Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
“What size do you wear?” Otto’s other cousin asked.
“Six and a half?” Were they going to change my shoes, too? Everyone wore rain boots!
“That’s Mom’s size,” his cousin said, spinning on her heel. “I’ll see what she has.”
“I can just wear these,” I said to Heather quietly, my voice strained.
“Not with the rest of it,” she replied almost apologetically. “Just trust us, yeah?”
“Cowboy boots,” the cousin announced, striding quickly back toward us a minute later. She lifted a battered pair of brown boots up.
I wanted to argue, but with all their eyes on me, I lost my courage. Quickly, before I could change my mind, I stepped out of my boots and into the cowboy boots. They pinched a little, and the bottoms seemed kind of slippery, but they fit.
“Good,” Otto’s aunt said with a nod.
“Makeup?” one of the cousins asked.
“No makeup,” I said quickly, shaking my head. I’d let them change my clothes and hair even though wearing my hair down made me feel like I was going out in my pajamas and I was pretty sure I was going to trip wearing the cowboy boots, but I was not wearing makeup.
“What the hell did you do?” Otto snapped, walking into the room from wherever he’d been.
“Does it look bad?” I asked worriedly before anyone else could speak.
“No,” he replied quickly, still scowling. “Are those Aunt Farrah’s boots?”
“Mind your business,” his aunt shot back.
“We’re heading out,” Heather announced, ignoring Otto’s scowl. “I’ll see you back at the house for dinner.”
“Be careful,” Otto ordered.
“You know we will,” one of his sisters-in-law said soothingly, patting his back as they started to file out of the room.
“I’ll see you later, yeah?” Otto said quietly, moving in close.
“Do I look ridiculous?”
“You look beautiful,” he replied. “Just different.”
“Different bad?” I hadn’t been able to look in a mirror and by his response to the changes his family had made, I was seriously concerned that I looked even stranger than normal.
“Just different,” he countered. He leaned down and kissed me.
Good grief, would I ever get used to that?
“I’ll see you tonight.”
“Okay,” I breathed, staring at him like an idiot.
“Alright, lovebirds,” his mom interrupted. “Let’s go.”
I took a step back from Otto and turned to follow her toward the door.
“Get a dress, yeah? A white one,” Otto called out as we left.
Chapter 10
Otto
“I thought they were on their way back,” I muttered, looking up at the clock.
We’d been sitting in my parents’ kitchen, drinking beer and killing time for the last hour. Thankfully, all of us boys knew how to cook and dinner was warming on the stove, because the women were a lot later than they said they’d be.
“Talked to Bishop not fifteen minutes ago, and he said they’re fine,” my dad replied easily. “Don’t get your panties in a twist.”
“Not sure why we didn’t send a member with them,” I muttered. “Bishop’s a fuckin’ civilian.”
“Bishop’s family,” my dad countered, flicking his beer cap at me. “And we didn’t want a member out with them, callin’ attention to the group.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“You’re such a worrywart,” Rumi joked, leaning back in his chair. “They’re fine.”
I’d understood why they’d chosen to go shopping immediately. They were trying to distract my bride from all the shit that was happening behind the scenes, with the added bonus of getting to know her and delicately getting information from her without her realizing it. That didn’t mean that I was stoked they’d been gone all fucking day.
“Esther’s probably fuckin’ exhausted,” I argued. “She’s had a hell of a day.”
“Understatement,” my dad murmured. “Poor thing.”
“You’re really gonna marry her, huh?” Rumi asked seriously.
“I’m really gonna marry her,” I confirmed.
“Why?”
The question hit me right in the solar plexus and it was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that I’d been ordered to, but I couldn’t get the words out. Sometime between when I’d been kicked in the balls with the order to marry Esther and sitting down at my parents’ table, something had changed.
It wasn’t like I had some burning desire to marry Esther, far from it. But I also didn’t want people to think that I was being forced into it. She didn’t deserve that. When she’d stood surrounded by women that morning but looked at me for reassurance, I’d suddenly realized that it was me and her now. Somehow, we’d become a team.
I could think of worse things.
“We’re havin’ a baby,” I replied blandly.
“You don’t have to get married just because you’re havin’ a kid.”
“You’ve met Esther.” I shrugged. She wasn’t the type to shack up with someone without being married.
“Still—”
“Your brother’s made his decision,” my dad interrupted. He knew about the order. “Leave it alone.”
“She won’t fuck you again unless you’re married,” Rumi said, pointing at me. “That’s it, right?”
I was out of my chair before I even realized that I was moving.