Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 131728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
“Isn’t he?” Chloe agrees. “Too bad I’m not allowed to touch him.”
“Eww, he’s my brother. Nobody is allowed to touch him. Gross.”
“Not even me?” Chloe raises her eyebrow.
“Especially you. Concentrate on Dr. Grayson.”
Our eyes all float over to Blake Grayson as he stands in the corner. Tall with ruggedly handsome good looks. “God damn it, he’s a gorgeous piece of man meat,” Chloe whispers.
“Too bad he’s a total man whore,” Rebecca replies.
“That’s half the appeal,” Chloe says, her eyes fixed on Blake.
Rebecca turns up her nose in disgust. “Not appealing to me at all.”
From the corner of my eye, I see Taryn throw her arms around Henley’s neck, and I feel my hackles rise. Henley unpeels himself from her grip, and his eyes come to me. Ugh, he knows it annoys me when she touches him.
“What’s your brother’s story?” Rebecca asks. “Married or . . . ?”
“He had a girlfriend for years, and she was killed in a car accident three years ago.”
Her face falls. “Oh no.”
Henley hits his glass with a spoon, and everyone quiets down. “Dinner is just about ready, guys, but before we head out back to eat, I have something I want to say.”
Everyone falls silent as we wait for his smart-ass joke.
“I just . . .” He pauses as if collecting his thoughts.
“You what?” Blake says impatiently.
“I wanted to tell you . . .” His eyes come to meet mine.
What is he doing?
“So a few months ago I got a new neighbor.” He raises his beer to me. “And I didn’t realize how much I was in dire need of . . .” He tips his head to the side. “Her friendship.”
“I thought you hated each other,” Antony says. Everyone chuckles.
“We did,” he agrees. “What you don’t know is that Juliet and I already knew each other before she moved in. In fact, years ago we went on a date.”
“Oh no,” Taryn sighs. “Where is this going?”
Rebecca, Chloe, and I get the giggles.
“Spit it out,” Blake says.
“What I’m trying to say is that Juliet and I are . . .” His eyes float over to meet mine, and I smile at my beautiful man. “I’m very happy and extremely blessed.”
“For fuck’s sake, spit it out,” Blake sighs. Everyone chuckles once more.
“Juliet and I are together.” He holds his arm out for me, and I walk over and join him. His arm slinks around my shoulders, and he kisses my temple.
“Like together, together?” Taryn gasps, horrified.
“Yeah.” Henley smiles proudly down over at me. “Together, together, and you don’t know what a relief it is to finally fess up to you all.”
Carol bursts out laughing. “This is a joke, right?”
“What?”
“You honestly think we didn’t know?”
“Wait . . .” Taryn frowns as she looks around. “You all knew about this?”
“Of course we knew. It’s so obvious. You jump the fence every night.” Carol taps her nose.
“Oh.” Henley laughs. “Neighborhood watch . . . right.”
Henley kisses me softly, and everyone cheers. His eyes twinkle with a certain something. “Let’s eat. Dinner is served.”
He grabs my hand, and we walk out into the backyard with everyone behind us. “What the hell?” Henley yells.
My eyes widen in horror as I look around. “Oh no.”
The food is everywhere, muddy footprints are on the white tablecloth, and Barry is sitting up on the white couch eating a whole cooked chicken.
“Barry,” I cry. “What did you do?”
Henley looks around and assesses the damage and inhales deeply before saying anything. “Who wants pizza?”
Three months later . . .
Henley
I walk down the street with Blake and Antony. It’s Tuesday, and we’re on our way to lunch.
“You should just go for it,” Antony says.
“I can’t just fucking go for it,” Blake snaps. “She’s not even divorced yet. The bed hasn’t even gone cold.”
I roll my eyes, unimpressed with Blake’s obsession with Rebecca. “Do me a favor and never go for it.”
“Why?” he snaps.
“Because she is Juliet’s friend, and we live on the same street, and we all know that you will completely fuck this up and I will never hear the end of it.”
“That’s a very good point,” Antony agrees.
Blake rolls his eyes. “I just want one night.”
“You can’t fucking have it. Find someone else to lust over. Rebecca is off limits to you. Permanently.” We pass a jewelry store, and I stop and peer in. Blake and Antony keep walking, turn to see what I’m looking at, and walk back. Blake puts his hands into his suit pockets as he looks in at the jewelry through the window. “What are we looking at here?”
“Engagement rings.”
“Why?” His eyes widen.
“I’m going to ask Juliet to marry me.”
“Again, why?” He winces, horrified.
“Fuck me.” Antony drags his hand down his face. “You’ve been with her for two fucking minutes. Calm down.”
“Right?” Blake agrees. “Why would you want to get married?”
“Because I love her. It’s been the best three months of my life. I’ve thought long and hard about this. I want her as my wife.”