Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 60931 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60931 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Call me ASAP!
Before I reach the door, I get a text.
“Fuck …”
Anna: At least I get to wake up to one of the Steinmann men
Anna: Just not the one I expected
Eric: I’m so sorry
Eric: Please don’t engage with him
Eric: Don’t give him any alcohol
Eric: He’ll fall asleep soon. On my way!
Anna: LOL He’s lovely. Take ur time
Anna: Make sure u bring us breakfast <3
Lovely? No. My dad is not lovely. He’s slippery and draining. He’s a walking advertisement for depression and a host of other mental issues. Lovely … he is not.
Against my better judgment, I stop for bagels before going to Anna’s. I waste no time getting inside the house and kicking off my shoes.
“Morning, son.” Dad greets me with a sly grin before sipping something from a coffee mug.
Please let it be actual coffee.
Anna sips something from a mug as well. When my gaze slides to hers, she smiles, and her cheeks turn pink. Making a quick glance at her leg, I feel a little bad for my impatience last night. I feel … ten percent guilty. Who am I kidding? It’s closer to five percent.
“What, uh…” I return my attention to my dad “…are you doing here? And how did you get here?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“Cab. And I was afraid you were having all the fun without me.”
Perfect. Why do I get the impression that his idea of “fun” is something he saw on a porn site?
Clearing my throat, I set the bagels on the counter and retrieve plates and a knife for the cream cheese. “How did you get here without an address?” I do my best to control my frustration, but it’s hard. It had to be creepy as fuck for Anna when my father, whom she had never met before today, just showed up unannounced.
“I paid attention to your location last night and managed to find the right house on the third try.”
Handing Anna and my dad their bagels, I offer a smile as stiff as my tightly wound nerves. “How Sherlock Holmes of you.”
“I thought so,” he says with pride.
Anna giggles while I pour myself a cup of coffee and sit beside my dad. “Will asked me about my thoughts on helping him get your mom back.”
I cough on my coffee, banging my fist on my chest while eyeing him through narrowed eyes. “W-Will?” I cough some more. Does she know my dad’s name is William? He’s gone by Bill forever. Will is a young kid, a moderately put-together architect living in the burbs, not a sixty-year-old man who hasn’t had his toenails clipped in so long he could climb a tree with them.
“Anna came up with it,” he winks at her.
What the fuck? He’s winking at my girl? Okay, she’s not mine. Not yet, but I’m working on it, and I don’t need a sidekick.
“Is that so?” I scratch the back of my head, eyeing Anna.
She shrugs, dusting the cinnamon and sugar from her fingers. “He introduced himself as William, and it felt too formal. I asked if anyone called him ‘Will,’ and he said only the pretty girls.”
Unbelievable.
“Well, Will, seeing you in such a good mood is nice. And showered. That’s a bonus.”
“Anna loaned me her loofah.” Again, he winks at her.
I no longer care about his winks. He showered here?!
Anna curls her lips between her teeth and gives me another shrug—enough with the shrugs and winks. I don’t find any of this funny, flirty, or worthy of shrugging off.
“Why, exactly, would you shower here instead of at the hotel?”
“No loofah.” Dad takes a big bite of his bagel, cream cheese oozing past the corners of his mouth onto his closely shaven face. Did he use her razor too?
It doesn’t matter.
The more significant issue is the loofah. When he was forced to move out of his house, he stole my mom’s favorite loofah. She got it in India. Dad uses it to exfoliate his crack on the rare occasions he showers.
“I’m so sorry,” I murmur to Anna.
“What? No. Don’t be sorry. I’m glad he’s here. I just hope you weren’t too worried about him. He said he accidentally left his phone in the hotel room.”
I’m not sure there’s much my father does by accident. He was the most intelligent, put-together man I knew … until he wasn’t. My mom is a witch. That’s the only explanation that makes sense. She put a curse on him that drained every ounce of his dignity. Maybe it’s not just my mom. Maybe that’s the curse of all women. Eyeing Anna for a second, I give that more thought.
Admittedly, I’m impulsive around her. When we’re together, I willingly do anything to touch her, see her growing smile, and hear her addictive laughter. It’s fucking witchcraft.
“Worried …” I twist my lips, staring at my coffee. “I’m not sure that’s the right word.”