Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 98487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
I laugh. “Speaking of Owen, you talk about me to him?”
His lips quirk. “All the time.”
I lean into him as we share a smile, but then Fitz starts to cry. Evan picks him up, trying to comfort him until he tries to eat Evan’s face. “Shel, bring a boob! Fitzy’s hungry!”
“I’ve got two. I’m coming,” she calls through the house, and then on cue, Zac starts to cry.
“Pose, I think your kid wants a boob too,” he calls out, and his sisters come quickly to get their kiddos. I giggle as the kids are collected, and then Evan cleans up the toys. I ignore the pain that reminds me I’ll never be able to breastfeed, but then, I don’t even know if I’ll have kids.
“Do you want kids?”
Evan throws a bunch of toys into a box in the corner. “Yeah. I want a big family. You?”
“Me too.” He gives me a sly smile, but I don’t return it. “Just throwing this out here, but you know, with the gene I have—”
“We’d cross that bridge together,” he says simply, falling into the seat beside me as my heart vibrates in my chest. “Just as I have your back, together, we’d have our kids’. Just like my parents have mine and Aviva has yours.”
Why am I about to cry? I wrap my arms around his neck, burying my face against his chest. “Are you good?”
I agree very aggressively. “God yes, I’m having a blast.”
He laughs at my quick answer as he pulls back to look at me. His eyes search mine before he kisses my lips softly, sweetly. “I know my family is a lot.”
“They’re awesome.”
“They’re something, for sure,” he says, leaning into the couch. “My brothers-in-law have learned to just let us be. They used to try to defend their wives, but the girls shut that down.”
“That’s incredible,” I snicker, pushing away my tears.
“Yeah, now we make fun of them too. Which was a lot of fun when we’d get together for holidays. But now we have games against each other, us being IceCats and them as Assassins. Owen will deliberately hit Aiden, just to fuck with him.”
“I can’t with you guys,” I laugh, and he grins. “I was thinking I was jealous earlier. I wish Aviva could have been just my sister instead of my mom and my dad.”
He slides his hand into mine. “Yeah, that’s hard, but I think she did a great job. She needs a trophy. We buy them for my mom.”
I laugh. “I’ll look on Amazon.”
“I’ll send you the link.”
I lean into him, kissing his shoulder as he kisses my forehead. I take in the huge living room as I put my head on his shoulder. It has a massive sitting area with an even bigger TV, while the walls remind me of a museum. Family photos are the art on display. A room with a door that leads outside is decorated with a whole bunch of Shea Adler’s memorabilia, and then there’s a hallway connected to the kitchen. To the side, in an alcove surrounded by windows, is a large, pristine black piano. I swear it sparkles, it’s so shiny.
“Who plays that the most?”
He smiles. “Used to be me.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, it’s my great-great-grandma’s piano that my dad got when she passed. My grandma and grandpa drove it in from Boston, which was a thing ’cause they took Owen and me. We were like six, but I had to go ’cause I wanted it, and Owen went ’cause I went.”
“Two peas in a pod.”
He smirks. “That's what my grandma called us.”
Evan looks down at me, and the smirk turns to a grin. He leans in, kissing my nose before getting up and heading to the piano. I rest against the arm of the couch, setting my chin in my hands to watch him better. He opens the piano, cracks his knuckles, and then the most gorgeous melody comes from the instrument. I’m in awe as he moves his fingers along the keys, producing what I think is a Bruno Mars song.
Soon, the living room fills with his family, and I notice that his mom is wide-eyed. Even Mr. Adler looks surprised, which is confusing to me. Quinn leans into the wall as Posey sits on the arm of the chair her dad sat in, holding Zac to her chest. Shelli leans into Aiden, holding Fitz, as Boon walks in, sitting beside me. I look at him, and he seems just as confused as everyone else.
Hell, as confused as I am.
In a whisper, so I don’t disturb all his family members who are completely enraptured by Evan, I ask, “What’s wrong with everyone?”
“Evan hasn’t played that piano since he came home from South Carolina.”
My heart stops dead in my chest as I whip my head back to see him playing as if he is the only one in the room. It’s him and the piano. It’s so beautifully tragic to think he hasn’t played. When he finishes the last note, he goes right into another song so effortlessly.