Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 72856 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72856 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
“Isn’t it supposed to be perfect for both of them?” I asked.
He shrugged.
“I don’t know. But honestly, he should’ve just let her have whatever she wanted. They ended up doing that anyway,” Tai explained.
“Little brother,” Jack said as he opened the door with a smile. “I fought with her so she’d give me something in return. Tat for tit.”
Tai laughed.
“Don’t you mean tit for tat?” I asked.
Jack grinned.
“No, I mean tat for tit. I gave her what she wanted, and she gave me her tit…” Jack was suddenly not able to speak anymore due to the very mad red head on his back, covering his mouth.
“Please, for the love of all that’s holy, don’t say anything more…or I might very well kill you,” Winter seethed. “She’s our guest. She doesn’t know you or your sense of humor, so please act civilized instead of so uncouth.”
“Uncouth?” Tai asked, the same that I was thinking.
Who said ‘uncouth?’
Certainly not me. I wasn’t sure that I’d ever heard it in regular, every day conversation.
“Shut up,” Winter said, pointing a finger at Tai without removing the rest from Jack’s mouth. “You’re just encouraging him.”
Tai shook his head and grabbed my hand, leading me up the front porch steps and straight into the house, completely bypassing the still bickering couple.
“Wow,” I said as I got my first look at the house. “This is beautiful.”
Tai nodded. “It is.”
I let my eyes wander around the room, taking in the huge ceilings and painted white trim.
How did they even dust that high? I wondered.
“You’re wondering how we keep the windows clean, aren’t you?” Winter asked.
I nodded. “Do you have to get up on a ladder and clean them?” I asked, turning to her.
She nodded. “We do.”
“What are you talking about, woman?” Jack asked as he joined us. He didn’t stop though. Instead, he walked to the kitchen and grabbed two beers out of the fridge, handing one to Tai as he took a seat at the bar-height countertop. “I clean the windows. You just sit there and look pretty while telling me where the spots are that I miss.”
I giggled.
Jack turned his gorgeous eyes to me.
“You look skinny,” he said. “How have you been doing?”
I smiled sadly at him.
Winter elbowed him in the ribs, causing him to grunt.
“Do not bring that up. It’s hard enough to get through the day. You don’t add shit on top of it,” Winter hissed.
She sounded like she was speaking from experience. But like she said, you didn’t add shit on top of the shit you were already dealing with. You just moved on, and hoped that you didn’t break down in the middle of your day and cry.
Jack’s eyes, however, never left me.
He was obviously taking in the weight loss. The more angular shape of my cheekbones, and the way I could now wear a size smaller skirt.
The one I was currently wearing was one I hadn’t been able to wear since high school.
“I’m doing about as well as I can be, I guess,” I said. “How are you doing? You don’t even look like you were affected by donating bone marrow.”
And he didn’t.
He looked just about as good now as he did two months ago before he’d gone into surgery.
“It’s been different,” he said. “I felt like I had a two-ton truck sitting on my hip for the first week. But it got better and better, until I barely ever noticed the pain anymore,” he said. “But I’ve just now started going back to lifting my old weight numbers and running like I used to be able to.”
I smiled at Jack.
He was a good man.
Letting go of Tai’s hand, I walked up to Jack and threw my arms around his neck.
“You’ve done something special,” I said. “Even if Colt couldn’t use it, someone will. And you’ll change someone’s life. I just know it.”
His strong arms banded around my shoulders, holding me to him for a few long seconds before he let me go.
I smiled and stepped back, going over to Tai once again.
Tai reached out once I was close enough and gathered me to him, pulling me into his arms.
“Where’s the hellions?” Tai asked.
“Bed,” Jack and Winter answered at once.
“Bed?” Tai asked, pulling his wrist up to check the time. “It’s only seven o’clock.”
Jack sighed.
Winter was the one to explain, though.
“My kids decided that they’d amuse themselves by making it snow. They did this by completely demolishing a Styrofoam box that held the telescope I bought for them,” Winter said. “It fucking clings. Did you know it clings?” She asked, pointing up.
I followed the direction her finger was pointing and saw the tiny pieces of white foam sticking to the rafters.
“How’d they get it all the way up there?” Tai asked.
Jack grunted.
“The leaf blower.”
That hung in the air for a few seconds.
“What was the leaf blower doing inside, within their reach?” Tai finally asked.