Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 291(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 291(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Though I feel so close to the men, like I’ve been with them for a long time, I recognize that, from my parents’ perspective, the situation is still fresh, so I’m not going to push. My hope is that eventually we can all meet for dinner at some point in the future, and I can introduce the men to them as my boyfriends. For now, things are actually going much smoother with my parents than I’d imagined.
“Are you hungry?” Dodge asks as I head toward the coffee machine.
“Are you kidding? I think we’ve all worked up an appetite,” I say.
Chase is at the oven, taking out a pan of scrambled eggs and bacon. “This would have been much better an hour ago, but maybe we’re all too hungry to care how dry the food is,” he says.
My hand brushes over his back as I move past him to get milk. “Thanks for keeping it warm.”
“Thanks for giving us better things to do than eat,” he says with a laugh.
At my spot at the dining table, there are two small boxes wrapped in red paper. “What’s this? It’s not Valentine’s Day yet.” I don’t know why I even ask, because over the past month, the men have repeatedly demonstrated that they don’t wait for an occasion to give me things.
“Business is doing well, and there’s nothing we’d rather do with our profits than spoil you with gifts,” Diesel says.
“And give money to the animal shelter,” I say. Since the auction, I know they’ve made at least two sizable donations to the shelter, going far and above the shelter’s fees when they adopted Shelby and the cats.
“Can’t forget that,” Chase says. “Open your gifts.”
Inside the one on top, there’s a silver charm bracelet lying on pink velvet. It has two dog charms, two cat charms, and a few complementary items like a bone, a ball of yarn, and pink crystal beads.
“I love it! It’s perfect,” I say, looking around at each of them as they smile back at me.
“Good,” Diesel says, “We can add more charms to the bracelet as we adopt more pets.”
Maddox is next to me and helps put the bracelet on my wrist and close the clasp.
“Thank you,” I tell them all, raising my arm to show off the jewelry.
“Open the next one,” Chase says.
As I unwrap the box, I think about how, now that I’m not paying rent on my apartment, I’ll have more spending money. I definitely want to start buying more things for them instead of always being the one receiving.
The second box is a wide jewelry box with a hinged lid. I open it to reveal five gold hearts linked together. There’s a chain attached to each side. When I lift it, I realize it’s a necklace.
Looking closer, I notice that the center heart is rose gold, while the other four are yellow gold. It’s me in the center, linked to my four men.
Though they’ve given me several gifts, this is the most personal and most meaningful, and it’s a minute before I can talk. Finally, I say, “This necklace reminds me of something very important that I’ve been meaning to tell you.” I look around at each of them, one by one before I add, “I love you.”
None of us had said the L word yet, but I’ve been feeling it for quite some time, and I’m pretty sure I’ve been seeing it in their eyes for days or maybe even weeks. I felt it with every encounter this morning, and I realized that I don’t care if they’re not ready to say it back; I just want them to know.
“Jade, we love you too,” Maddox says, taking my hand.
Diesel and Dodge get up and come to surround me. “We’ve been feeling it for a long time,” Diesel says.
“But we tend to move too fast, and we didn’t want to overwhelm you,” Dodge adds.
Chase, who’s on my other side, takes the chain from my hand and fastens it around my neck, positioning the pendant on my chest, a few inches from my heart.
“We love you, and we always will,” he says.