Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 115838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
I see him walk up to a couple of the guys and shake their hands. “Are you hungry?” Seth asks me and I nod my head.
“Starving.” I smile at him, and he motions with his head to the side, where there are tables. “You guys joining us?” I ask Ariella and share a look with her that says she’s joining us.
“Oh yeah,” she answers, getting the look, “I’m starving.”
“We just ate,” Jaxon reminds her, and she looks over at him with a tight smile.
“And I want a snack,” she snaps between clenched teeth. “Now, let’s join your sister.”
We sit at a table and are joined by Shauna and her husband. Ten minutes later, everyone is sitting down, and then I hear a glass clinking. I look over and see Lexi standing up, Kirby beside her. Knox is next to him and Zane is sitting at their table. His eyes meet mine for a brief moment before he looks back at Lexi. “I wanted to take a minute to thank you all for coming tonight,” she starts, “and for all the help today. There was no way we could have done this without you.” She puts her hand on Kirby’s shoulder. “So on behalf of the Make The Choice Foundation, we thank you.” She holds up her glass of wine and I grab my glass of water. “Also, keep an eye open for our newsletter coming on Monday,” she points to me, “for some pictures from today, and it’ll be your chance to score tickets to our first ever holiday fundraiser.”
My eyes are on Lexi, but I feel the heat from his stare, making it hard for me to swallow. I smile at the group, ignoring the need to look over at him and when I take a sip of my water, it has trouble going down. Lexi sits down. “I don’t know how you do it all,” Seth says from beside me. The two of us have been working closely for the last week to make sure everything went smoothly today.
I think there were four meetings during the week that we had together, as we took pictures of the different stages that were going on before today. I was even there a couple of nights and volunteered during the dinner session, where he told me that many of the kids who stayed in the after-school program are fed there in the evening. It was something that wasn’t really offered before he came on board, but he decided to do when he started. It heavily relied on donations from the community as well as the local grocery store.
“It takes a village.” I use the words he told me this week and he smiles at me. I wait for it to happen. Wait for that little flutter in my stomach. Wait for my palms to get damp. Wait for me to feel anything for him, but all I feel is a platonic friendship.
“It really does,” he agrees as Shauna calls his attention over to her. I don’t know why, but I let out a little sigh of relief when that happens.
We get our food, and he gets up to go over with Shauna and Jill to take a couple of pictures with some of the team. I fold my arms in front of me as I see the crowd start to dwindle. “You did good.” I hear from the side and look over at Jaxon, who has taken Ariella’s chair when she got up to go to the bathroom.
“Why do you sound surprised by that?” I sit up straight in my chair. “I don’t know why you don’t know this by now, but I’m fucking fantastic.” I hold up both my hands in front of me. “It’s a gift.”
He rolls his eyes at me. “Oh fuck, I forgot to tell you. There is a Family Day thing,” I watch him, “at the arena next week. Zane is the one who started it. Wants to build unity with the team.” My eyes go to the table where Zane is sitting, as I see him with Aaron talking about something.
“Okay,” I say, not sure why he’s telling me, “do you need me to babysit?”
“We have a game Friday, the thing is on Saturday,” he clarifies. “So we are going to be picking you up.”
“What?” I ask, shocked. “Why do I have to go?”
“It’s Family Day and you are part of my family,” he deadpans.
“What if I have plans with my boyfriend?” I ask him.
“You have a boyfriend?” He pushes away from the table. “You don’t have a boyfriend,” he quickly adds, snort-laughing and shaking his head.
“You don’t know my life, Jaxon,” I snap at him. “I could have a boyfriend. I could have ten if I wanted to.” He glares at me. “I could even be a sister wife, and you would never know.”