Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 95147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
I’ve also been watching her confidence grow and that shell breaking off of her back. Her sass-o-meter is on full blast all the damn time now, and I guess her pussy conferences have been giving her a boost because she puts me through my paces. I’m not sure between her snatch and Nat which one I have to look out for because both of them fill my girl’s head with all kinds of ways to run my ass.
I knew Roz was home this weekend, and from what my brother and Jackie said, she wasn’t doing so well these days. Apparently, she’s been looking for Steph to apologize, and the parents had been giving her hell once they realized I was serious about going no contact.
I’m still mad as hell at her, and there’s no way we could ever go back to the way things were, but this one was adamant that we had to meet my parents and tell them about the wedding. She’d lectured me to death about family and bullshit like she knew what the hell that meant after the fiasco that was her first marriage, but I just let her rant and rave until I was ready.
The truth is, had she not fallen pregnant this soon, they would still be waiting. My disappointment in them was still hot, though I’ve come to accept that Roz is their youngest and they were only looking out for her. Doesn’t stop me from hating that shit, though, because right is right, and wrong is wrong no matter who it is.
We pulled into the driveway, and this one decided to get nervous. It was like a balloon with all the air let out of it. One minute she was all but hopping around in her seat, but the next, she was deflated. “What if they don’t like me?”
“I like you.” It never fails to amaze me how something so simple could put a smile on her face. Then again, I like knowing that she likes me too.
Roz was the first one to see us as we entered the door using the key that I hadn’t used in months. She flew up from her chair and came running, but I gave her a look and sidestepped her with my girl’s hand held firmly in mine. I hadn’t warned Steph, but one wrong move from any of them, and we were out of there.
“Oh, my goodness, she’s gorgeous,” Jackie exclaimed before I could even greet my parents, who were staring at us like they’d been given a shock. Mom had tears in her eyes and started bawling, and dad got to his feet to shake my hand. “It’s good to see you, son, and this must be your young lady. Pleased to meet you, Stephanie, is it?”
Since when does my dad talk like a church deacon? My idiot brother was grinning like a simpleton while checking my girl out, and I could almost read his thoughts before he opened his idiot mouth. “Ah, Stephanie, Stephanie, you chose the wrong brother.” His wife smacked him across the head playfully and smiled at my girl.
Introductions were made, and everyone gathered around her, especially once the females noticed the ring on her finger. I was damn near pushed out the door as they moved me out of the way to get to her. There were exclamations of delight and some chastisement from my mother, at least about me keeping it a secret.
The only one not involved was Roz, who stood on the outskirts of this milieu looking on as the others fawned all over my girl. My dad and brother came to stand next to me, and I felt my stance ease at my dad’s first words. “Sorry we didn’t handle things better, son; we knew we were wrong, but we were caught in a hard place. Roz, well, she’s the baby, but there’s no excuse for her behavior.”
That was as close to an apology as I was going to get from him, I know, and mom was doing her own version of an apology by trying to stuff my girl with food and drink while asking her a thousand questions. Are all women this damn nosy? They were acting as if they’d known her all her damn life, and every other word was about wedding planning when they weren’t exclaiming about her beauty.
“Roz, why are you standing all the way over there? Come on over here.” I’m pretty sure everyone else in the room stopped breathing at Steph’s words. Even Roz looked a bit shellshocked at the welcoming smile on my girl’s face as she made her way over to her after looking at me.
“I hear you’re studying to be a doctor; that is so amazing. Takes a lot of smarts and hard work.” So that’s how she’s going to play it. Like she doesn’t know what Roz has said and done. She just started talking to her like nothing had happened while I stood there gritting my teeth, and the rest of my family kept giving me looks as if they expected me to explode or some crap.