Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Blake was tired too. She’d crawled up on Piper’s lap halfway through dinner.
Elliott yawned, a sight that made Julian sit up straight and stare. The boy was taking it all in, curiosity evident in his eyes.
I gave Elliott’s hand a squeeze on the armrest, and I noticed Piper’s reaction a second too late. But fuck it, right? We’d agreed not to hide. She was going to find out.
She didn’t say anything, though. She just stopped eating and buried her face in Blake’s hair.
“I can’t believe Em and Danny did all this,” Elliott murmured. “I can’t believe…”
That all this had happened.
I had a feeling he was thinking about Tariq too. He hadn’t really been able to process the death of his friend until now.
Holy hell, he’d done it?
I rose from my seat, reactivating the motion-sensor lights, and watched Elliott trail out onto the patio without Julian.
He grinned tiredly. “He’s asleep.”
Praise Jesus or whatever. “Where?”
“Between Nicolas and Mattie.”
That was good. We’d originally thought the whole living room sleepover was a kid’s dream come true, but to two boys who’d never had their own room before, Elliott’s offer to prepare a bed in one of the guest rooms was too good to resist. He’d placed a flat screen on a chair too, which I was sure had sweetened the deal.
“I’ll have to check in on him often, but for now, he’s out.” Elliott came over to me and stole my cigarette, and he took a couple drags.
We had to quit again. We were just finishing the pack.
“So we’re actually alone right now?” I peered into the living room, where Piper and Blake had fallen asleep on the couch. The TV was still playing a Pixar movie.
“Yeah—can you believe it?”
Barely. I took the smoke from him again, finished with a last drag, then put it out in the ashtray on the table. Now I could finally get my arms around him. I hugged him tightly and pressed my lips to the side of his head.
He hummed and squeezed my middle, and he buried his face against my neck.
“How wrung out are you on a scale from one to ten?” I murmured.
He chuckled drowsily. “If ten is sleeping for a week with you in my arms, I’m a fifteen.”
He said all the right things.
I kissed my way to his lips and cupped his scruffy face in my hands. I just wanted to take care of him. He’d carried the weight of the world on his shoulders for weeks, throughout this operation, and he evidently couldn’t stop taking on more responsibilities. Madison would be here tomorrow, and we had Nicolas, Mattie, and Julian—then a dinner with Tariq’s wife and daughters. The latter didn’t involve me, so I’d make myself useful around the house in the meantime.
“I’m gonna take care of you,” I murmured. “You do what you gotta do, but when you come home, I want you to relax. I’ll deal with the furniture and whatever.”
He made another humming sound into the kiss, and we eased into a slow, sleepy make-out.
I tasted coffee and something sweet on his tongue, and this was all I wanted. Every fucking day for the rest of my life.
He pecked my lips a few more times before we went back to just holding each other.
He sighed contentedly, tension draining from his body. “I love you, Hayward.”
Fuck me.
Indescribable happiness washed over me, and I hugged him even harder. “I love you too, Jones.”
We met in another kiss, and I couldn’t shake the stupid grin. But it was okay, ’cause it made him smile.
“Say it again,” he whispered.
“I love you.” I nipped at his bottom lip. “You’re the love of my life, even. But the question is if you’ll still love me when I move myself in to your home one sock at a time, starting tomorrow.”
He chuckled and squeezed my ass. “Considerin’ you’re the love of my life too, I can’t imagine I’ll put up a fight.”
Wasn’t that just perfect?
I smiled and scratched my fingertips over his sexy scruff, and we got another lazy make-out session. More hugs too. I couldn’t fucking stop. I wanted to hold him forever.
We broke the kiss when we heard something coming from inside, and we looked through the window. No movement. Piper and Blake were still asleep. Maybe the remote had fallen off the couch, or…
“What’re we gonna do about your darling sister?” I asked quietly.
He let out a breath and dropped his forehead to my shoulder. “She already knows, so it’s up to her.”
I had a feeling she knew too, though I was curious about why Elliott was convinced.
“Did something happen?” I wondered.
He shook his head and kissed my neck. “It’s more the lack of somethin’ happenin’. She’s not stupid. She knows something’s up.” He straightened and glanced into the living room too. “I can’t hide what I feel about her fuckin’ lies. When she hugged me earlier, I got all rigid. I patted her back and stepped away, pretty much. Then add how you and I have interacted tonight…”