Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 52975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
In my fantasies, she has no idea. She gasps and blushes and presses her knees together. I’m so wound up wondering how she’d respond if I tried anything.
I can’t, of course. Not when she’s fresh off a breakup. But fuck, it’s killing me to spend so much time with her and never touch her. Or worse, only touch her in a platonic way.
When she came home from Columbus that night, all I wanted was to fuck the hurt away. I’m not that guy, though. I ignored my urges and only offered her comfort.
“I got it,” I tell her. “You want me to cut up the bread?”
Her eyes flash with alarm. “No! Don’t touch it.”
“What if I just fondle it a little bit?”
She laughs. “You’re such a creep. Don’t fondle my sourdough.”
“Just some dirty talk?”
A light flush blooms on her cheeks. That’s...encouraging.
“Have at it, as long as you’re done when I get back in fifteen minutes.”
She goes upstairs and I hear her turn on some music. She loves ’80s songs. I’m just glad she’s not curled up in a corner listening to “Everybody Hurts” by REM on repeat. She was so upset the night she broke it off with Shane I thought she might be down for a while.
Lainey’s resilient, though. And brave. That time she showed up at my house to tell me she had feelings for me, I reacted the way an adult should act when a minor tells them that. I told her we couldn’t get involved and I couldn’t take her to her prom.
I admired her courage, though. When her parents suggested that maybe she become a science teacher instead of reaching for her own goal of getting a doctorate to become a microbiology researcher, she told them she knew what she wanted and she was going to get it.
People told me I’d never make it in hockey. Especially after I got cut from my high school team. But their doubts were fuel to my fire. I refused to be outworked.
I’d be so damn proud to have Lainey on my arm. She’s a strong, smart, beautiful woman who doesn’t let anyone put her in a box. It might not be fair for me to shoot my shot with her when she’s ready, but I don’t think I could forgive myself if I didn’t at least try.
“No way!” Lainey laughs as she scrolls through the photos on Suki’s phone from yesterday. “How long did it take to clean him up?”
“Hours,” Carter grumbles. “It wasn’t just him. There was mud all over the house. Wait ’til you get to the one of the shower.”
Mara is sitting next to Lainey, and she howls with laughter when she sees one of the pictures. Suki told us she and the girls were walking Darling yesterday and he bolted for the muddy front yard of a house under construction. By the time they got home, Darling, Suki and all the girls were covered in mud.
A few months ago, Carter had a contractor build onto their garage. They added a big bathroom with an oversized walk-in shower for Darling because he got too big to fit in their regular tubs and showers.
“Aw.” Lainey meets Suki’s gaze. “The one of Darling putting his snout right up in Carter’s face.”
“That’s my favorite,” Hallie says.
I snicker because I was the first one Suki passed the phone to, and I saw how pissed Carter was as he scrubbed their pet pig. He even had to wash mud off his ass.
“No more walks,” Carter says. “He gets plenty of exercise in the yard.”
“I agree,” Suki says.
We finished dinner, which turned out amazing. Harry raved about Lainey’s bread, which actually was the best bread I’ve ever tasted. Now we’re all sitting around my dining room table, which is being used for the first time ever, talking over after-dinner drinks.
“Olivia, how are the figure skating lessons going?” I ask.
“Good. It’s fun.”
“She’s doing great,” Carter says.
They set her up with private lessons with Sam Granger, a former Olympic figure skater who lives in Cleveland. Charlotte plays hockey and Hallie takes all kinds of different lessons but loves gymnastics most.
“You guys did so much work on that amazing dinner. Let us clean up the kitchen,” Suki says.
“No, we’re not worrying about any of that until later,” Lainey says.
She and Suki keep talking, but I don’t really hear what they’re saying. I’m completely hung up on how Lainey looks tonight. She’s wearing a little black thing she called a romper.
It’s low cut, a one-piece outfit with wide, short sleeves and shorts. Her hair is loose around her shoulders and when I was close to her in the kitchen earlier, I smelled perfume on her that I swear is laced with sex pheromones.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen her laugh and smile as much as she has tonight. Harry brought her a bottle of wine and a candle and I caught myself feeling a flare of jealousy when she hugged him.