Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 72945 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72945 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
“I love you,” I say and he stands and kisses me for a long time as Pride rolls from one song into the next and the crowd goes insane. They’re cheering for their favorite band—but I can pretend they’re cheering for me.
Finally getting the man I love.
“Congrats!” Marie says further backstage, away from all the noise. She hugs me close and tight. “God, I’m so happy for you.” Ansell and Baptist remain up front, watching the show from the wings.
“It feels so surreal,” I admit, leaning back against the wall. “A year ago, we were basically strangers. And now we have this theater together and we’re getting married and I’m having a baby soon.”
“It’s good though, right? How fast you can fall when you find the right person?”
“It’s magic, honestly.”
“You’ve been through a lot,” she says with a sigh. “You deserve this.” She hugs me again and I lean my head against her shoulder. “What ever happened to Tony Cowan, by the way?”
I smile to myself. “His studio burned down. He lost everything. Then a bunch of the people he’s been torturing over the last decade came forward to tell their story and he’s pretty much ruined. I hear he moved to LA to try to find work, but nobody wants to get anywhere near him.”
“Poor Tony.”
“I used to love his movies. Now I hope he’s suffering.”
“You’re sick. I love it.” Marie laughs and sighs as she tilts her head back. “You know, this isn’t how I pictured it at all.”
“What do you mean?”
“Our future. I thought we’d be at Drake, doing big things.”
“Instead, we’re doing big things on our own.”
“And I’m still at Drake.” She laughs and shrugs a little. “Ah, well.”
“There’s only one thing bothering me still. Have you heard from Bella Baby in a while?”
Her face slowly falls and she shakes her head. “She married William and practically disappeared.”
“What the hell happened?”
“I don’t know. Honestly, I’ve been worried sick. Ever since I found out that she’s my half-sister, we were trying to reunite and double down on our friendship, but—” She tugs on her hair. “It’s been silence for months.”
“Shit. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sure she’s okay. Baby’s always been… well, you know.”
I laugh and we lapse into silence, enjoying the show. After a while, Baptist comes back and takes Marie’s place. She rejoins Ansell near the stage, and Baptist wraps his arms around me, hugging me close.
“What do you think?” he asks. “Want to do this every night for the next twenty years?”
“That sounds fucking perfect.”
He laughs. “It won’t be easy.”
“I don’t want easy.” I kiss him gently. “I want you.”
“Well then, you have me. Now let’s go walk around the floor and get a feel for how things are going, all right?”
“Lead the way.”
He takes my hand and tugs me along, and we walk together into our theater.