Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 84928 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84928 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
My eyes drifted to Johnnie whose lips were quirking and, unable to help it, I threw my head back and laughed.
The door opened a few minutes later and Paine walked in, stopping dead two feet in as he smelled the air. "Is that apple pie?" he asked, looking at Johnnie, who nodded. "Sorry, Shoot but... fuck..." he said, moving over toward me and taking my hand. "Babygirl, forget this chump and marry me."
Again, my eyes found Johnnie's, his face smiling. And it was right then, in that exact moment, that I knew I had never been happier in my life.
That was until five minutes later when the door burst open to reveal Cash with a satisfied grin on his face and Lo trying to flatten out her sex-hair.
And then another five minutes after that when Reign and Summer came through, a crying baby nestled in a pumpkin seat, Summer apologizing profusely about being late.
And then two minutes after that when Alex and Breaker burst through the door, arguing over why it was always Breaker who had to drive everywhere, Alex genuinely heated, Breaker getting in jabs mainly because he liked poking at her anger.
I moved over toward Johnnie as everyone said their hellos, wrapping my arms around his center and burying my face in his neck, my eyes suddenly filling with tears. "Angel," he murmured against my hair, his arms going tight around me.
"Thank you," I said against his skin.
"For what, darlin'?"
"For this," I said, pulling back and looking around. "For you and them and everything. I've never had anything like this before. And I've never, ever had it and not been terrified that it'd be taken away from me."
"Hey, see!" Summer's voice rose above the others and I turned slightly in Johnnie's arms to see her talking to her husband, a glass in her hand. "I told you there was a right side for the glasses to be on!"
I turned my face back into Johnnie's neck and our bodies both shook as we laughed.
--
Shooter - Three months
"You gonna marry her?" Dade asked, looking off at the sprawling endlessness of his ranch, a beer tipped up toward his mouth.
"Yep," I nodded, watching the horses move around in their pastures.
We had breezed into town for a surprise visit that afternoon, Amelia nervously worrying her hands together as if she was somehow convinced everyone would look at her differently, like they somehow knew she got wrapped up in a heroin ring and watched the kingpin get gunned down. She almost seemed a little put-off when she realized everyone treated her with the same dismissive pleasantries they always had. She had me drop her off at the church on my way to Dade's so she could sit in on one of the meetings she used to lead up, connecting with her old clients.
"You're such a lucky fuck, man," he said, smiling over at me. "Prime piece like that? After what one can only assume was an unfair amount of decent tail before her..."
He was right. I was a lucky fuck. I couldn't think of one thing in my life I had done to deserve something like what I had with Amelia. But I also didn't waste much time thinking about that either. I had her; I had what we had; I wasn't going to over think it.
"It's good to see you back," Dade said when I was silent.
"You know planes fly both ways, man. I know Amy would be beside herself for a house guest. You'd probably get a turn-down service."
"You trying to torture me, man?" he asked, giving me a smile. "Showing me what I coulda had if your ass didn't steal her heart."
"You had no chance and you know it," I laughed and he did too.
"Never did with you around. So hurry up and get a ring on your finger. I want to know you're out of the game for good," he joked.
But two weeks later, I put a ring on her finger. One with a diamond you could see from space.
Ten months after that, I put another ring with that one, the kind that wasn't a promise, but was a vow.
But it wasn't then that I was out of the game for good. That happened the first minute I laid eyes on her.
--
Amelia - Thirteen months
"Breathe," Summer said, smiling.
"Take a shot," Janie suggested.
"Don't think offering the drug counselor booze is the right move, Janie," Alex chided, fiddling with the bodice of her black dress.
"Hey it worked on my wedding day," Lo said, smiling wistfully. "Three shots before I walked out there. Cash might have been a little blurry, but I made it to him."
She was right, she did make it to him. And Cash barely waited for the preacher to tell him he could, before he laid a big, wet one one his new wife, picking her up while doing so and carrying her out of there amidst the whoops and catcalls. They didn't make it to their suite either. They had sex in the storage closet ten feet from the event room where all the guests were still seated.
I was there.
It was brilliant.
That being said, being the one who was supposed to be doing the walking down the aisle and being kissed in front of most of the bad-asses in the area, it didn't sound all that brilliant.
"Look," Summer said, taking my hands in hers, her own engagement and wedding rings catching my eye. "I know it's weird that everyone is looking at you and knowing you're going to be having all kinds of sex after you seal the deal... but when you get out there and you see Johnnie watching you, trust me, everything else will fall away."
"Right. So we're done with all this clucking, right?" Janie said, popping up and pulling the hem of her skirt down. Janie was a lot of things, a dressy girl was not one of them.
"Just wait till it's your turn, Jstorm," Lo said, tugging at her hair playfully.
"Fuck that. We can get one of you ordained and you'll marry us at Hailstorm with no muss or fuss. And definitely no tight dresses," she whined, pulling at the clingy material of her very simple bridesmaid dress.