Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69910 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69910 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
“I think I should pull you out of this pool, carry you straight to the shower, then take you to bed.”
“Ooh, I like it.” Middle of the afternoon sexy time is a good time. I have classes in the evenings that I have to be online for. They start at seven and go until ten, but I often have work to do after, or I’m so exhausted that all I can do is fall into bed.
I finally got to see Apollo’s room. Now it’s our room. His room isn’t any one theme. It’s just all the things he likes: antiques, cats, classic cars, and skunks. There are so many skunk things in there. You’d be surprised what you can buy in skunk form. His bed? It’s the best one in the house. Yup, you guessed it. It’s a giant skunk, complete with a big bushy tail sticking out. The bed makes up most of the body where the back would be, the tail is the headboard, and the face is the footboard. It’s quite ingenious. He had to special order it, and what a special order it is. It would have been so fun putting it together.
I keep all the creepy dolls in their own room now because it’s the room I use for crafting. We converted one of the bedrooms into a crafting room slash office. It means I get to stare at their encouraging and awesomely creepy faces when I’m online at night. And when Apollo is working, he also gets to stare at them. He’s never complained. He even sometimes has suggestions for what doll I should make next.
My dad’s company has really taken off with Apollo’s help. Even Dad and John have reached a tentative truce, and they don’t actively hate each other anymore. They might not be friends, but they’re civil to each other. I hope that, with time, we can get them back to being kind to each other and friendly. I know they’re never going to be best friends again, but being just some sort of friends would be nice.
Mom and Will love New York, but they visit us out here a few times a year, and we’ve gone there twice. I love the city, and it’s a great place to visit, but I can’t see myself living there. I video chat with both my mom and dad so regularly that I don’t feel like I’m any less close to them than if I were living right next door.
Mom did show my doll to her clients, and I had a ton of orders within a few weeks. She had to start telling people to get on my waitlist, which they did. I’ve been cranking out dolls, but not at a pace that would make it not fun for me. It’s just a hobby. It’s never going to be my job.
I’m just taking general classes right now until I decide what I want to focus on. Apollo says I’ll fall in love with something if I keep sampling everything. I think he’s right. So far, I’ve really enjoyed my history classes, but I’ve also surprised myself by loving economics. We’ll see. Maybe I’ll do a business major with a minor in history.
“I like it too.” He pushes himself out of the pool, treating me to a full display of delicious Apollo muscles, tanned skin, and general god-like manliness.
I push up, too, completely unselfconscious in my bathing suit that shows all my scars. Apollo doesn’t care about them. I mean, he does, but only in the way that we both sometimes see them and think about how short life can be. There’s no time for regrets or bitterness because that’s just wasted time. It’s so much more rewarding to make up, work hard for our friendships, and fall head over heels in love.
He wasn’t joking about sweeping me up. He picks me right up, soaking wet, and kisses me like he’s never going to come up for air. He’s a swimmer, so he can hold his breath for a looooong time, lucky for me.
Bitty Kitty comes running after us when we start walking, and I watch her over Apollo’s shoulder, laughing at her sweetness as she comes tumbling in. She heads straight to her bed in the kitchen and curls up again. She’ll be tearing through the house in a few hours, no doubt.
Apollo carries me straight to our room before he catches himself. “I’ve forgotten our shower, it seems.”
“I’m all salty,” I tell him.
“You were salty when I first met you again, too, and I liked you just fine.”
I thump his shoulder lightly. “I’m physically salty now. But if you’re into that, then…”
“I’m into that. I’m always into you.” He carries me into our room, and I laugh as soon as I see the big skunk bed waiting for us. “I love you, Patience. Salty or not salty, you’re always going to be perfect in my eyes.”