Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 106346 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106346 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“He did try to trip me,” Justin mumbles, and I look over at him, laughing. He just leans forward and kisses me on the lips as if he’s been doing it forever. I look over at Dylan to see if he saw, and he is just licking away at his ice cream.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispers, his face close to mine. All I can do is smile at him, and he kisses me again. “Everyday even more.”
“I have sticky hands,” Dylan says. We both look at him and see that the ice cream has leaked over the cone and onto his hands.
“We’ll go wash them,” Justin says, getting up and waiting for Dylan. “There is a bathroom over there.” He points at a Starbucks. “You want something to drink?” he asks me, and I just shake my head. “Let’s go, buddy.” I watch them walk into the Starbucks for Dylan to wash his hands.
Sitting at that table, I can’t recall a time Andrew ever did such a thing. Not even in the beginning. He would just look at me and expect me to know how to make him stop crying. As if I held a magical switch that would automatically get him to stop, and when the colic started, it was even worse. He would go away for days at a time, and I thought he was just staying with a friend so he could get the sleep he needed for school. What I didn’t know was that he was off getting high.
I spot Justin walking out of Starbucks with Dylan by his side, and they are laughing at something when Justin holds up his hand, and Dylan jumps and gives him a high-five. Then he holds his hand and walks across the street, his eyes making sure that he’s okay, but then looking at me.
“Ready?” he asks when he finally comes to me, and I have to blink away some tears. He must see it because he comes over to me. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I say with a smile. He puts his arm around my shoulders, pulling me to him, and for the first time, I put my arm around his waist as he leads me to the SUV.
“We should have a movie night,” Dylan says, getting into the back seat, and I look at him.
“You’ve never had a movie night,” I say.
“I know, but Justin told me about it,” he says, and I look over at Justin, who just stands there. “I thought it would be fun. We each get to choose a movie every week.”
“Is that so?” I ask, and he nods his head.
“And we get to eat pizza and make popcorn and even sleep on the couch,” he says, all amazed. “Sometimes all night.” His eyes go bigger.
“We should do it tomorrow,” Justin says. I don’t say anything as I get into the passenger seat. He makes his way over to his house, and I’m suddenly nervous. He parks his vehicle in the same place he did yesterday, and this time, he presses the button for the top floor. I look down, not sure what I’m expecting.
My palms are sweaty, my knees are a bit weak, and when he puts his hand in mine, I don’t look up. He walks to his door and slips the gold key into it to open it. “Welcome to my home,” he says. When I look at him, he even looks nervous.
He opens the door, and the sunlight hits the hallway right away. “Wow,” Dylan says as he walks in first, and then Justin waits for me to walk in. Looking down at the floor, I see it’s a light beige marble. “It’s huge.”
“It’s not that big,” Justin tries to say, and I just look at him, and he shrugs.
“Let’s start right here,” he says, walking straight and coming to the open room. I look around in awe. The whole front and one wall on the side are completely windows. “This is what my mother calls the family room.” I look around and see the huge table at the front of the room with eight chairs around it. When he steps farther into the room, I see the L-shaped kitchen behind the wall. The cupboards are a shiny beige that almost match the floor. The huge stainless-steel fridge fills almost a whole wall. Against the wall is the sink, and the stove is right next to it. My eyes fly to the island that sits in the middle with four white stools. A huge vase filled with flowers decorates the middle.
“Look at this TV,” Dylan says, and I turn to look. I love how the kitchen opens to the dining room, and right after that is the living room. The TV hangs above the fireplace. Two massive beige couches are on either side with a square wooden table in the middle with more flowers on it. The fluffy throw pillows on the couches make you just want to curl up into a ball and take a nap. “Wow, look at this,” Dylan says, running to the window.