Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
“Not much else to say. When we broke it off, I needed to talk, and she was the person I trusted.” We finished that conversation, and then he started telling me about his friends—the police officer, Chase, who had brought me home, and his boyfriend, Kellan. He also had a friend Griffin, who owned a bar and was Kellan’s brother and best friends with Chase. Then there was a guy named Josh, who owned a local gym and was apparently gay. Law made a point to tell me that. It seemed this little town had a bigger queer population than it had when Law was growing up.
“Then there’s Knox.” Something about the small smile on his face when he mentioned Knox’s name made my gut twist into a knot. “He owns a hardware store I’m assuming you’re going to have to take a trip to eventually. You’re gonna need a lot of shit for this place.”
“Yeah…” I nodded, still stuck on Knox. There was a familiarity in how he’d said Knox’s name, in Law’s smile, that he hadn’t quite used for the others. “Are the two of you dating?” I bent to pick up a plastic tub. The truth was, it couldn’t matter if they were. Law and I were friends and nothing more. Hell, we weren’t even that. We were just trying to be.
“What? No. Knox is straight. He and Griff both are. He’s a good friend. Probably the best one I have.”
It was obvious Law had a good life here. That he was happy, which he deserved. Like always, he’d found his niche, his people. It had never been easy for me to do that, well, outside of Brit and him. I didn’t begrudge him that. It was simply a reminder of another way we were different.
We continued to work, and it didn’t escape my attention that Law seamlessly put things into the correct piles—keep, trash, donate. A couple of times he asked about something, and maybe once or twice I corrected him, but other than that, he knew what I would want and what I wouldn’t.
He told me stories about his friends and about his brother being married. “Alesha, that’s his wife. She’s pregnant.”
“Uncle Lawson, huh?”
He grinned. “Yeah. I’ll be a kickass uncle. Lucky kid.”
I chuckled. It was such a Law thing to say.
“What about you? How’s your mom?”
“She’s doing pretty well, actually. Her Parkinson’s isn’t really aggressive, which is good. We all know that can change at any time, of course. Leslie lives with her now, but Mom is pretty independent. The medication they have for it is better than it used to be, they say. She has some slight balance issues sometimes, a bit of a shuffling walk, and her speech is affected. She speaks slowly, measures her words out, ya know? But she’s okay.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” Law nodded, and I could see the sincerity in his eyes. “How are Leslie and Martin?”
I groaned because it was a sore spot. “Okay, I guess. Martin has a girlfriend and two kids, a year apart. Not married. I got them a house, and I’m putting him through college, which is good.”
“And Leslie?” He cocked a brow at me. She was the middle child. She’d always been a handful, and that hadn’t changed.
“Not great.”
“I saw about the DUI online.”
“Yeah, and that isn’t even the tip of the iceberg.” She’d completely trashed the house I bought her, and had lost every job she’d ever had. I didn’t want to get into all that, though, so I said, “It’s fine. We deal with it. Hopefully, she’ll get it together one day.”
“If not, at least she has you to take care of her.”
“Law…”
“I know. I’m sorry. Let’s talk about something else.”
I thought for a moment, tried to pick one of the good times, and there were so many. We were hardly out in public together, and I’d traveled during a lot of our relationship, but there were still so many good times. “Remember how we used to stay up all night sometimes—after that first night. We’d watch the sunrise.”
He didn’t look at me, and it made the ache in my chest deepen.
“I never got why that was your favorite time of the day,” Law said.
“Because it’s a beginning. A fresh start. There are so many possibilities, ya know? That day can be better than the one before.”
A curl fell to his forehead, and he pushed it back. Christ, it didn’t matter how many years had passed, Lawson was still fucking beautiful. “That makes sense.”
“I don’t do that anymore…ever. I mean, I’m not going to say it’s never happened, with traveling and shows and all that, but it’s never been a conscious decision. I’ve never just stood there and watched.” Why hadn’t I? It wasn’t like I’d never enjoyed a sunrise before Law. But I didn’t do it anymore. I hadn’t since him.