. He finds his human mate, who, of course, is trying to kill him.”
I sink to the floor, wrapping my hands around her ankles to pull her toward me. “You really can find anything on the internet, can’t you?”
CHAPTER 33
NADINE
After droppingoff Paisley at school this morning, I head straight to the main office, where the secretary greets me with a warm smile and marching orders for the day, copying and stapling packets because the printer is constantly broken and can never collate correctly. When I run into the principal, she informs me of a long-term substitute position that will be opening up when Mrs. Baker goes on maternity leave and asks if I’d be interested. Of course I am, and she says she’ll talk to human resources about it.
For the first time in two weeks, I’m feeling really great. Confident and empowered. So when Camden arrives home a few hours later, I’m waiting for him with my coat on and keys in my hand. Fired the fuck up.
“Hey, what?—”
“Your sister and I ate already. I’m going to Erik’s house.”
His eyes widen. “What are you going to do?”
“What I should have done a long time ago. I’m going to put my foot up his ass.”
He grins and holds up his hand. I smack it aggressively, but he likes it, swatting my ass on my way out. “That’s my girl!”
“Pretty sure Paisley’s got a boyfriend,” I toss over my shoulder, but the door closes on his question.
“Shewhat?”
I don’t have anything specific in mind to say to my brother when I get there, but I listen to Camden’s pregame playlist, letting it pump me up on the drive, and by the time I park, I think I could put on a helmet and do some damage on the field.
Erik answers the door, surprise coloring his face. “Nan? What are you?—”
“We need to talk.Now.”
He glances over his shoulder toward the living room, where I can hear Kai babbling and Molly responding.
“I don’t think?—”
“I don’t care what you think right now.” I push past him into the house and wave at Molly. “I need to take my brother out back.”
She smiles. “Of course.”
