Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 72196 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72196 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Hence why I’d only done the easy things and then handed him over.
When I’d walked into her room in the middle of the night with TJ in my arms, I’d frozen to the spot.
She wore nothing but a t-shirt and panties.
Her breasts were unbound, and they were pressing against the t-shirt (my t-shirt that she’d stolen when she’d gotten too pregnant to wear anything else but my shirts and her scrubs) with delicious intent.
I’d barely had the heart to wake her, but since TJ had started crying, effectively putting an end to anything I’d wanted, it hadn’t mattered.
“Do you know what I’m putting on my pancakes?” Reggie whispered conspiratorially in my ear.
I grinned and opened my eyes, rolling just my head on the pillow to see Reggie within inches of my face.
“No,” I rumbled, voice thick with sleep. “What?”
Had Hannah made a feast that I wasn’t aware of? Damn, that sure did sound nice.
Normally, though, Hannah only had time for the frozen silver dollar sized pancakes that came in packages of one hundred from the store. Though, that was more than Alex had gotten when Allegra was running late and in charge of breakfast. When it was up to her, she drove Alex by Sonic or McDonald’s, got her a biscuit sandwich, and called it good.
At least Hannah fed her kid at home.
“Syrup.”
I burst out laughing.
“Oh, yeah?” I asked. “What’s the big secret?”
She grinned. “Mama warmed it up in the microwave, first. Did you know, that on the new bottle, they have a little microwave window that tells you when it’s at the perfect temperature?”
I did, but I acted like it was the newest invention since sliced bread.
“No, really?”
I pushed up to my ass and slid my feet over the side of the bed, only then realizing that I was in my underwear.
Shit.
I tried really hard not to be caught so indecent in front of Reggie.
I didn’t want to give my ex-fucking-wife any reason to call the cops. Again.
Bitch.
I didn’t know how Allegra found out the stuff she did. I didn’t know who she had working in her pocket at the police station—although thank God that was no longer a factor—but she always seemed to find a way to fuck me over.
She had to have eyes everywhere, and I was halfway convinced that she was spying on me in my own place of business.
“Mama said to let you sleep,” Reggie continued, not noticing anything of my discomfort.
I leaned down and snatched up the sheet that’d been knocked to the floor sometime in between three in the morning and now, which was a little past six. The moment I had it around my waist, I walked into the attached bathroom and closed the door, immediately yanking on the pair of sweats that’d been there from my run the day before.
The moment I was dressed, I walked back out into my room to find Reggie on her belly, her face buried in my pillow, sound asleep.
I blinked.
Literally, the kid could fall asleep anywhere.
I envied her that.
“Is there anything you want me to get at the store tonight?” Hannah asked hesitantly.
I whirled to find her standing in the doorway.
Goddammit. I really hated that she was so fucking cautious around me now.
She wasn’t sure what to say. Hell, half the time I expected to come to the house and find her packed up and gone.
I felt like an utter ass.
What I wouldn’t give to have her back to the way I first met her.
Chapter 3
Just once in my life, I’d actually like to see a liar’s pants catch on fire.
-Coffee Cup
Hannah
389 days ago
“Hello?” I answered, walking toward my car with Reggie holding onto my hand, trotting along behind me.
“You get settled in yet?”
I smiled as I looked at the door to my place.
“Yes, we’re settled…why?”
“Because,” I heard through both my phone and in front of me, “I’m here, and I want to make sure I’m not about to be sent away again when I’ve just driven two hours to see my niece.”
I looked up and immediately smiled at my brother.
“Hey, Michael,” I grinned.
“Uncle Mikey!” came my seven-year old’s screeched squeal. “You’re here!”
Michael shoved his phone into his pocket and took the stairs two at a time, making it three-quarters of the way down before Reggie hit him like a tiny little land piranha.
My brother scooped her up into his arms, buried his face into my girl’s neck, and pretended to eat her.
Reggie, of course, shrieked in glee.
She loved her Uncle Mikey with everything she had, and the day I took her away from him and moved to Uncertain, and then to Hostel from there, was the day that I ‘ruined her life.’ Or so she said, anyway.
She quickly forgot, but she didn’t forget how much she loved her uncle.
“You want to come eat dinner with me and watch a movie, Monster?” Michael asked her.