Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 93284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Fuck me, but he made my insides feel like jelly. My hot face caught my attention and I wrested the palm of my hand to feel my cheeks. They were flushed with arousal, which meant he knew what he was doing to me.
Apparently I hurt his feelings by not calling. Guess I should remedy that.
I headed to the store and made quick work of the task of buying chicken.
I dumped the groceries into the floorboard in the passenger side, and started up the truck. As I was backing out, I noticed a man sitting in a beige Chevy truck nineties model. I didn’t make eye contact because he looked away when he noticed me watching him. I shook off the creepy feeling of having his eyes on me and headed home.
I arrived home and put all thoughts of Hot Man Sam behind me as Chewy and Janie barreled towards me from the front door. I had the vague thought that maybe I should run before 130 pounds of girl and dog hit me like a freight train and threw me back into the truck with a thump. Fuck that was going to leave a bruise.
“Up Chey, up Chey!” Janie squealed as I simultaneously reached down for her and patted Chewy’s big ass. Janie launched herself into my arms and we all clambered into the house and I shut the door.
“I’m home, Mom. You can start drinking now.” I joked as I walked towards the kitchen with my bags. I unloaded them, and put everything away except for the chicken which I then opened and started cutting the fat off the edges.
Just then I heard the front door open and close and Ember yell “Where is everyone?”
I said, “Kitchen.” and went about cutting up the chicken. I washed my hands and went to the pantry to get the yellow rice. I tossed it in the general direction of the counter and reached down to get a pot and measured out the water. I started the water boiling and set out another pan to brown the chicken heaping a big spoonful of butter in the middle of it. I used a pair of kitchen scissors to make the fat cutting process faster, and then tossed the chicken into the pan to brown.
While doing this I listened to Janie talk to mom and Ember about what she did today at daycare. Really all you could understand was a few select words, and the rest was gibberish. She was getting better though, I still remembered when she said her first word. James was so happy when I called him and let him hear Janie say “dada dada” over and over again.
I turned to the kitchen table and joined into their conversation by mentioning who I saw at the store and what had happened.
Mom was the first to say “Didn’t I tell you that you should never touch without asking? You didn’t need a father to tell you that, because I did.” Of course that would be what she picked up on. Whatever.
Ember laughed and told my mother “Chey never listens, don’t you know that by now?”
Annoyed with where this topic was heading, I turned around and went back to dinner ignoring them as they went back and forth about everything I ever did wrong in my life. This was an easy dinner, so it didn’t take much concentration, which was good because my mind kept creeping back to Sam. I was putting the finishing touches, and portioning it all out onto plates when Ember asked “Do you want to go shoot pool with me tonight?”
“You know I don’t know how to play pool, and it hasn’t changed since the last time you asked me.” I replied as I brought Janie’s plate to the table and set it in front of her. I then took away the cell phone that she somehow managed to sneak out of my pocket when I wasn’t paying attention, shoving it back into my back pocket. I then turned around and poured tea into a sippy cup, and three juice glasses. I carried my plate and cup to the table and sat down while my mom and Ember got up to get theirs as well.
Dinner was not as messy tonight as it normally is because this is one of Janie’s favorites, and she doesn’t waste much of the food. She was practically licking the plate when she was done. Poor Chewy was staring at us from his sprawl on the floor with sad eyes; he would have to be happy with regular dog food tonight.
I piled the empty plates into the sink and started putting away the leftovers and putting the pots on the floor for Chewy to lick clean.
“I’ll do the kitchen if you go with me.” Ember said.
Damn. She sure did know what to do to get me to go. “Clean my room and we have a deal.” I said to her making eye contact. She made a face and thought about it for a moment.
“Fine. But I get to pick what you wear.”
That sounded acceptable since we both had the same taste in clothing, and I said “Yes. Just let me get Janie in bed then we can start getting ready and go.”
I walked to Janie and picked her up and carried her to her and James’ room. I pulled out her pajamas laid her down on the bed. I stripped off her dirty clothes and diaper, changed her into a clean one and put her into her pajamas. I took her into the bathroom and ran a wet wash cloth over her face and brushed her teeth. She liked sucking the watermelon toothpaste off so she was agreeable to this. Walking back into her room, I grabbed her favorite book that we read every night and began to read to her.
Dr. Uses was easy and fun to read, so I wasn’t bothered by this. What I did mind was when she would say “Again, Again” over and over. If she didn’t get what she wanted then she would throw her tantrum, and the night would go downhill from there. Finally after the third round, I told her that was it, and laid her into the crib and covered her. I walked briskly out of her room, shut the door and headed straight to my room; all the while screaming followed me.