Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 69772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
When I was bored, or missed him, I’d drop by the station with his favorite sandwich or baked good just for the excuse to see him.
I loved seeing him in his element. I loved even more that he stopped everything to wrap me up in his arms and hug the life out of me.
Something he’d done since the day we’d fallen from that plane together.
Every single time he saw me after any time apart, he’d hug me like he hadn’t seen me in weeks instead of hours. Hell, I could just be outside working in the flower beds, and he’d come out and hug me until he was back to level again.
“It’s the orange peel theory,” my sister-in-law suggested.
I looked up from my contemplation of my flower beds through my living room window and looked around.
“What’s the orange peel theory?” I asked Hollis.
“Pretty much, if you ask your man to peel an orange for you, and he does it without question, then he’s a good man.” Hollis paused for a grimace. “Jesus, I didn’t think breast feeding would be so painful.”
“Amen,” Ellodie said as she, too, breast fed her baby, Cam.
Cam was born a few weeks ago, and like Hollis and Quincy’s daughter, Dalia, he was as cute as a button.
“Just wait, it gets better,” Ande drawled. “Do you have any oranges?”
I looked on with longing.
A long time ago, the thought of having a baby never even crossed my mind. Quinn and my relationship was just too messed up.
But now that it wasn’t, now that we were together and blissfully happy, I wanted what they had.
I wanted a baby with Quinn.
I wanted to see his eyes and my nose in a tiny little face.
However, despite going to the doctor, and seeing a specialist, they told me that it would likely never happen. And if it did, the pregnancy would be volatile at best.
The decision was made that we wouldn’t have any kids—at least through my body.
The stress and the pain of getting pregnant, and then hoping I could stay pregnant, weren’t something either one of us wanted to contemplate.
So, I’d gotten an IUD and we wouldn’t have to think about it for a while.
Well, at least not a child from my own body.
We had talked about adoption as well as a surrogate.
And we were both very on board.
Just… not right now.
We had a few more life things to fix.
Such as my brother, whom we were going to see later today at the courthouse when his trial started.
But first, brunch with the family.
“I have a whole ton of Cuties in the pantry,” I said as I pointed.
Ande disappeared into the pantry and came out with four Cuties.
She handed one to each of us and said, “Pretty much, the orange peel theory goes like this: if your partner is willing to peel an orange for you, it means that they’re prepared to make sacrifices to prioritize your happiness.”
I snorted.
“I don’t really need this,” Ellodie admitted. “During everything that happened with me, the man wiped my butt for me. I hate to say this, but we’re beyond orange peels.”
The group of women gathered around my kitchen table started to giggle.
“I’ll go first,” Ande said as she walked out to the yard where the kids were all playing with some of the brothers.
Keene was also there, tossing the ball around with Tex, who’d then launch it back at his father like he was competing for first place at a competition.
Ande walked right up to Keene and handed him the orange.
He absently took it, peeled it, and handed it all back to her while simultaneously catching the ball his son threw him.
Ande flashed us a grin as she came back inside, eating her orange.
“You go,” Ande suggested to me.
I rolled my eyes. “The man cut his parachute free to save my life. I guarantee he’s willing to prioritize my happiness.”
“Just do it.” Ande nudged me with her foot.
I got up and walked to where Quinn was in deep discussion on the phone with his team.
A gang shooting had happened sometime in the last thirty minutes, and I fully expected him to have to go into work here shortly, completely missing the trial.
“Hey, can you peel this for me?” I whispered to him, handing the small orange to him.
He absently took it, brought it up to his mouth, and got the peel started with his teeth before massacring it and handing it back to me.
I snorted out a laugh, pressed my lips to his, then took my orange and headed back to the table.
“Man needs to stop chewing his fingernails,” Hollis giggled.
“Agreed,” I said as I took a bite of the orange.
Delicious.
“Your turn, Hollis.” Ande nudged her next.
Hollis got up, deposited her kid in my lap, and headed off toward Quincy who was playing Mario Kart with Auden and Atlas on the television.