Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 90098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
“I will!”
“Good boy. Ben and I will be at the finish line. Oh, and remember to close your eyes when they shoot the color dust, okay?”
One of Sarah’s reminders.
“You sound like Mommy—that ain’t cool,” Chip laughed.
I sucked my teeth. Fucking brat.
As I’d guessed, the run started just on the other side of the lawn, over the small hill, but it still made me a tad nervous to let Chip out of my sight. Thankfully, the race was gonna start in a few minutes.
I bit at a cuticle as I watched Terri and her staff usher approximately fifteen young kids up the slope, and Chip turned around and waved excitedly to me.
I smiled and waved back.
Ben came up next to me. “I never wondered, by the way. If you loved him.”
I glanced over at him.
He smiled, still looking in Chip’s direction. “I miss those days sometimes. Alvin was never into activities that tend to attract crowds, except for one thing. He was obsessed with watching marching bands at games.”
I smiled too.
“He’d wear noise-canceling headphones and fuse himself to me right up until the band started playing,” he said. “He became a whole other person.” He nodded up the hill. “Kinda like Chip. For a short moment, Alvin was all energy and excitement. Couldn’t sit still to save his life.”
I was looking forward to meeting him tomorrow.
“And now…” Ben sighed. “Now he’s into bath bombs and chalk.”
I chuckled—wait, chalk? “Chalk?” I’d heard about the bath bombs, and I’d actually read up on it. Because every now and then, in between reels of bar food and sports, I sometimes saw those videos pop up on Facebook. Bath bombs being taken apart, sparkly fingernails clicking against glass, people cutting soap of all things…
It was a whole thing where visuals and sometimes primarily sounds gave off pleasing vibes for viewers.
Ben laughed through his nose and nodded with a dip of his chin. “Yeah, that’s the latest. He orders blocks of gym chalk online and breaks it apart in his videos. Can you fuckin’ believe it? His last one got four hundred thousand views.”
Seriously? Four hundred thousand?
“Jesus.”
“I know.” He shook his head, and we started walking back toward the finish line. “He’s got nearly twenty thousand followers now. It’s insane.”
Gym chalk, huh? I made a mental note.
Because one thing was clear. Ben missed the fuck out of his son, even though they saw each other at least three or four times a week these days. In other words, Alvin was my best weapon. If I could get that guy to like me…?
“Speaking of Alvin, I reserved a corner booth for tomorrow,” I said. “He can have his back to the whole dining area if there are too many impressions.”
“I appreciate it. Thank you.” He folded up the sleeves of his flannel shirt. “He’s mostly sensitive to sounds, but too much movement will drain him too.” He nudged me with his elbow. “He’s looking forward to meeting you.”
“Oh yeah?” I grinned. “Have you talked me up good and proper?”
He chuckled. “I, uh…I introduced him to Nutella and pretzel sticks. No talking up necessary after that.”
That made me laugh. Priceless!
“He says they have the perfect crunch. Plus, he loves Nutella.”
Well, I was a genius, so…
We found a good spot near the finish line that wasn’t too crowded, and I circled back to how Ben had ended up here today. After a weekend of working extra, he only had today off before he returned to day shifts tomorrow, so I’d assumed he’d sleep more.
“I was in the area,” he replied. “Someone in River North wanted to get rid of two solid oak kitchen tables on Craigslist, so I hightailed it over there. The tables look like shit, but it’s good material.”
I smiled to myself and scratched my nose. “That explains your slutty handyman outfit.”
He didn’t precisely take the bait. “Should I worry that you have named all my outfits? The slutty handyman, the slutty casual wear, the slutty road worker—”
“And it stops there,” I pointed out. “You only have those three.”
“I don’t need any more.”
“I didn’t say you did. I’m just saying it hasn’t exactly been a huge project to come up with three names.”
“Clearly,” he snorted. “You’ve shown zero creativity.”
I grinned and scrubbed a hand over my mouth, beyond addicted to the way we talked. He was just so fucking easy to be with.
“It’s actually four now,” he added. “Ma bought me a button-down at Old Navy the other day. Apparently there was a sale.”
“What color?” I eyed him. His casual wear included jeans and a dark-green Henley that he looked incredible in.
“Black.”
I nodded. “Hot. But it doesn’t count as a fourth until you have pants that go with it.”
“What kind of bullshit rule is that? I have the same pair of jeans for the handyman and the casual.”