Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 30514 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 153(@200wpm)___ 122(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30514 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 153(@200wpm)___ 122(@250wpm)___ 102(@300wpm)
Ned’s grin nearly split his face in two. “She sounds cool.”
“She is. They all are in their own way. My sister is a riot. She’s the oldest. She married her college boyfriend last summer. My brother is a fireman. I can see him proposing to his girlfriend soon. I like her, but it’s sort of weird that he’s two years older than me, and he knows what he wants. I have no idea what I’m going to do when I graduate. I can’t even imagine planning to spend the rest of my life with someone else.” I made a pained face, then admitted, “I’m pretty sure that was exactly what I said to Kelly before we ended things.”
“Ouch.”
“I know. I didn’t mean to be callous. I honestly didn’t know she wanted all that with me.” I pointed at my chest and widened my gaze incredulously. “I mean…me? What’s she thinking? I’ve got zero to offer. Zilch. No money, no NHL contract, and no idea what I’m going to do with a degree in communications. Her dad offered me a job last summer. I didn’t think it was tied to a wedding proposal at the time. Now I’m sure it was. I know it’ll work out okay, but…”
“She isn’t the person you wanted to work it out with,” he finished in a low voice.
“No. She’s not.” I glanced out the window at the playground in the distance, thinking life was a hell of a lot easier when my number one goal was to get across the monkey bars unassisted. I leaned across his body unthinking and gestured at the swing set and jungle gym beyond. “Hey, come with me. I wanna show you something.”
“What? Wait a sec. I—”
Too late. I was already gone. It was the way I operated. Once an idea hit, it took over. And this seemed like a decent one. I pulled two sweatshirts from my trunk and slammed the door shut just as Ned met me on the sidewalk.
“Here. Put this on. It’s cold out here,” I commented.
“Yeah, but—”
I yanked a sweatshirt over his head and grinned at his cranky expression. “Humor me. Please.”
“You owe me one,” he sighed. “Actually, you owe me two.”
“I do. In fact, your wish is my command. After we climb the monkey bars.” I winked, grabbing his elbow and steering him toward the deserted playground.
The streetlights cast long shadows on the dewy grass. I released Ned’s arm to pull my sweatshirt on, then walked backward, motioning for him to hurry.
“Let’s do this before the park fairies swoop in.” I chuckled at his deadpan stare as I practically skipped to the rung of bars situated between a bright-yellow spiral slide and a huge plastic pirate ship.
I couldn’t say why, but I felt suddenly light and breezy. Like we were about to embark on some kind of crazy adventure, and anything was possible. Ned didn’t quite share my enthusiasm. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of the borrowed sweatshirt as he glanced around the park.
“Is ‘park fairy’ code for something I should be wary of?”
“You mean like a gang of badass queers who congregate here to hatch their wild plans to secretly douse glitter on the city? No, but I like that idea. Remind me to write that down.”
I jumped from the foamy surface under the equipment and wrapped my fingers around the bar closest to the ship. I was about two feet off the ground. Not exactly a big thrill, but it would work.
Ned snickered. “Sure thing. So…what are you doing?”
“We’re going to have a contest. Let’s see how many times we can go across the monkey bars without stopping. In other words, go to the slide and back until your arms give up on you. Winner chooses the next contest and—”
“Hold on. That’s not fair. We both know you’re going to win.”
“Yeah, that’s true. I’ll collect the first prize. Something easy…like you have to answer a truth or dare question. Ready?”
“No, you already owe me, remember?”
I did a quick trip across the bars, then dropped to my feet and brushed my hands off. “You’re right. What would you like?”
“Uh…I don’t know.”
“Come on. Think of something. It has to be reasonable, though. I don’t have a million bucks or a year’s supply of M&M’s in my truck,” I warned.
Ned lifted a brow. “Really? You have T-shirts and sweatshirts. Why don’t you have M&M’s?”
“That’s a genius question. I need to fix that ASAP. Truth is, I live out of my truck. Not literally, but I’ve got a lot of necessities…shoes, socks, water, a first aid kit, lube, a box of condoms.”
He wrapped his arms around himself and shivered. “How about a blanket?”
“Yep. Wait here. And watch out for fairies.”
I ran to my SUV, pulled a wool plaid blanket from the trunk, and hurried to find Ned sitting on the pirate ship with his legs dangling off the edge. I climbed the short set of stairs and draped the blanket over his shoulders.