Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 43198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 216(@200wpm)___ 173(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 216(@200wpm)___ 173(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
Lindsey laughs from the other couch, and I wink at her. “Yes. I’ll teach you. We’ll work on it tomorrow after school and before your game.”
We talk strategy for the game tomorrow, and before I know it, it’s past Eli’s bedtime. Both Lindsey and I follow him up the stairs, and I hang in the doorway while they do their nightly ritual.
“Aunt Lindsey, are you going to be at my game tomorrow?”
She gasps. “Eli, you know I will. I wouldn’t miss it.”
He sits up in bed. “Promise me that both of you will be at the game.”
I come across the room and put a hand on the top of his head and ruffle his hair. “I don’t make promises I can't keep. I’ll be there.”
Lindsey chimes in. “Me too.”
“Goodnight, buddy.”
“Goodnight, Miller. Goodnight, Lindsey.”
We both tell him goodnight and then walk hand in hand from the room. I lead her across the hall and into our bedroom. She looks around. “You miss your bedroom downstairs?”
“No. I’m happy to stay wherever Eli needs us.”
She throws her hands up. “What if he’s never comfortable with us staying downstairs?”
I shrug like it’s no big deal. “Then we stay up here.”
She pops her shoulders. “Just like that?”
I walk toward her. “Yes, just like that. What’s wrong?”
She comes to me and rests her head against my chest. “I keep waiting for something to go wrong. For all this to be taken away from me.”
My jaw tightens. “That’s not going to happen.”
She cuddles into me. “I know. I just don’t know how to stop feeling like in an instant everything can change again.”
I stroke my hand down her back. “You’re still grieving, Linds. You have to give yourself some grace. Now that you don’t have the custody battle looming over you, you can grieve.”
I lean back. With my hands on her face, I force her to look at me. “You’re not doing this alone. We’re going to do it together. You, Eli, and me.”
“Together?” she asks.
I nod. “Together.”
She goes to her tiptoes and loops her arms around my neck. “We’re engaged.” She pops a shoulder. “For real this time.”
I pick her up and hold her to me. Instantly, her legs go around my waist. “It was real the first time.”
She leans back to look at me. “You’re telling me when you put that ring on my finger, you really wanted to be engaged to me? No doubts? Nothing?”
I don’t answer right away. Instead, I carry her toward the bed like it’s the most natural thing in the world. I lay her back gently, then brace myself over her, not quite touching but close enough to still feel her warmth.
“I knew I wanted it to be real the second I bought that ring,” I say quietly.
She studies my face, like she’s trying to decode my words. “When… when did you buy it?”
I huff out a breath, a little embarrassed. “You’re gonna think I’m insane.”
Her lips twitch. “Try me.”
My cheeks heat. “The morning after our date.”
Her eyes go wide. “Our first date? The day I met you? When I took your picture?”
I nod, grinning. “Yeah. That one.”
She just stares at me for a second, like she doesn’t know what to do with that. “Miller…”
“Which,” I add, brushing a strand of hair off her face, “reminds me, we need to go on more dates.”
Her hand comes up to my chest, stopping me just enough to make sure I’m paying attention. “You’re telling me you knew you wanted to marry me the day after our first date?”
I shake my head slowly. “No.” I dip closer, lowering my voice. “I knew the morning I met you.”
Her breath catches.
“When you took my picture,” I continue, my thumb brushing along her jaw, “and you looked at me like I was wasting your time… I was done for.”
She laughs, soft and surprised, and lightly smacks my chest. “Your assistant told me you were in a hurry! I thought I had, like, two minutes before you kicked me out.”
“I probably should’ve,” I murmur, leaning in, letting my lips brush just beneath her ear. “Would’ve saved me a lot of trouble.”
She exhales, her fingers curling into my shirt. “Liar.”
“Yeah,” I admit easily. “I would’ve followed you out anyway.”
Her hand slides up to my neck as I press closer, giving in to the pull between us.
“I won’t rush you anymore,” I tell her, my voice softer now. “Not with anything. We’ve got time. A lifetime.”
She tilts her head, meeting my eyes again. “All the time?” she asks.
I nod. “All of it.”
Her lips curve just slightly as she leans up into me, her voice dropping. “So if I want to stay right here with you… all night…”
A low laugh slips out of me, my forehead resting against hers. “Then I’m not going anywhere.”
Her fingers tighten in my shirt, pulling me closer.