Damaged (Boys of Winter #2) - Sheridan Anne Page 0,55

the story the boys told me.”

“The boys?” she scoffs. “And how the hell would they know?”

“Beats me,” I say, my shoulders bouncing with a quick shrug. “It’s probably all bullshit, but I haven’t seen anyone else coming to claim the place, so why not reap all the rewards while I wait for the truth to come out?”

Ember laughs and slides down further on the sunbed. “Damn girl, I like the way you think, but seriously, what if they’re not lying? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t know these guys as well as you do, but they don’t strike me as the kind to keep a pet if she didn’t belong.”

“I’ve never heard truer words,” I tell her. “They’re really not. They’re super intense, and while they can be complete assholes, they’re not liars and … I don’t know. Maybe I need to take their word for it. Maybe this place really did belong to my parents.”

“But they’re dead?”

“Yup.”

“Sooooo,” she says, her brows raising as she draws out her conclusion. “Technically this place is yours?”

I shrug my shoulders, hating how blasé I have to be with her. “I mean, I haven’t exactly read a copy of the will, but that’s generally how this shit works, right?”

“Fuck,” Ember laughs, sitting up on the sunbed and letting her feet fall to either side as she gapes at me. “Then you’re fucking rich. Why the hell aren’t we partying yet? Hold up. Rewind. Why the hell am I only hearing about this now? When did you first find out?”

Ahh, crap.

My face twists into a cringe. “The weekend.”

Ember’s face drops and she gapes at me as though she can hardly believe what she’s hearing. “You’ve known about this for like … a week and you’re only just telling me now? Holy shit, Winter. We could have been partying it up all week. Just imagine the awesome movie nights and keggers we could have here. Oh, OH,” her eyes bug out of her head. “Can we do something like that party you had at King’s cabin in the woods? That would be fucking awesome.”

“Hell to the freakin’ no,” I say. I don’t think I’ve ever heard such an awful idea. “This is the only home I’ve got, the only thing that’s ever truly been mine, and I’m not about to let a whole bunch of drunk high school bitches come in and destroy it. Besides, this is the only thing I have of my parents. I need to take care of it. I can’t imagine what they’d think of me if I destroyed the home they built.”

“Weeeeeeeak,” she groans, falling back to her sunbed with a loud huff.

I laugh to myself. She can hate on my plan all she wants because she’ll never truly understand. Ember grew up in a fancy neighborhood with the biggest house on her street. She’s never wanted for anything, so things like furniture and sentimental crap are all replaceable, but not to me. It all means something so much more to me.

I bring my frozen daiquiri to my lips and take a long sip. This is the fucking life. While finding the answers I needed about my parents was a long and painful journey, it’s also opened me up to this amazing life. Though I have to admit, finding things like a machine that mixes daiquiris are the real hidden treasures, and it makes me wish that I could have met my mother. From her closet, her jewelry, her taste in art, and the surprising little knick-knacks I come across every day, she seems like the kind of woman I would have loved to live my life beside.

I have it all here, you know, considering I pretend that Dynasty doesn’t exist. How lucky does one kid have to be to not only discover that she has a home left to her, but one as incredible as this? I just hate that all of this is clouded by the reality of murder, sex trafficking, and corruption.

I’m not going to lie; I have four boys keeping me distracted from that reality. Some in a good way, and some in an infuriatingly disastrous way that makes me want to gouge out their eyeballs with plastic spoons and then feed it to them, but then not seeing those eyes everyday would be devastating.

Ember finishes her daiquiri and sits up with a pout, holding up her glass. “I’m out. Do you want a refill?” she asks, getting to her feet and scooping my glass right out