Total pages in book: 235
Estimated words: 224334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1122(@200wpm)___ 897(@250wpm)___ 748(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 224334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1122(@200wpm)___ 897(@250wpm)___ 748(@300wpm)
“All done.” Sarah walks out.
As John walks in. “Nope. Sit your motherfucking arse on that motherfucking sofa, motherfucker.”
“That sure is a lot of motherfucking,” I quip, cautiously lowering to the couch as instructed. “Am I in trouble?”
“Niles,” Sarah hollers. “Get those batteries in the cock rings before I introduce you to my whip.”
“Now that’s a line I bet you thought you’d never hear,” I say, smiling at Niles. “Run along now.” He’s gone like a shot, and I laugh, but it dries up the moment John sits on the couch opposite me, looking like he’s getting comfortable. “Haven’t you got valets to direct?” People to scare? Motherfuckers to throw? Anything but hold me here against my will and bring on another barrage of guilt or stress?
“All under control.”
“Oh fuck,” I breathe as he removes his shades. I’m in for it. I push my back into the sofa. “Come on, then.” I hold up my hands, motioning him to come at me like I’m inviting a fight. Obviously, I never would. Not with John. And not because I love him. He’s a one punch kind of man. One punch and you’re dead. Those spades on the ends of his arms are fatal. “I’ve not asked her yet, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“I was actually. I didn’t see a ring, so thought perhaps—”
“She said no?” I sit up straight. “Do you think she’ll say no?”
Those big spades lift and he rubs into his eye sockets. “Do this right, Jesse. Have you met her parents?”
I shrink, not wanting to admit what he already knows. “Why are you so hell-bent on talking me out of this?”
“I don’t want to talk you out of this. I want to talk you into doing it right. That means being honest. That means being respectful.”
I baulk. “You don’t think I respect Ava?”
“Her parents. What are you expecting here? That Ava will finally introduce you to her parents as her fiancé? Or husband?” He laughs. “Even you can see that’s crazy.”
“Yeah, well, my life is one big crazy these days, isn’t it?” Fuck it all. Why’d it take John to make me realize my plan is, actually, really fucking crazy. “They live in Cornwall, John.” I frown. “And Ava doesn’t seem to be in a rush to make a meet happen.” The last time she spoke to her mother, she’d told her I was, in a nutshell, not important enough to mention. Just seeing him. “They know about me.” I have Ava’s ex to thank for that. I’m frowning again. “And think I’m an alcoholic monster who battered her ex.” Jesus. They don’t even know about my hotel. My age. I have red flags all over me for any parent. “God, I hate you,” I mutter, rubbing at my forehead.
I need a drink.
Can’t have one.
“I have shit to do.” John gets up and leaves me alone, and I sink deeper into my chair, running it all over in my head again. Do it right. What the hell is right, anyway? If I ask for Ava’s hand, I can’t imagine I’ll get an excited blessing. Because they don’t fucking know me.
And neither does Ava.
“Fuck off, Jake.”
“We need help,” Sarah says, bursting in. “Guests will be arriving soon, and I have to get all these batteries in the cock rings.”
“Right,” I sigh, pushing my heavy body out of my chair and following her into the summer room, immediately overwhelmed by a room that I admired when I walked through it minutes ago. Endless tables, a dozen chairs around each, a giftbag at every setting. “Pass me some batteries, then.” I hold my hand out and accept the multipack.
“You okay?” Sarah asks, making a start on the next table, Niles going the other way, starting at the opposite end of the room.
“What do you care, Sarah?” I ask tiredly, looking toward the entrance to the bar. I said I wouldn’t be long. Not likely.
“You know I care.”
Yeah, I know. She just has a really fucked-up way of showing it. I work my way around the table, my big hands struggling with the fiddly task. The tension between us is thick, and it’s really fucking weird. “I’m going to marry her,” I say, looking up at Sarah, seeing her moves falter. No one will stop me. Not the Sarahs of this world, the Corals, the Frejas, the Mikaels, or the Matts. No one. The only person who can stop me marrying Ava is Ava. Okay, John’s stalled me. But only stalled. I’ll be pushing to meet the parents tomorrow. Can’t say I’m relishing the thought now I’ll have to explain myself, because Matt’s made that fucking essential. Dickhead.
“She can’t give you want you need,” Sarah says quietly, reluctantly. Reluctant, because she’s unsure what I need anymore. I can assure her, it isn’t this. “She will never accept you like I can.” Her statement is so quiet. Almost unheard. But I hear it.