Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 75289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
“So you are stuck.”
“I wouldn’t say stuck, exactly. More like doorway dimensionally challenged.”
Her laughter is like soft falling rain on the roof. If this roof weren’t made of cardboard, and rain wouldn’t cave it in, that is.
“I’ll get it. Just hold on,” I mutter.
I wedge and wiggle and grunt and shove with my heels against the floor, angling and rocking side to side. I imagine I look like a slug right now, but honestly, are slugs really all that bad? I think they’re kind of cute.
Amalphia’s laughter turns into full-blown giggles. “Let me get the scissors.”
Every minute of this cardboard conundrum is worth hearing her gorgeous laughter. It flows through me like sparkling water fizzing through my bloodstream. Great. The last thing I need is to pop a boner. Boners and box forts don’t go together, especially not when one is wedged in the doorway and making his best worm-wannabe impression. Extra friction doesn’t seem like a good idea.
With one final shove, spurred on by the dubious proclamation about scissors, I pop through. I give the roof and all its starry glory a triumphant grin.
Amalphia walks away for a minute. I can hear her footsteps receding, but then she’s back and popping through the doorway gracefully, bearing scissors and a sheepish smile. “Sorry. I’ll make adjustments so you can actually get out of here.”
I crawl to the far corner and sit, crossing my legs in front of me. She faces me, assuming the same position.
“Your granny was pretty dead on. This is awesome. Although props for the execution. Where on earth did you get this much cardboard?”
“Granny suggested a moving supply store, or she said I should buy a freezer, but to make a fort this size, I figured I’d need at least eight freezers. Who needs eight of those, and who has that kind of money? Err, well, I don’t. But it made me think that all those huge appliance stores are probably unboxing their floor models and doing away with the cardboard, so I went to one, and sure enough.” She points to the wall behind me, then to the sides. I didn’t even notice the pictures of freezers and all the writing. I was too captivated by the stars. “I was in business. They said I could take as much as I wanted.”
“How on earth did you get all this into your car?”
“I rented a truck. It was only thirty dollars an hour, and I thought sixty bucks was a pretty sweet trade-off. You can’t put a price on awesome.”
This.
This is what makes this woman so freaking special.
She would never even think of putting a price tag on anything, and certainly never on anyone. I could buy anything in the world, but I can’t buy this feeling. I can’t buy tenderness or true kindness. There’s no price tag for the way Amalphia is looking at me right now. She’s so beautiful, the starlight sweeping across her delicate features. When she shuffles to get comfortable, her face gets near the ceiling, and she’s painted almost entirely in stars.
I thought I was going to die from being stuck in the doorway, but no. This is how I’m going to die. From being bowled right the fuck over by this woman who isn’t like anyone else I know.
“How long did it take you to build this?”
She arranges her legs under herself and traces a pattern on the hardwood floor. “Errr, well, all day.”
“That was an excellent use of time.”
Her lips turn up in a sassy smirk, and it’s all I can do to stop myself from causing an issue in my pants. Forts don’t need tent poles, no matter how much my dick would like to offer itself up for the cause.
“Granny’s other option was to tie myself up in ropes and present myself on your bed.”
My tongue nearly falls out of my mouth.
“Yeah, I thought that was a hard no too.”
“I l-like the fort,” I stammer. “It’s exceptionally creative.”
Her eyes light up, looking extra shimmery because of the projector. “It might seem like my granny is a wild woman, one who says whatever the heck is on her mind at the time, but I know she’d never give bad advice, and she’d take any and all secrets to her grave. She’d never want to see me get hurt.”
“Seeing as it’s not the ropes, have you decided this won’t work? I’m okay with being friend-zoned.”
She laughs like that’s the funniest thing she ever heard. Her head flings back, and her eyes tear up. She literally has to wipe a few tears away from her cheeks after. “Oh, goodness, no. I’d very much like to date you.” She sobers quickly. “Just not if it’s going to cost you those dearest to you or wound you irrevocably. It’s nice to say that living balls to the wall without worrying about what other people think is the way to do it, but it’s quite another to actually put it into practice.”