Our Parents Wed in June, So I Spent the Winter Claiming My Stepbrother novel · Chapter 10 of 24
Chapter 10: Left on Read
The pull-off at the end of the ranch road was white and empty, and the truck's engine ticked as it cooled.
It was midnight on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, nine degrees by the dash.
A steaming pool lay somewhere below us in the dark, and Reeve had not told me whose land it was.
He had one hand on the wheel and was looking at the windshield.
"You said wear boots," I said.
"I did."
"I'm wearing boots."
"I see that," he said.
I turned in the seat.
I had been carrying it for five months.
For three weeks I had held it in my mouth and swallowed it every time he touched me.
"You left me on read," I said.
His head turned slowly.
"The Fourth of July. I sent you a picture of the fireworks over the stadium. You opened it."
"Page," he said.
"Five months, Reeve. You said welcome to the family, and you walked out to the parking lot."
He did not say anything.
His jaw worked.
"Then I sent you a stupid photo of the sky, and you never answered," I said. "I thought you were disgusted with me."
"No," he said.
"I thought it was a mistake, and you were trying to be kind."
"Page, no."
"I had a whole speech," I said. "I thought I'd be cool about it. I'm not cool about it. It hurt."
He reached into his coat.
He took out his phone and unlocked it, and he held it out to me in both hands.
"What's this?" I asked.
"My notes."
I took it.
The page was a list.
It was thirty-one lines long, and each line had a date.
July 4: Happy Fourth. Those are great fireworks. I'm sorry I left.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of Our Parents Wed in June, So I Spent the Winter Claiming My Stepbrother are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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