Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
And I disliked him once again. I sighed with aggravation as I fetched his phone.
“Password’s 696969.”
I gave him a look as I entered the numbers. “Ugh, there better not be a photo of someone’s tits as your wallpaper.”
“I think it’s a crotch shot, actually. A hairy one.”
I glared at him and he winked.
“You’re disgusting,” I whispered.
His wallpaper was actually a photo of the Stanley Cup. I clicked the camera button and held the phone up, centering it to take a photo of him and Annalise. Wes smiled, looking as happy and proud as if he’d birthed her himself.
“Want me to take one of you with her?” he asked.
“Yes, please.”
He passed her back to me and took two photos—one of me smiling while holding her and another of me kissing her forehead.
“Should we share her with the grandparents?” I asked, reluctance in my voice.
“I guess so.”
Ben and Lauren had asked us to introduce their daughter to their parents while they rested; they were both too exhausted for talking or photos right now. They were in a private birthing suite with an attached waiting room.
“I can’t believe Ben and Lauren have a kid,” Wes said as we walked toward the door that led to the waiting room.
“I know. They’re better at this adulting thing than we are.”
Wes scoffed. “Yeah, I’m not settling down for a long time. Like decades.”
I rolled my eyes because I knew what he probably had in mind—womanizing until he was in his forties and then finding a hot twentysomething to be semi-faithful to and have a family with.
And when he did have a family, Wes would be one of those fathers who showed up for photo ops but let his wife do all the heavy lifting. He’d probably pass out if he tried to change a dirty diaper.
I couldn’t actually blame him on that one. I was over the moon to be an auntie to little Annalise, and if she needed me to, I’d change her diapers, but I was in no hurry at all to have kids of my own. I had parties to attend. Places to travel to. Corporate ladders to climb.
Like Wes, I loved my carefree, single life. Though that was about the only similarity we shared.
Chapter Nine
Wes
Coming home to find not just a disaster in the kitchen, but Patrick and Susan giving Hadley a hard time rubbed me the wrong way. She annoyed me to no end, day and night, but we were busting our asses to take care of these kids, and no one who wasn’t here with us had the right to criticize. Especially not them. They’d filed a lawsuit challenging the will, the custody agreement, the money, all of it. Like I needed Ben’s money. That was laughable. The new contract I’d negotiated last year had been worth more than Ben’s, and we’d laughed about the fact that for the first time professionally, I made more than he did.
There was no doubt Hadley was stressed, too. Especially since she’d totally sidestepped my question about the incredibly hot kiss we’d shared last night. I let it go because I’d noticed her hands shaking a little as we started cleaning up the kitchen, and I didn’t think it was because of my question.
“You okay?” I asked her as we sat down to eat.
“Maybe?” The look she gave me was one of sheer exasperation. “My boss is being demanding and unreasonable, having Patrick and Susan here raises my stress level straight to ten, and I’m suddenly questioning every life choice I’ve ever made.”
“Yeah, there’s been a lot of that lately. But we’re doing it, Hadley. Messy kitchen and the occasional curse word aside, we’re taking care of these kids and making sure they have everything they need.”
“Patrick and Susan don’t think so.”
“Patrick and Susan need a reality check,” I muttered thoughtfully. “And you know what? I have an idea.”
“Oh?” She arched a brow.
“We have a game tonight and the team is probably going out after. Why don’t we give them the opportunity to spend time with the kids while we go out and enjoy ourselves a little? I mean, obviously the game is work for me, but afterward would be fun. We’re a close-knit group and you haven’t really been part of it.”
“I didn’t live here,” she said quietly.
“Right. But you do now, and I think it’ll be good for both of us if you get to know more of the gang. We’re like a family and you don’t have relationships with anyone beyond Nina.”
“So you think we should just leave for the whole night?”
“Absolutely.” I wiggled my eyebrows. “Let’s see how they do when they’re a hundred percent in charge.”
“That’s kind of brilliant,” she admitted. “I’m in. But right now, my boss is being a total bitch so I have to get some work done before she loses it.”