Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 128061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
He came through it a moment later, his steps hurried until he saw me. Then he slowed, his cobalt gaze lingering on mine before sweeping down my front. I’d changed into real clothes, thankfully, and wasn’t still wearing his old T-shirt. Not that he would have minded.
“Hey, baby,” he said, not glancing around or acknowledging anyone else in the room. This was his way of showing the world that I was the most important thing to him, and anyone else had better be prepared to wait until he was done greeting me.
The sentiment made me swoon every time.
“Hey,” I said with what I knew was a dopey grin. “We’re about to start going through the connection requests. Do you have time to hang out for a while?”
He ran his thumb along my bottom lip. “Always.”
Shivers coated my skin, and my eyes fluttered as he leaned down to kiss me, his lips grazing mine until they pressed more firmly. I opened my mouth to him, rewarded by his intoxicating taste and a thrill of electricity.
“I missed you,” he whispered when we came up for air. “I plan on staying tonight.”
“Will you be going home to freshen up a bit first?” Mr. Tom asked from beside the door. “Or maybe you’d like to shower quickly right now, put on some house sweats, and meet us back here. I doubt we’ll be very far along with the way Mrs. Sunauk chatters on.”
“Manners, Mr. Tom,” I chastised him, slipping my hand into Austin’s.
Austin’s brow furrowed as he attempted to process what Mr. Tom had said.
“Come on, the show is about to begin.” I tugged him along.
“Is he saying I stink?” Austin asked as he allowed me to pull him to the couch. He bent his head, clearly trying to get a whiff of himself. “I haven’t done much fighting or sweating today. I should be good.”
I laughed as we sat down. “Never mind him. You smell good. Spicy and masculine.”
“No gorilla trailing along behind you, huh?” Nessa mock-pouted. “And here I wore my good ponytail holder.”
Sebastian spat out a laugh. “That’s as much as you try anymore, huh?”
“Like you can talk, rocking your sweatpants.”
“These are sports sweats. They count as pants.”
“I don’t think you’re going to thaw that gorilla,” Ulric said as he opened his laptop and sat down on the couch behind his mom. “He’s got a lot of baggage that he seems to want to hang on to.”
“He can hang on to his baggage,” Nessa responded, “just as long as he drops his pants.”
Ulric laughed delightedly. “A-men, sister. Happy hunting.”
“Mr. Steele.” Mr. Tom half bowed to Austin. “Might I offer you something to eat or drink? A sandwich, perhaps?”
“Yeah, that would be great,” Austin said, leaning back and getting comfortable.
“Can I have a sandwich, too?” Jasper called after him.
Ulric raised his hand. “I can always eat.”
“Isn’t that the truth,” Patty grumbled before clapping to get everyone’s attention. “Every gargoyle leader put his best foot forward and now awaits Jessie’s judgment on whether or not his cairn will get an audience. Shall we begin?”
“I’m about to pee myself, I’m so excited,” Nessa said, leaning forward on the couch.
Patty bustled to the far right corner. “Okay, now, Jessie. A few things—”
“Oh my God, she is great at dangling the bait.” Nessa puffed out a breath, still leaning forward in anticipation.
“Ulric has a spreadsheet open.” Patty gestured to where her son sat. “On that spreadsheet I have listed all the cairns, those who sent gifts and those who did not. I will stop myself here and mention that those who did not send anything, in this instance, likely didn’t think they had anything to offer. Almost anyone of relevance did send a gift. So we are in very good shape going into this. Let’s have a round of applause for a great start…”
Patty clapped animatedly. Nessa joined in, shoving Sebastian with her elbow to make him clap too. Jasper and Ulric looked around in confusion with their hands poised.
“I have the cairns and their statuses pre-entered.” Patty nodded at the laptop. “Ulric will enter what you’ve received today. A summary, Ulric. We just need to refresh our memories later on.”
“I’m very good at vague thank-you cards,” I said, feeling the anticipation burn through me.
“Oh my no, Jessie. No, no.” Patty shook her head, her blond curls dancing. “No, dear. There will be no thank-you cards. You will either send a delicate rejection letter—I can craft that, if you’d like—or an invitation to meet. If you decide to issue an invitation, you will provide three dates—only three, mind. They will need to make one of those dates work.”
“But what if I want to meet them and they don’t have the space on their schedule?”
Patty stared at me for a long beat. “Dear, you are the only living female gargoyle in existence. The only one who has existed for some time. The gargoyle world at large was starting to think shifting females were a myth, that they’d gone extinct and would never come back. All these gargoyles”—she gestured around the room at the packages—“are desperate to meet you. They might not want to be led by you just yet, since that’s another ball of wax, but if you turn out to be the genuine article within the community, their status will increase merely because you’ve given them an invitation. They will move heaven and earth to get here. Providing three dates is generous.”