Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 77793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
“Granny said I’d messed things up, so I had to come here to fix them.”
She blinks at me. “Things?”
“Um, yes. Things.”
“She didn’t tell you what things?”
“Not per se, no.”
Her brows crease, and her eyes nearly cross. “Gah, I should have known better. It’s not things, Orion. There isn’t anything between us to fix. The papers got messed up because you spelled your fake name wrong in several places, so they couldn’t process them. I got another copy from my lawyer. I was going to mail them to your granny, and she was going to forward them on. You were not supposed to end up on my doorstep.”
Hmm, nope, definitely not happy to see me, or maybe she has one heck of a talent for hiding her delight behind a glower. Yes, a glower.
“It’s not technically a doorstep. Really, it’s more of a hallway.”
Her frown lines furrow into her forehead, but she’s still so pretty, regardless. She’s so beautiful that it hurts me in all the spots, not just the very obvious male spots. I’ve missed her. I’ve missed her sass, seeing her smile at me, and also her frown. I’ve missed the late nights, the treehouse, and getting chased by raccoons. Not only that, but I’ve missed getting divorced, except we’re not really divorced because it appears I’ve botched it as badly as I botched the getting married part.
I put my hands up in a gesture that says I come in peace. “I don’t remember the wedding, I’m very sorry to say, and I also genuinely don’t remember spelling my name wrong. I didn’t do it just to make things complicated for you or to make it so I could come down here. Although, now that I’m here, I’m happy I am. I’ll fix the papers. I’m sorry I got it wrong. I wasn’t trying to stress you out.” When I signed them, I didn’t have a reason to want Echo to stay or to want to be here with her.
It’s crazy the difference a week can make.
Also? If that’s the sign she was talking about, I hope it’s a sign sign.
Because I finally understood what my brothers got their boxers in a knot about when they met their ladies. Now I understood why they’d even consider leaving the family and all they knew to start a new life. Before, I was just lonely. And after Echo left, I was…um, I’m not even sure there’s a word in the language for the hole that was torn inside me. Unfortunately, no amount of food or family or hacking could fill it. I tried. My brothers tried. Even Granny tried.
Granny. Right now, I’m very thankful she’s a scheming Granny as well as a badass hacker Granny. She could have taken care of those papers by mail, but instead, I’m here.
“Well, I’m here.” I realize I shouldn’t just stand here and let long gaps happen in the conversation because I’m likely to get the door slammed in my face that way. As it is, I’m very likely to get it slammed in my face anyway, and I’d really like to talk Echo out of doing that. “And now that I am, after two flights and a very long layover, I was wondering if you’d like to get sushi and talk divorce papers.”
Echo hedges. “I…I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
I can read the major doubts all over her face. She looks sad. She looks so sad, and it absolutely slays me. Just to make her smile, I would freaking stand on my head wearing nothing but unicorn gotch, the kind with a cotton-candy-colored mane out the back and a horn on the front.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you, and I didn’t mean to be the reason you didn’t join the family. If you still want to, that’s what’s important. I promise you, I’ll support that, and I won’t do anything to get in the way of it again. On the other hand, if you don’t think kissing you and…and…well, getting close has to be mutually exclusive, and you’d still like to join the family, don’t let pride or fear or those things you admitted you felt get in the way. I think you’d be a great fit. I’m sorry I kissed you, except it’s the kind of sorry that means I’m sorry I drove you away and kept you from doing something you were made to do. I’m not actually sorry I kissed you because it was amazing, and I think, just for that space in time, we weren’t two lonely people. We were just in the moment, doing what felt good and right, and my rapcay, did it ever feel onderfulway.”
“Whoa. Did you just speak in pig Latin?”
“I made an attempt at it. I’m not really sure if that’s how it works. Mostly, I just wanted to see you smile. Would it help if I said I wanted to see your frown flipped upside down?”