Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 125866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
When we were dry, I helped her into bed, pouring her a tall glass of iced water and watching her drink half of it before she put it on her bedside table. Then, I climbed in behind her, curling her up in my arms and savoring the sated sigh she let out when I did.
“I love you,” I whispered against the shell of her ear, and I smiled just as she did.
“I love you, too.”
“I hope you know I’ll never get tired of hearing that.”
“I’ll check in on that in ten years.”
“Go right ahead. It’ll still be true. And ten years after that, and ten years after that, and ten years after that, and…”
“Okay, okay,” she said, shimmying into my arms more. “Less talking. More sleeping.”
“So bossy when you’re tired.”
“Get used to it.”
I smirked against the back of her neck, kissing her softly and settling in to sleep.
Get used to it.
Yeah, I liked the sound of that.
Madelyn
Kyle’s face didn’t look promising when he came through the front door a week after our engagement, a heavy sigh leaving his chest and that massive hand of his running through his hair. It was a bit longer than when I’d met him, and he looked worn from the week of training camp. The first pre-season game was this weekend, and he’d been pushing hard to get ready for it.
From what he’d explained, these pre-season games would be his chance to seal his spot — and, hopefully, be named as a starter on the team. I hadn’t seen him play yet, but if he was anything like he had been in high school, I had no reason to worry about him making it.
Then again, when he was in high school, he was just a kid. He didn’t have a care in the world other than football.
Now, he was newly engaged to a train wreck of a woman with a crazy ex-husband and a six-year-old kid.
Boxes littered every corner of my home as we prepared to move into the new house Kyle had purchased for us.
And for reasons I wasn’t sure I even understood, he wanted this life. He chose it. He chose me.
I was trying really hard not to be so surprised by it all. I wanted to be confident, the way I used to be. I wanted to hold my head high and shrug like, “Of course, he wants me. I’m amazing.”
But the truth was I hadn’t felt that way in a long time — not until Kyle looked at me the way he did, and touched me the way he did, and loved me the way he did.
Slowly, he was bringing back a bit of who I used to be while simultaneously helping me slip into who I would be in the future. He was showing me what it was to feel safe and cared for, how just those two truths alone allowed me to be more of a human and less of a mess.
He was showing my son how a calm, warm, loving household felt.
He was showing himself that he was nothing like his father, that he had more to offer the world than what he ever imagined.
Still, my stomach was in knots as he stepped inside the house, and I felt a wave of nausea wash over me when he slid his hands into the pockets of his joggers and lifted his eyes to mine.
Those bright blue pools were shielded by furrowed brows and a tight-lipped smile that told me we were in trouble.
“Well?” I asked, hoping he was playing a joke on me even when I knew he wouldn’t — not in this situation.
Kyle swallowed, shaking his head just marginally.
I deflated.
“We’re fucked,” I said, falling onto the couch and burying my face in my hands. I actually thought I might throw up.
A warm hand slid down my back as a heavy body sank down next to me, and Kyle kissed my temple, exhaling a long, sad breath against my shoulder.
“I tried to reason with him. I promised we would happily drive Sebastian to him when it was his days, that we would never try to switch up holidays or weekends — no matter what my game schedule looked like. I assured him the school Sebastian is transferring to is far better than the one he’s attending now, and that everything monetarily would be taken care of.”
“But he didn’t care.”
Kyle sighed. “I think he feels like he’s lost control of the situation.”
“Of me,” I corrected, letting my hands slap against my thighs as I looked up at Kyle. “He can’t stand the thought of me being happy without him.”
“Well, that’s just too damn bad for him.” Kyle’s jaw was hard then, his eyes sliding from sympathy to rage. “He wants to take us to court? Fine. Let him. He’s going to regret it.”