Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 122966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
Maybe I was too happy to put in a good workout. Maybe because waking up with Pipsqueak in my arms on her birthday felt like it was my birthday too. Maybe because there’d been some fantastic morning sex before we had breakfast together on the patio, the sun shining, Grace in a good mood, and Elise ecstatic over the gift I’d given her. She’d asked her parents for a new luggage set, but they’d already bought her something else, so I’d snagged the idea and included a hotel night and dinner in Seattle.
After taking a swig of water, I set down the bottle in the corner of the boxing ring and rechecked the tape around my knuckles. I didn’t understand why we needed it; the few times I did this with Ethan, he demanded open palms.
“You ready?” he asked.
I dipped my chin.
When we came at each other for another round, I tried to focus better. I tried not to think about Elise and Grace at my house, waiting for me to come home with lunch. I felt bad about her saying she was going to make her own cake, so I’d decided to make it up to her with both lunch and dinner. She was mine all day; she wasn’t celebrating with her family until Saturday.
I cursed when Ethan’s hand connected with my jaw, sending me backward several paces. Okay, fucking focus. I flew at him and hit his shoulder, then delivered a soft punch to his gut. When he grunted and bent over, I got him in the neck and pushed him over. At least I got some cardio out of it, but fighting with someone who didn’t want to mess up his hair wasn’t ideal.
He got up again, and I barely had enough time to wipe sweat off my face before he body checked me and rammed me down onto the floor with him on top. But as the air left my lungs and some mild pain radiated from the base of my spine, all I could see in my head was Pipsqueak dancing to her awful music in the kitchen at home. While she watched Grace and made a cake.
I started laughing. I had no clue why, but I just couldn’t compartmentalize the joy I was feeling. Where the fuck did I put it? Had Darius been here, he would’ve punched me hard in the face or something.
“The fuck is wrong with you?” Ethan scrambled off me and stared incredulously.
I couldn’t answer yet. The laughter was still falling out. It was goddamn bizarre. I’d never felt anything like this before. It was different from the joy I’d felt when I became a dad. No more or less, just very different. As if that love and happiness had parked its ass in another part of my ticker. Actually… It felt like my daughter had given me a heart. Now Pipsqueak was filling it with her presence, her soft laughter, her adorable smirks, and those green eyes that could bring me to my knees.
“Are you on drugs?” Ethan demanded.
I grinned and shook my head, staring up at the fans that dotted the ceiling. “No.” I chuckled quietly and scrubbed my hands over my face. “I’m in love with your sister. This is her doing.”
I blew out a breath, and I dragged myself to my feet before gauging Ethan’s reaction.
I wasn’t even nervous, just determined. Determined to make this thing between Pipsqueak and me permanent and public. I didn’t want any sneaking around anymore. It wasn’t as if we’d been overly stealthy, regardless. Elise had admitted that she’d talked about me with Willow, aside from Ryan and Angel, so they knew she and I had something. And considering how often Elise spent the night at my place, especially last year, I banked on Mary having her suspicions too.
My plan hadn’t been to confess anything to Ethan, nor had I planned on making shit official with Elise today, on her birthday, but now I wasn’t sure I could wait. Perhaps yesterday had settled things for me when the principal from school called. I just needed to talk to Pipsqueak about the whole thing.
Ethan stared at me with a blank expression.
I exhaled and quirked a smile on my way over to my water.
“You’re for real?” he asked.
I inclined my head and picked up the bottle. “It started last summer, but we put everything on hold so she could focus on school.” I chugged some water, then collected my breath. The clock above the mirrored wall told me it was time to get home to my girls, a thought that made me grin to myself.
Ethan made a face. “Shit, man, that’s bad. You look all love-sick and fucked up.”
I laughed.
“I mean, it’s good for Elise,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I know how you used to be…but you’re not that guy anymore, right?”