You Are Mine Little Sister (by Syra Tucker) novel Chapter 183

He didn't even pause. "Jade, Ethan and Elliot."

Okay. Maybe that was an easy question.

"In a particular chapter, Jade and the boys went to a thrift store. What happened there?"

He tilted his chin. "She met a man from the Wolves. Threatened her and shit."

My jaw nearly met the floor.

No way! He actually read!

I blinked fast as my brain scrambled for something else. I threw more questions at him from different books, other series, and every answer landed clean.

What the hell?

"How did you do it?" I shook my head, half-laughing at myself. "I'd never been able to do that myself despite being here all day."

Plus, I didn't think men read that much.

Pride shone in his grey eyes; his shrug was pure quiet victory. "Let's just say I'm good when it comes to competitions. I love winning."

"Wow. Then it's obvious you'll be the one winning the challenge with your friends."

"I sure will."

I shook my head. That was truly crazy.

I turned back to the shelf, pretending I didn't know what was coming.

‡‡‡‡

VOID

I didn't think my trio could be useful for anything other than bloodshed until today.

Everyone of them had stayed up late, reading the books I'd dumped on them. When I returned to the apartment by morning, they narrated the plots with heavy eyes. I also didn't have any sleep in the car where I'd stayed till dawn.

None of that mattered. What mattered was: I'd bested the challenge, and now she saw me as someone worth listening to. She hadn't flinched away like yesterday. The stutter had eased. Today was better.

"So, when am I getting my hundred bucks?" I asked the nape of her neck as she'd already turned back to the shelf.

She was hoping the topic might evaporate. I was only keeping it alive for the sport of it.

When she faced me, her gaze stayed on the floor. "I... I don't have it. Not yet. But by weekend, I should."

Poor thing. She looked guilty.

"So, you owe me, then." I let it hang, then softened it with a pivot. "Anyway, I need another recommendation."

Her black contacts snapped up to mine. "Wh—Why? I mean, what about the others you got yesterday?"

"I've been distributing most of them already. Besides, you didn't pick those for me. I want something you recommend."

Her teeth found her bottom lip again; that little tic she didn't know she had. I tracked her as she moved to the next shelf, and a cold thought lodged in my mind:

What if Blayne hadn't tricked me that day and she'd truly died in that fire? What would I have done knowing Rali was gone from my life?

I'm not the kind to live inside what-ifs. But with Rali, the thought keeps circling like a hawk: how close I came to losing my mind for good.

It terrifies me. Truly terrifies me.

She returned with three books. "You should try this series. It's good."

I took the books from her and was tempted to inhale the place her hands had touched.

Could do that later.

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