Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 89265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
“Christ, Mack.”
“I tried to help, offered to take the girls full time, and she freaked out. She immediately filed for divorce, constantly badmouths me to the girls, and I’m worried they’re going to end up hating me, too.”
“They won’t. You’re a good dad.”
“Okay, so tell me this. Does a good dad let his kids go through a nasty, name-calling custody suit? Or does a good dad let his kids move out of state with their unstable mother?”
My stomach tightened. I felt sick for Mack and wished I had something helpful to say, like Stella would have. “I don’t know, dude. That’s a fucked-up situation. What does your gut say?”
“My gut says not to let them go. They’re my children.”
“Then don’t,” I said firmly. “Fight for them.”
He nodded, his eyes closing. “I’m so fucking tired.”
“Can you go home and sleep?”
“Maybe later.” His eyes opened. “I heard there was an issue here last night.”
I swallowed hard. What an asshole I was, getting into an altercation with a guest. Mack had enough shit to deal with. “Yeah. Sorry.”
“What happened?”
I took a deep breath and told Mack what had gone down.
“Jesus, Woods.”
I frowned at my feet. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“You’re lucky Sawyer hates that guy, too.”
I looked up, surprised. “He does?”
A hint of a grin was on Mack’s face. “Yeah. Said he’s wanted to shove that pompous dickhead himself plenty of times.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. But that can’t happen again.” Mack’s tone told me he meant it.
“I know. I promise it won’t.”
“Good. That’s what I told Sawyer.”
I pressed my lips together. “Sorry you had to deal with that in the middle of all your family shit.”
He shrugged. “There’s always something. Now tell me about the girl. I hope the rest of your night was better than mine.”
“Uh, yeah. It was good.” My whole body warmed just thinking about it.
“How good?”
I nodded slowly three times. “Really. Fucking. Good.”
He groaned. “I hate you. Get the fuck out of here.”
Smiling, I rose to my feet. “What can I do so that you can go home and get some rest?”
He sighed, sticking the cap on his head again. “Check in with DeSantis. I can’t even think.”
“Will do.” I stood up. “Hey, you hear from Bones this week?”
“Here and there. The photos and whatnot.”
“I’m kinda worried about him.”
Mack frowned. “I’ll see if I can reach him.”
“You’ve got enough on your plate. I’ll give him a call. Maybe he just needs to talk to one of us.” I made it to the doorway before turning around. “Hey, Mack?”
He looked up at me.
“I’m sorry about all this. I can’t say I know what you’re going through since I never had kids, but I did lose my mom as a teenager, and it sucked.”
His face registered surprise. “I never knew that about you.”
“I never tell anybody. What’s the point?”
“The point is to let someone actually know you, Woods.” His expression turned sardonic. “Then again, who’d want to do that?”
I gave him the finger and took off down the hall, a smile on my face. I even said good morning to Frannie on my way out.
Who the hell was I today?
Twenty-Two
Stella
Didn’t want to wake you, had to get to work.
Wish I could spend the day with you.
I read the note again, feeling heat rush to my face. I missed him already. How was that possible?
Listen. Just because his dick was the first attached to an actual human to give you an orgasm doesn’t mean bells are ringing. Don’t get carried away.
Right.
I left the note on the kitchen counter without writing anything back. Making sure the front door was locked behind me, I walked down the porch steps, across the lawn to Grams’s house, my arms folded over my chest. It was chilly this morning.
Grams’s front door was still unlocked. It was only about seven-thirty, so I was hoping she was still asleep and I’d be able to scoot right up to my room without seeing her. Nobody wants to encounter their grandmother on a Walk of Shame. I entered the house and turned around to silently close the door.
“Well, good morning, dear!”
I whirled about, a hand on my chest. “Oh!”
Grams smiled. “Didn’t mean to startle you. Were you out on a run?” She lifted a cup of coffee to her lips.
“Um, no.” Was she kidding? Self-consciously I tucked my bedhead hair behind my ears. I’d glanced in the bathroom mirror at Ryan’s house, so I knew my mascara was smudged around my eyes and my clothing was terribly wrinkled. When I looked down, I noticed that I’d buttoned my blouse wrong. Crap. There was no way to fix it now.
“Cup of coffee, dear?”
“Oh. Okay. Sure.” What I really wanted was to lie on my bed and stare into space while I thought about last night, but coffee was good too.
Grams turned around and walked toward the kitchen, and I frantically rebuttoned my shirt as I followed her.