Finding Cinderella Read Online Free PDF

be upset we broke up.
    “I hate Val,” Chunk says.
    “God, me, too,” my mother groans.
    “Me three,” my father says, walking past me.
    None of them are looking at me, but they’re all responding like this has been a previously discussed topic.
    “You mean all of you hated Val?”
    My father turns to face me. “Your mother and I are masters at reverse psychology, Danny-boy. Don’t act so surprised.”
    Chunk raises her hand in the air toward my father. “Me, too, Dad. I reverse psychologized him, too.”
    My dad reaches over and high-fives Chunk’s hand. “Well played, Chunk.”
    I lean against the frame of the door and stare at them. “You guys were just pretending to like Val? What the hell for?”
    My dad sits at the table and picks up a newspaper. “Children are naturally inclined to make choices that will displease their parents. If we had told you how we really felt about Val, you probably would have ended up marrying her just to spite us. Which is why we pretended to love her.”
    Assholes. All three of them. “You’re never meeting another one of my girlfriends again.”
    My father laughs, but doesn’t seem at all disappointed.
    “Who is she?” Chunk asks. “The girl you’re actually making an effort for.”
    “None of your damn business,” I reply. “Now that I know how this family works, I’m never bringing her around any of you.”
    I turn to head out the door and my mother calls after me. “Well if it helps, we already love her, Daniel! She’s a sweetheart!”
    “And beautiful,” my dad says. “She’s a keeper!”
    I shake my head. “Y’all suck.”
    • • •
    “You’re late,” Six says when she appears at her front door. She walks out of her house with her back to me, inserting her key in the lock.
    “You don’t want me to meet your parents?” I ask, wondering why she’s locking her door this early in the evening. She turns around and faces me.
    “They’re old. They ate dinner like ten hours ago and went to bed at seven.”
    Blue. Her eyes are blue.
    Holy shit, she’s cute. Her hair is lighter than I thought it was last night in Sky’s room. Her skin is flawless. It’s like she’s the same girl from last night, only now she’s in HD. And I was right. She really does look like a fucking angel.
    She steps out of the way and I shut the screen door, still unable to take my eyes off her. “I actually got here early,” I say, finally replying to her first comment. “Holder was dropping Sky off at her house and I swear it took them half an hour to say their good-byes. I had to wait until the coast was clear.”
    She slides her house key into her back pocket and nods. “Ready?”
    I eye her up and down. “Did you forget your purse?”
    She shakes her head. “Nope. I hate purses.” She pats her back pocket. “All I need is my house key. I didn’t bother bringing money since this date was your idea. You’re paying, right?”
    Whoa.
    Back up.
    Let’s assess the last thirty seconds, shall we?
    She hates purses. That means she didn’t bring makeup. Which means she won’t constantly be reapplying that shit like Val does. It also means she’s not hiding a gallon of perfume anywhere on her person. And it also means she had no plans at all to offer to pay for her half of dinner, which seems a little old-fashioned but for some reason I like it.
    “I love that you don’t carry a purse,” I say.
    “I love that you don’t carry one, either,” she says with a laugh.
    “I do. It’s in my car,” I say, nudging my head toward my car.
    She laughs again and begins walking toward the porch steps. I do the same until I see Sky standing just inside her room with her window wide open. I immediately grab Six by her shoulders and pull her until both of our backs are flat against the front door. “You can see Sky’s window from the front yard. She’ll see us.”
    Six glances up at me. “You’re really taking this off-limits order seriously,” she says in a hushed