Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 116231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 581(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 581(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
I also lay there wondering if she would tell Kirby, but I don’t think she would. She would definitely tell Lexi and then she might tell Kirby, and in the end, Jaxon would have to hold him back from kicking my ass. Or maybe he wouldn’t, maybe he would help him kick my ass. Nonetheless, sleep evaded me until my eyes were so dry they burned, and I shut them and slowly drifted off to sleep. The last time I saw the clock it was four twelve.
“Dad!” I hear my name being shouted from downstairs and push away all thoughts of Kylie right now. “Can we have lunch?” Westley asks me.
“Yeah, buddy,” I reply, turning and walking back down the stairs. “What do you think about ham and cheese melts,” I ask him, “in the Hawaiian buns?”
“Oh, yeah.” He nods his head. “Can you do the thing with the melted cheese on top?”
“Sure.” I walk into the pantry to grab the pack of Hawaiian buns. “How many do you want?” I ask him.
“Four,” he says.
“I want six,” Vincent adds, not looking up from the game he is playing on his phone.
“I want two,” Nora says, and I nod my head, walking over to the fridge and grabbing the ham and then the Swiss cheese. I take out the whole pack of twelve and slice down the middle of all the buns, placing the tops on the side before filling the bottom parts with honey baked ham and then Swiss cheese. I place the tops back on them before grabbing a baking pan and then setting it in the oven at three fifty for twenty minutes. I walk back to the fridge, grabbing a stick of butter and two cloves of garlic. Melting the butter in the microwave, I then crush the garlic into it before adding some dry parsley. I know it’s better with fresh, but this is what I have. I stir them all together before taking the almost finished baking sandwiches out of the oven. I pour the butter mixture over the top of the buns, making sure it’s evenly spread before I sprinkle mozzarella on top, and then broil it in the oven for four minutes.
I grab a bag of chips from the pantry, placing some on each plastic plate before I take the tray out of the oven. The tops are a soft golden brown, I cut them into small cubes and place the amount they requested on each plate. I give them a couple of minutes to cool down before calling the kids over. They run like they haven’t eaten in days, making me laugh. I, on the other hand, make myself an omelet before I scroll the theater times. “I’m going to get changed,” I tell them after I clean up the kitchen and they go back to their respective spots on the couch, “then we’re going to leave.”
No one even says anything as I go upstairs and dress in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. The four of us walk out of the house twenty minutes later, the tickets purchased and waiting to be redeemed. “Can I sit in the front?” Vincent asks and I shake my head as I walk with him to the passenger side of the car. He pulls open the door, standing there waiting for my answer with me right behind him.
“You know the rules, bud,” I remind him, “twelve and up.” I put my hand on his shoulder, and he looks into the cab of the SUV.
“What is this?” he asks, reaching in and pulling out a white ball of satin. I have never lunged for something so fast in my life. I snatch it out of his hand before he has a chance to open the ball and let it hang, which would be hard to explain.
My heart feels like it’s beating out of my chest. “It’s a napkin.” I lie to him and tuck it into my pocket. “Get in, we’re going to be late.” I usher him to the back of the SUV and open the door for him. “Quickly.” I rush around the front, hopefully making him hurry will make him forget what he found.
I start the SUV, gripping onto the steering wheel, feeling like I’m going to throw up when a text comes up and I see from the center screen that it’s Kirby. I close my eyes and put my head back on the headrest, counting to ten before I reach into my back pocket and take out my cell. “This is it,” I mumble to myself as I open the text.
Kirby:
I got your ticket for the fundraiser. It’s next Saturday, I’ll give it to you on Monday.
ten
Kylie
I step one foot into the black dress and then the other, before I pull it over my hips. Sliding one of the sleeves on and then the other, I hold it to my chest. Reaching around to the back and pulling the zipper up until the middle of my back, I hold the bottom of the dress in my hand while I try to zip it up until I can reach over my head to zip it up to my neck. I twist to one side then the other until it’s high enough for me to reach. When I finally zip it up, I feel like I’ve just done a full hour on the Stairmaster.