Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
“Did he say what it is?” I reached for her phone, but she jerked it back.
“You can’t cheat! Go see your husband. He’s at home. I won’t be a part of your evil ways.” She grinned, and I laughed.
“I think you might be taking it a little too far.” I was already standing, though, excitement shooting through me. Parker had done something nice for me, and it was killing me not to know what it was. “I’ll see you later, Mom.” I kissed her cheek and tried to walk away.
“Elliott?” she said, holding my hand.
“Yeah?”
“I just… I know I already said this, but it’s good to see you happy. When I first heard about the marriage, I was hurt and angry. When you said you had feelings for him, I thought it was just you covering your ass. I’m not proud of that, but it’s true. Seeing the two of you together, though, and the way you look when you talk about him…well, I was wrong, and it’s clear you absolutely adore him. I can’t say I’m not still a bit upset that I didn’t get to see you two get married, but the most important thing is that my son found his person, and that’s priceless.”
My throat tightened. My tongue felt like it was swelling while my gut twisted and turned. I didn’t know how to respond. I felt like the biggest piece of shit in the world. “Mom—”
Buzz! Her phone went off again. “Oh. It looks perfect!” She hid the screen from me. “Go see Parker.” She pushed me toward the door.
I went with a heavy heart, thinking about her the whole drive home.
The second I stepped into the house, I smelled sugar, cinnamon, lime, and coconut mixed with other sweet, spicy, and delicious scents. “What is this?” I asked, seeing all the plates and bowls laid out on the kitchen counter. Parker stood beside it.
“I wasn’t really just hanging out with the Beach Bums today,” he said as I approached. When I reached the counter, I saw numerous Cuban desserts: arroz con leche, shortbread cookies, pastelitos de guayaba, Cuban churros and capuchinos, and a rum cake. “I was playing around with different treats. I remembered you telling me Cuban desserts are your favorites. I…well, I’m sure they could use some work, and I probably didn’t get them right, but you always do nice things for me, so I wanted to do something nice for you.”
The heaviness in my chest gave way to a light, floaty feeling that spread down into my stomach, exploding in a kaleidoscope of…fuck, I didn’t even know… Joy? Gratitude? Warm and fuzzies? It felt like all those things. Parker had put a lot of thought into this. He’d looked up recipes and bought ingredients and had then made all these things for me because he knew I liked them. And that felt…indescribable. All I knew was an echoey feeling in my head and giddiness flittering through me. I’d had nice things done for me, I’d had people tell me I was attractive, and I’d done well at a million things in my life. None of them felt as special, as perfect, as the thought of Parker doing all this for me.
“It’s okay if you don’t like it…if I crossed some line I didn’t know was there. I wanted to show you I appreciate you. I thought we could watch a movie tonight and have a Cuban desserts party—though if you don’t like something, you’re not allowed to tell me. I figured it could be a date. You said we are dating, and—”
I silenced Parker with my mouth. God, what was wrong with me? I wanted to melt into him, wanted to hold him and thank him and tell him this was the kindest, sweetest, most incredible thing anyone had ever done for me. I couldn’t make sense of why I was so fucking emotional over this, but as my tongue dipped into his mouth, exploring and tasting the familiarity of him, my heart punching at my chest like it wanted to break out and burrow into his, I…well, honestly, I thought about running, changing my name and disappearing because this was scary and impossible and something I never thought would ever happen.
This wasn’t just a crush. This wasn’t just attraction.
I liked my husband.
I wanted more with my husband.
How in the fuck had this happened, and what the hell did I do about it?
We settled on the couch together, food on the coffee table, cuddling, eating, talking, and then watching movies. This marriage thing wasn’t so bad at all.
* * *
I’d never been insecure about myself. I knew what I wanted, and I went for it. I didn’t stress about things or overthink them. However, ever since I discovered I was in real like with my husband, it was all I seemed to be able to do.