Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 131916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Mismatched tee and shorts since he’d been insisting on picking his own clothes for the last year.
Face pure, uncompromised bliss, a beaming fuckin’ light that struck me right smack in the chest.
“Dad, save me! Uncle Otto is a monster and is going to eat me!”
Still nearly dropped me to my knees every time he called me that. Every time I looked at him, I wondered how I’d managed to steal this little bit of joy.
A thief who’d been given a gift.
The second Nolan got within reach, I scooped him up and swung him onto my side as I tossed the ball to him with my other hand. He caught it like he was making the pass of the century, hugging it to his chest and kicking his feet.
“Run, Daddy-O, run!” he shouted. “Leave him in the dust!”
Otto was still coming for us, lumbering along, so I turned on my heel and went sailing for the line of metal toy tractors Nolan had set up to indicate the end zone.
The second we crossed it, Nolan tossed his hands high again, this time with the ball over his head. “Touchdown!”
“Oh, man,” Otto whined from five feet behind because I had, in fact, left his ass in the dust.
Nolan shook his head with a shrug of his shoulder, voice completely serious. “Guess you shoulda been faster, Uncle. Now you lose.”
In defeat, Otto dropped to his knees, moaning toward the endless expanse of blue sky, and a chuckle was rolling out of me as I shook my head at the theatrics always spilling from my closest friend.
“Yeah, sucker, guess you shoulda been faster,” I mimicked, laying it on thick.
“You wound me, River. Wound the hell outta me.” He acted like he was being stabbed in the chest.
Nolan was completely aghast. “We would never hurt you, Uncle, because we really love you. Right, Dad?”
The kid looked at me for affirmation. Making sure he got in my line of sight so he could read my eyes.
My chuckle turned soft, and I ruffled my fingers through his hair as I set him onto his feet. “That’s right.”
“We help rather than hurt,” Nolan stated, and he reached out a hand to Otto. “So, that means I gotta help you right up, Uncle.”
Otto played it up as he let Nolan struggle and grunt and dig in his heels to help him onto his feet, and when Nolan gave him a giant tug, he popped all the way up. He dragged the back of his hand over his forehead like it was the hardest thing the two of them had ever done.
“Whew. You are a strong one, aren’t you, young lad?”
“As strong as my dad,” Nolan said with an emphatic nod. “Check ’em out.”
The kid lifted both arms out to the side, flexing with all his might.
“Woo wee, I won’t be tussling with you any time soon,” Otto drew out with a whistle as he pinched Nolan’s tiny muscles.
“You better not!” Nolan was all dimpled grins. “That would be the biggest mistake you ever had.”
Otto shared a knowing look with me, his devotion to this kid nearly as fierce as mine.
“All right, Little Dude, go get your stuff, it’s time to get going,” I told him, knowing I was going to break a little of his heart. “I have an appointment with a client in an hour.”
His shoulders sagged. “Oh, man, do we really have to go?”
“Yup.”
“But I hate it at Miss Liberty’s house.” He whined right through what I knew was a flagrant lie.
I cocked a brow. “You just told me yesterday when I picked you up that you weren’t ready to leave.”
Then he’d hugged the crap out of his babysitter and told her he loved her. Pretty sure there wasn’t any hate about it.
“But I’m having more fun here today.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that I have to work, so you’re going to have to go.”
Huffing, Nolan scuffed the sole of his little boot against the grass, grumbling, “Fine,” before he went stomping across the lawn and up the three super wide steps that led to the backside of the elevated wraparound porch. He slammed the door shut behind him when he went inside.
Otto laughed under his breath as he watched him go. “Looks like Little Dude has been hanging out with your surly ass for too long.”
“Fuck you, man,” I said, shaking my head, knowing even though Otto was busting my balls the way he loved to do, there was a shit-ton of validity to it.
Never in my life had I thought I’d be raising a kid.
Not after I’d taken care of Raven, terrified I was failing at every turn. Not after I’d seen the atrocities of this world. Not after I’d become who I had.
But I’d had little choice in the matter, and there’d been nothing I could do but stand up and do right by the little boy. Pray to fuck that I didn’t mess him up.