Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 73230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
I didn’t want her to get the wrong idea.
There wasn’t anything going on between Casten and I.
In fact, he’d been somewhat distant since yesterday.
I’d watched him watch the older couple and something had crossed his face that I hadn’t been able to decipher.
Something possibly resembling longing, if I had to make a guess.
“I don’t know,” my sister sniffed. “I’ve never been to a wedding.”
“You’re married, dumbass,” I drawled, picking up the slimy ball that Koda had let drop into my lap and tossing it across the room.
Koda ran for it, bumping into a dozen things before she finally got it and carried it back.
The wooden stool that normally sat at Casten’s bar clattered to the floor, and I smiled.
She only liked me for my ball playing skills.
Sometimes, if I tried to pet her, she growled at me.
And I don’t know why I continued to throw the ball for her when she didn’t really care for me. It didn’t make any sense.
She loved Casten, though.
I’d heard from CeeCee that Casten had brought Koda home with him after his last tour in Iraq. She said that Koda had saved Casten’s life while on a mission. They were both injured in a roadside blast, and it was those injuries that left them both scarred.
Casten’s crew had saved Koda while Casten was hospitalized for his injuries he’d sustained in the same blast. Both Casten and his team had petitioned for her to be sent home to him.
It’d happened, but apparently it’d taken seven long months.
So she was allowed to be a little grumpy every once in a while.
“I know I’m married. But I don’t remember any of it. It’s all a blur. And I think everyone wore jeans and a t-shirt to mine. Mig told me that Casten said that this is some sort of formal affair,” Annie explained.
I sighed.
“Shit.”
I hated getting dressed up.
Hated it with a passion.
And the dresses that Casten had picked out weren’t going to be very flattering to my ass.
But, with no other choices, I opened the bag and pulled out both dresses.
One was a red number that reminded me of a fifties-style, pin-up girl type of dress.
It had a halter top that pushed my breasts up really high, making them seem a lot perkier than they really were.
The other dress was black and white polka dots. It was a little more modest, but the fit was tighter, and less skin would be showing. It molded to my body, showing off more in the long run.
“So, you think I should try them both on and send a picture to you?” I asked, placing the phone on speaker.
“Wear the red one,” came the gruff reply from behind me.
I turned to find Casten standing there.
I thought I’d been alone in his big old house but apparently, I was wrong.
“When did you get home?” I stammered.
His eyes took in my undressed self and lifted an eyebrow.
“About ten minutes ago,” he informed me. “I was watching you play with my dog.”
I blinked.
“Why?” I asked.
He shrugged.
“It’s nice to see Koda actively trying to interact with someone besides me,” he replied vaguely.
“Oh,” I murmured, turning around and giving him my back as I stripped off my t-shirt.
I was already in my strapless nude bra, something my mom had to get from my old room at her place.
The last time I’d worn it had been to my senior prom six years before.
I hoped the elastic made it through the night.
I picked up the red dress and slipped it on over my head, grimacing almost instantly when I tried to push it further down my hips, only to realize that that was as far as the fucker was going to go.
“I can’t wear this to a freakin’ wedding,” I muttered to myself, looking at the mirror like it was showing me a monster instead of my own reflection.
Casten cleared his throat.
“I don’t see why not. It looks fantastic,” Casten cleared his throat quietly.
I blinked.
“Was that a compliment, Casten Red?” I teased him.
He didn’t bother to reply.
“I gotta get dressed. Stay in that fuckin’ dress but do something with your hair,” he mumbled.
I looked at my hair in the mirror and winced.
Yeah, it did look bad.
I’d yet to do anything with it since I’d gotten out of the shower, and my hair had dried into some semi curled, semi straight, slightly frizzy hairdo that was in desperate need of styling and hair products.
I walked to the bathroom and put my hair into a high and tight ponytail, then started to stick bobby pins into my hair at varying intervals, pinning back more and more of my ponytail until it was all secured in a nice, tight up do at the top of my head.
That’s when I realized my sister was still on the phone and hurried back out to snatch it off the bed.