Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
“Yep.”
“Say anything else?”
I shrugged. “More of the same. Likes going to sleep with you, waking up next to you, taking all the space in your closet…”
The warmth in his eyes was indescribable. “Giving her my closet was a small sacrifice.”
A year ago, I wouldn’t have been able to imagine my brother with anyone, but now I couldn’t imagine him without Anna. They were cut from the same cloth, two peas in a pod, Romeo and Juliet. “When are you gonna ask her to marry you?” I glanced out the patio window and saw her scrolling through her phone, oblivious to the fact that Damien was home and talking about her.
He was about to take another drink, but he stilled and stared at me with narrowed eyes, like he imagined I said something completely different. “I’m surprised you just asked me that.”
“Why? It’s not like I asked when you lost your virginity or something.” I rolled my eyes and turned back to the wine in my grasp. Damien and I didn’t really talk about that stuff, but since we were spending more time together, I thought it was time we started. Instead of teasing each other, we could choose to be friends. Our dad wouldn’t be around forever, and all we would have was each other.
He chuckled slightly then looked down into his class. “Cassandra Davies.”
I turned back to him, eyebrows raised. “What?”
“Remember her? I think I was a freshman in high school at the time.”
I made a disgusted face. “Gross. Damien, I wasn’t actually asking. I was just making a point.”
“To answer your first question, I don’t know.” He drank from his glass as he looked at her on the patio. “I’d ask her now if I knew she’d say yes.”
“Oh, she’ll say yes.” A woman didn’t talk about a man like that unless she wanted him forever.
“We talked about it several weeks ago, and she said it was too soon. Not too soon for us, just too soon for her to get married again.”
“Well, I don’t think she feels that way anymore.” The last person on her mind was that jackass Liam.
He shrugged. “She’ll tell me when she’s ready.”
“What kind of fantasy is that? A woman doesn’t want to tell a guy she’s ready. She wants him to know.” I set my glass down and refilled it, because I usually blew through wine like it was water. “I’ll feel her out for you.”
“I don’t need you to do that.”
“I’ll just nudge her. Come on, we’re friends.”
“Fine.” He grabbed the extra glass of wine. “Don’t make it obvious.” He went to the patio and set the wine down in front of her.
When she looked up from her phone, she realized he was there, and she quickly tossed her phone onto the table as she rose to her feet, her eyes brighter than the sun. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she leaned into him hard to kiss him.
His arms circled her waist he tugged her body, kissing her like he hadn’t just seen her when they woke up that morning.
I wished I could find a love like that, but that simply wasn’t in the cards for me.
The three of us had dinner together on the patio, Damien and Anna sitting close together with their hands intertwined on the armrest of the chair. Their fingers stayed locked together and they occasionally exchanged glances, like they were thinking about what they wanted to do once I was gone.
I felt like a third wheel and tried to leave, but they made me stay, made me watch them be madly in love.
I took a bite of the tiramisu, knowing I was eating way too many calories, fat calories, but I chose not to give a damn.
Anna kissed him on the cheek before she excused herself to the bathroom.
My brother was a perv, so he turned to stare at her ass as she walked away.
“Ah-hem.”
Damien turned back to me, a boyish grin on his face. “What?”
“Don’t be gross.” I sliced my spoon into the layers of dessert before scooping it into my mouth.
“That’s my girlfriend. Not gross.”
“It’s gross when your sister is watching.”
“Then don’t watch.”
I took a few bites as I stared at him. “Next time I come over, I’ll bring a blindfold.”
“Bring some duct tape too.” He smiled.
I rolled my eyes dramatically, but picturing the tools used to kidnap somebody made me think of Heath. He didn’t try to do any of those things when he grabbed me. He probably would’ve had a much easier time if he had, but he’d completely underestimated me. “What’s the Skull King?”
Damien’s smile quickly vanished at the perverse question. His entire body stilled, and he looked at me like I’d said something incredibly offensive. His elbow rested on the armrest, his fingers brushing over his chin. “Where did you hear that name?”