Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“Me too,” she said, giving me a smile.
By the time I got to the door, I’d already lost her to her book.
“She okay?” Callow asked, standing in the kitchen leaning back against the counter.
“Thanks to you,” I said, walking right into his arms, melting into him as he wrapped me up tight.
“You would have done the same thing,” he said, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “But you didn’t have to.”
“Yeah, I did. She’s a pain in the ass, but I really like Daph,” he said with that mix of annoyance and affection that so many parents could relate to.
“She claimed she’s done having fun for a while.”
“Thank fuck. Gotta at least let my knuckles heal before she gets out there again.”
“How did that happen?” I asked, pulling back, then reaching to grab his hands, looking at the damage that had been done again. “Didn’t you have a gun?” Daphne had mentioned gunshots.
“I did,” he confirmed. “But I was really fucking pissed off. And… sometimes that brings out an ugly side of me.”
“I think if that side beats men who want to hurt my daughter, it’s not really ugly,” I told him, reaching to take his hand, careful not to touch his knuckles, and leading him with me to the couch.
We curled up there together for the rest of the day, watching TV and just enjoying each other’s company.
“So,” I said sometime later, looking up at him. “What now?” I asked.
“Now, I think I owe you a third date.”
Callow - 1 week
Daphne was having a sleepover at Allie’s place. The two girls wanted to gush about the book series Daphne had been staying up late every night to read, leading to her being grumpy and slow in the mornings.
It was something Sabrina decided not to be upset about since the kid clearly earned a little escape after the shit she’d gone through. Besides, the late night reading meant she wasn’t trying to sneak off to go anywhere.
Surprisingly, Sabrina had welcomed Tammy into the apartment the day after the kidnapping. She’d brought a basket full of snacks and self-care shit and had been apologetic for not being more responsible for the underage girl.
She wasn’t a bad kid either. Just kind of adrift in the world, having grown up with two parents struggling with addiction who treated her like shit and barely kept a roof over her head. No one could blame her for getting out early and finding the easiest way to make a boatload of money that would let her be independent of them.
That said, I think Sabrina and I were both pleased that Daphne had reconnected with Allie. At least we knew that when she was with her, she was also with Britney and Sam, who would keep an eye on the two of them for us.
That allowed me to finally get a chance to take Sabrina out again. This time, without any threat hanging over our heads that might ruin it for us.
I didn’t need Sully’s input for this date, either.
It was all just kind of kismet.
When I’d been checking out venues, I noticed that one of the bands that Sabrina had a concert tee of was playing a local show with another band she said she’d liked.
So I got the tickets and worked out a plan with Daph to make sure she was somewhere safe for the night, so we didn’t have to worry about her.
Because we were heading into the city, going to the concert, then getting a hotel room for the night.
Sure, we’d been together every night since I’d first moved into her bed. But it felt nice to get time together… privately.
“Okay. Is this good?” she asked when she walked out of the bedroom after fretting over her outfit and hair and makeup.
It was the first time I’d seen her with any makeup on since the night of our kayak date.
She’d put on black skinny jeans, some combat boots, and a hilariously spot-on band tee with a black sweater over it.
“That’s perfect,” I said, getting up off of the couch.
“Are you still not going to tell me where we’re going?”
“We’re going to the reunion concert of the band shirt you’re wearing,” I told her.
She actually had to look down to see which band that was. When she did, her face split in a giant grin.
“Really?”
“Really,” I said. “But it’s in the city. So we gotta get moving.”
She was like a little kid for the next several hours. She gushed over all the sights in New York, telling me all of the food we had to try before we went back to Navesink Bank, bouncing as we waited to get into the venue, getting tipsy and screaming her lungs out, and buying just about everything at the merch stand.
“Lean in,” she demanded for the fifth time as she pressed herself against me, raised her phone, and snapped no fewer than a dozen pictures.