Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
“Fast drying fabric. Don’t worry. Stain-resistant, too. So,’’ he started to say, but his phone rang. He grabbed it from his hip and put it to his ear.
“Zenith,” he greeted. “Nova. Hey.”
I sipped my wine while he spoke to Nova, which I remembered was the cop from the day before.
He mostly listened and gave short answers before ending with, “Let’s move it up. How about I be there mid-afternoon after I take care of some things at the office? Yeah, no problem,” he said.
I was examining my pretty manicure in the dimness, thinking that if we were back at home, my phone would be on my body, too. I’d be scrolling Instagram or Facebook, out of habit – living others’ adventures vicariously through them. Seeing where someone was on vacation, looking at pictures of food people ordered in exotic restaurants, “oohing” and “awwing” over peoples’ cute kids.
Here I was, having my very own adventure. But I had no link to Earth to post anything to show that. And I was also totally fine with it, actually living in the moment. I sighed happily, watching the sky turn even more purple as the sun finished shrinking, not over the horizon, but up high, to become as small as a star, only distinguishing itself from the rest because it looked like a much brighter pinhole. I finished off my second glass of wine as Zane ended his call.
“Sorry for that interruption,” he said and squeezed my thigh and then as quickly as his hand had been there, it was gone. And the heat of it? It felt like it’d branded me.
“That’s okay. Is everything all right? Any news about the missing women?”
“No news, not exactly, but the one they arrested from my rooftop is imbalanced or he’s detoxing from some sort of drug dependency. I’ll head over mid-afternoon to talk to them. My father and Ollie will be here in the morning. We’ll go to the office for a bit. And then we’ll come back and I’ll drop you off with my father so he can stay with you and Ollie while I go deal with that.”
“Your father?”
“Not leaving you on your own,” he said.
“Ah, your son might not be comfortable alone with me,” I added.
“He can’t wait to get you all to himself,” Zane corrected. “But I’ll feel better if my father’s here with this threat out there.”
“Tell me about your parents? Your upbringing?” I requested, not wanting to think about threats, not wanting to get lost in worry over Lacey and whoever else might be missing. “Oh, I’m empty. Are you ready for another? I’d like to try out your food machine to see if I can order the wine. Is that okay?”
“Be my guest,” he invited and swallowed the half glass of wine he’d still had.
“I’ll just check on Chili while I’m in there,” I added.
He shook his head at me disapprovingly.
“What?” I giggled as I scampered out of the pyramid bed with both wineglasses. I almost took a tumble, getting out, and I heard Zane cuss.
“Fuck,” he grunted with alarm.
“I’m okay, I’m okay.” I waved a wineglass at him and headed back inside. I was a little wobbly.
Yep, I was more than wobbly. I was kind of drunk. Two glasses of wine … whaaaat?
Phallyx’s wine was delicious. And clearly very high in alcohol content. I’d probably drank that second glass too quickly. I should slow down.
The day before, Zane had told me my blood alcohol level was quite high part way into my second glass. I was about to drink my third.
I found myself first putting the wineglasses down and peeking in at a sleeping Chili. He looked like a fuzzy round ball, sleeping in a perfect little circular shape amid the pink fluffed bedding in his crate. It looked like a boring setup and I decided I’d ask Zane if he could make a better one. With toys in it. Maybe a little hamster-wheel thingie. I smiled, watching the slow rise and fall of my little pink ball as he breathed deep in slumber. So stinkin’ cute. Yep, my little pink ball. No way did I want to send him off to some robot to care for him or some pink baby prison where he’d get no cuddles.
I took the wineglasses to the machine and put them inside the small upper microwave-sized door and closed it. I moved to the screen above it and scrolled like I’d seen Zane do into recent history and saw a bottle of wine beside the image for Chili’s crate and bottle. I pressed a red icon, which I’d seen him do to confirm the command, and then waited until two wineglass icons were in a window above it. Less than a minute later, the doors opened with a ding and there were two full glasses of wine there.