Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 111676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
Afternoon sun filtered through the pine trees, casting an amber glow over Zepp’s backyard. It glinted off the metal folding chairs and the rickety gazebo Hendrix, Bellamy, and Wolf had slapped together last minute. It wasn’t fancy, but somehow, it still felt magical.
I had nearly cried when the preacher introduced them as Mr. and Mrs. Zeppelin Hunt. If ever two people were meant for each other, it was Monroe and Zepp. They had weathered a storm together, just like Wolf and I had. If there was one thing I’d learned, it wasn’t the good times that defined you; it was the bad and how you came out of them. Wolf and I had failed once, but it had made us stronger. More grateful. More in love. Most importantly, it showed us what it was to live without each other.
Wolf took my arm, gently pulling me out from under the swaying structure. “That thing’s about to collapse.” He nodded toward Hendrix’s one-year-old, Axel, who was hanging off the poles and gleefully shaking it, like he was trying to bring the whole thing down. Of course his child was feral. Poor Lola had already had to make him spit out mud three times, and his little suit was covered in it. He was adorable chaos.
Music crackled through the old speakers. Zepp and Monroe stepped under the gazebo and began their first dance. Her white dress trailed behind her, her gaze lovingly fixed on her new husband while he held her waist like he’d never let her go.
The structure shook again, and Wolf sighed before giving me a kiss. “Let me go get Hendrix’s little demon before he ruins this.”
I watched him hoist Axel up by the ankle and dangle him upside down while the kid squealed with unfiltered joy. Pretty sure my ovary twitched, not helped by the fact that Wolf looked way too good in his perfectly tailored suit.
My dad stepped up beside me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “That’ll be you soon.” He nodded toward Zepp twirling Monroe, looking every bit in love as they had two years ago.
“You make that sound like you wouldn’t mind me marrying Wolf.”
“He’s okay. Seems like a decent-enough guy.” That six grand had bought Dad a diagnosis of Whipple’s Disease. With the meds, he’d started to recover pretty fast and had returned to work. But sure, Wolf was okay. Decent enough…
Axel let out another squeal, and Wolf looked at me like he needed help.
“I’ll find you in a bit, Dad.” I kissed his cheek before crossing the freshly mowed lawn. “Having fun?”
“If I could do this to Hendrix, I would…” He jiggled Axel with one hand.
“So, the mini-me gets retribution. I see how it is.”
“Kid’s cute, though,” he added, right before Axel bit Wolf’s arm. “Ow, you little sh—” He stopped himself, inhaled through his nose, then set Axel down.
The child tore off across the yard like a cracked-out chihuahua.
“You were saying…” I asked, fighting a laugh.
“Sugar…plum?” he tried. “I was going to call him a little shit, okay? Point is, I stopped myself.” He rolled up his sleeve, revealing surprisingly deep teeth marks.
“How does he bite that hard? He has four teeth.”
“It’s in his genes.”
“Hendrix bit you?”
“He bit my ass once.”
I blinked. “I’m not even going to ask.” I gave him a once-over. “Although your ass is great.”
“Yeah?” He grabbed my waist and pulled me closer, his lips brushing mine..
I looped my arms around his neck, studying the sharp angles of the face I’d been in love with ever since I knew what love was. “I can’t wait to go to Florida with you.”
Because Wolf had made it into the NFL. Signed by the Dolphins and about to be living his dream. I couldn’t be more proud of him, more proud to go with him to start my own career at Miami General. In a few short weeks, we’d be trading in our one-bedroom apartment in Pikestown for palm trees, emerald-green waters, and high-rises.
“I can’t wait, either.” He lifted a dark brow. “As long as you promise, no thong bikinis in public. That—” He smacked my ass—“ is for my eyes only.”
“Except that one time when you let the world see it because you were laughing.”
He wheezed out a laugh. “You looked like that viral video where someone holds a kitten in water.”
“Helpless and innocent? Yeah, I was.”
And he was still laughing.
“Right, that’s it.” I shoved him away a step. “I’m ordering new bikinis. Thong only.”
That shut him up for a second. “And I will burn them.”
“Then you wouldn’t get to see them.”
“I get to see you naked.” He pulled me close again and kissed along my neck. Asshole knew that made my knees weak. “I don’t need a thong.”
“If I can’t wear a bikini,” I said, tugging his lapel, “then you shouldn’t be allowed to wear this suit.”