Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 93578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 468(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 468(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
“Because one might fade, but the other? Never. That’s my two cents.”
Edward sighed.
“Thank you,” Felicity said. “And happy anniversary.”
That evening, we wandered the streets of Little Italy, ate pizza, drank wine, and bought souvenirs for my nieces and nephew. We had fun, but I noticed that Felicity was quieter than usual.
“Everything okay?” I asked her as we turned back the covers and slipped between the sheets.
“Yes. I’m just tired.”
“Are you too tired for S-E-X?” I pulled her closer to me.
She laughed. “No.”
But she didn’t kiss me, or sling a leg across my thighs, or slide a hand down my stomach.
“Hey.” Rolling to my side, I propped my head on my hand and looked down at her. “What’s going on?”
She played with my chest hair, her eyes focused on her fingers. I noticed she’d put the ring on before coming to bed. “I keep thinking about that couple. Seventy-two years.”
“That’s a long time.”
“I think about your parents. My dad and Frannie. Your sister and Neil. Even Winnie and Dex—you can just tell they’re going to be together forever.” She looked up at me. “How do some people get so lucky, and others just . . . don’t?”
“Born under different stars, I guess.”
“I guess,” she said sadly.
“Hey, listen. Our stars might not come with seven-plus decades and eight kids, but they’re not so bad.”
She tried to smile. “No.”
I wanted a real smile back on her face. “What do you say we do this every year?”
“Do what?”
“Meet up for a weekend in New York—or anywhere else in the world. I’ll pick you up in a jet, we’ll rent a hotel suite, eat at fancy places, see shows, go shopping, or even better, avoid people and do nothing at all. Just . . . be together. Like this. You and me.”
“That sounds nice.” But there was no smile.
“You sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine.”
I didn’t believe her, so I did my best to distract her with my mouth and my hands and my cock—I knew exactly how to kiss her, touch her, make her body arch beneath me. I knew what would make her gasp, what would make her sigh, what would make her cry out again and again. I knew how to bring her right to the edge and pull her back, and I knew when she’d had enough of the game and needed the release. I knew the taste of her, the scent of her, the sounds she made when I was so deep inside it hurt. I knew how it felt to have her fingernails rake across my back and her fists tighten in my hair and her body clench mine as I lost myself inside her.
We fell asleep immediately afterward, but I woke her up the next morning with my head between her thighs.
Because I also knew it was all going to end soon.
FIFTEEN
FELICITY
The day after Hutton and I returned from our trip, I met Millie and Winnie for breakfast at Frannie’s bakery.
Saturday mornings were always crowded at Plum & Honey, but Winnie had managed to snag a table in the back, and she waved frantically to me as I walked in. Millie was already at the counter, and a moment later she sat down with a plate Frannie had heaped with our favorite treats—monkey bread muffins for Win, blueberry lemon scones for Mills, pain au chocolat for me.
After sneaking into the kitchen to hug her hello, I ordered a cup of black coffee and sat across from my sisters, who swooned over the ring, the box at the Met, the story about the dress.
“Nooooo! You and those bloody noses!” moaned Winnie. “Is the dress ruined?”
“Not really,” I said. “You can hardly see the spot.”
“I love that you had one fancy day and one day just dressed down for yourselves,” said Millie.
I smiled. “Me too. We had so much fun both nights.”
“I bet you did.” Millie’s eyebrows peaked above her coffee cup.
Winnie’s sister radar perked up, and she glanced back and forth between us. “What’s that look? What don’t I know?”
“I was just wondering if Felicity had to use a safe word in New York.”
Winnie’s jaw fell open. “Oh my God. What?”
“Didn’t you know?” Millie grinned wickedly and whispered, “Hutton has a kink.”
Winnie’s eyes bulged as she stared at me across the table. “I cannot believe you have been withholding this information from me, and I demand that you tell me everything immediately.”
I rolled my eyes and pushed my glasses up my nose. “Listen. Do I ask you everything about Dex in the bedroom?”
“No, but I tell you everything anyway.”
I laughed. “Well, I’m not like that. Some things are private.”
My sisters exchanged a look. Winnie blew a raspberry. Millie booed and gave me a thumbs down.
“At least one little detail, please?” Winnie clasped her hands.
I sipped my coffee for dramatic pause. “I did have a safe word. Although I don’t think I used it correctly.”