Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 94716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
The ladies were in the living room talking about the men of the Bachelor, but I was on sensory overload. My head was absolutely pounding a livid beat behind my eyes. I’d remembered so much over the course of the past two days that I literally couldn’t process it all.
When the table was clean, I made my way to the front porch and around to the side of the house where no one was. I curled up in one of the Adirondack chairs that Honey had resting on their beautiful wrap around deck, and closed my eyes. A warm hairy mass nudged its way onto the seat beside me, and I opened my eyes to see Kodiak half on and half off the chair, laying his head onto my lap.
My arms encircled his massive head and I held on tight. Closing my eyes again, I finally succumbed to the sleep that was pulling at me.
I woke to find Jack leaned over in front of me. He was wiping the silent tears from my cheeks with the back of his hand and looking at me with a slight frown on his face.
“What’s wrong?” He asked.
My head was still pounding, but I didn’t want to be the reason he left, so, instead, I played it off. “Bad dream.”
Jack’s frown showed he didn’t like my answer, but he didn’t push me either. My eyes traveled from his face, down his arms and I noticed that he’d changed back into his usual jeans and a sweatshirt. He smelled wonderful, too.
Closing my eyes, I let his scent fill my lungs. The pounding behind my eyes dialed down a notch, and I opened my eyes and smiled.
“Okay, I have a headache.” I admitted finally.
“Thought so. You used to need silence and fresh air back then too, before it’d go away.” He said quietly.
Licking his lips, he gave me a kiss on the forehead, and then blew on it. The cold wet imprint of his lips on my forehead felt like heaven. “Wow, that was great.”
“Yeah, used to do that all the time, too.” He said before he stood.
It was then I noticed that Kodiak was still sprawled out on half of my body. Snickering at the site he made, I nudged him with my hand and he lifted his big face from my lap. “No wonder I was so toasty warm.”
“I have a feeling we’re gonna need a bigger bed.” He surmised.
I beamed at him. I wasn’t aware we were keeping him, but that announcement made my day.
“Let’s go. I need to get to Adam’s house and do some erasing on his computer.” He said with a laugh.
“He doesn’t really have porn, does he?” I asked seriously.
He gave me a look that said I was naïve but cute. “Whatever you say, dear.”
Chapter 9
I think we dream so we don’t have to be apart for so long. If we’re in each other’s dreams, then we don’t have to be apart for so long.
-Winnie the Pooh
Winter
After getting Tai settled in the second guest bedroom of Adam’s house, Jack took a seat at the computer and I took a seat on the couch looking through old photo albums. Sons of Anarchy was playing in the background but I was ignoring it since my favorite character was being a bad boy and cheating on his wife.
“What are you doing?” Jack asked me curiously.
I looked up at him and saw him staring at me as if he thought I was a crazy loon. Although, now that I looked at myself, I probably did look stupid. My hands were covering my ears while trying in vain to block out the moans coming from the TV.
“I don’t like this part.” I said lamely, keeping my hands over my ears.
He rolled his eyes, and then glanced at the screen. “What the fuck are you watching?”
“What I’m not watching is my favorite character having sex with a club whore while his wife’s in prison. What I’m not watching is my respect for the man dwindling down to the barest of threads. I think I can’t watch this show anymore. I could deal with the drugs, the killing, and all that fun stuff, but I cannot abide a man cheating. That’s just wrong and fucked up. I would never be able to stay with a man who did that to me.” I spat.
By the time I was done with my tirade, I wasn’t sure if I was talking about the actor on the screen or just men in general.
Over the past three weeks, I’ve been seriously wondering how a man like Jack could have gone seven years without having sex. I mean, come on, the man thought I was dead. Wouldn’t a man have those needs, regardless of if he had a dead wife or not? Who could blame him?
It was then I started to get mad. If I’d been able to make it seven years and not do anyone, surely he would too. Yet, I didn’t feel comfortable asking him those questions, because I wasn’t sure I would like the answer if I did. I knew I was being irrational, but I was mad. Furthermore, the man hadn’t even made a move towards me yet.
He hadn’t done anything more than just give me a peck on the lips and a hug here and there. Neither did he hold me at night. Once he thought I was asleep, he would roll over and put as much distance in between us as the bed would allow. I was starting to feel unwanted.
“Well, we wouldn’t have that problem. You’d never go to prison.” He said distractedly, as he turned back to the computer.
“I would if I shot somebody.” I murmured darkly.
Him, for instance.
“First of all, you’d never have to, because I’d do that for you if the need ever arose. Secondly, if you did have to, that would mean I was seriously injured, and I would take your place. You wouldn’t go to prison. I wouldn’t allow it.” He said with conviction.