Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 91065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
“Someone has to make sure this guy’s worthy of my little girl,” Robert goes on, protective dad and all that.
“Little girl? Dad, stop.” Margot is grinning at him, so I know her feathers aren’t actually ruffled. She’s playing along. “You do realize I’m a grown woman with a career and a mortgage, right?”
“I appreciate your sentiment, Robert. Sir.” I’m trying to keep a straight face. “But you know Margot can handle herself—she did manage to wrangle me, after all.”
“Oh, I’m sure she did,” Lydia says, laughing. “She gets her sass from me.”
“I am not sassy,” Margot protests. “I’m spirited, and my bullshit meter comes from Dad.”
Robert sits up a bit straighter at the shout-out. “So, Dex.” He leans toward me, elbows on the table. “You’ve managed to survive our little interrogation so far. What makes you think you’re good enough for my Margot?”
Beside me, Margot almost chokes on her wine. “Dad!”
I thought we were through with this, but nonetheless, I take a deep breath, ready to lay it all out there.
No time like the present, eh?
“No, Margot, it’s cool.” A lump forms in my throat, and I feel like I’m on the spot, but it’s fine, everything is fine. I can do this—I can lay my soul bare, in front of her family, because I’m brave. I’m brave, dammit!
“I love Margot. Not only is she amazing, but she’s smart, funny, and incredibly strong. I’ve never met anyone like her—no one has ever told me to my face that I suck. She swept me off my feet.”
She smacks me, grinning from ear to ear. “Oh my God, I did not tell you you suck to your face.”
I shrug. “Not in those words, but you did call me an asshole at least a dozen times after we just met.”
“That’s true.” She flips her hair, laughing.
“Is this your way of flirting?” Wyatt asks, quizzically gazing between her mother and me. “Because it is so weird.”
We all laugh.
“It’s no secret that we’ve had a few rough patches, but . . . you know. She’s my best friend.” I take a drink of my cocktail. “Don’t tell my best friend Landon that, he’ll kill me. But yeah—I love her.”
The table falls silent for a moment, the weight of my words hanging in the air.
“What about more kids?” her mom asks, a hopeful look on her face.
Some things are private, and it’s still too early for more kids, but yup, “I’m sure that day will come.”
Margot’s eyes glisten with unshed tears, and Lydia’s face softens into a warm smile. Robert studies me for a long moment before nodding slowly.
“Well, Dex,” he says, his voice gruff but kind as he moves to spread his napkin across his lap. “That’s all I needed to hear. Let’s eat, shall we?”
Epilogue
Margot
Two months later . . . give or take
I couldn’t be more nervous if I tried.
Well.
That’s not true—I could be.
I could have lain in bed last night, staring up at the ceiling, wide awake, conjuring up scenarios in my brain that aren’t going to happen but could. Such as: I could say something stupid. I could ramble. I could tell his best friend I think their agent is an asshole who needs to mind his own business.
I could have and I did.
Stomach in knots—the kind of knots you feel when you’re finally meeting your new boyfriend’s best friend And His Girlfriend for the first time. Say it with me: They are normal people! They go grocery shopping just like us! They go on coffee runs Just Like Us!
I mean, let’s be real—since when did I give a fig about football before meeting this man? Answer: I didn’t.
And if I wasn’t nervous enough, the date Dex has planned is giving me anxiety too!
Game night.
At his house.
Competitive much?
As I get out of the car, I spy Dex standing at the door, his large form taking up most of the doorframe as he waits for me to collect my stuff. His smile has my heart racing. He looks so relaxed. So confident. He looks like this is the most natural thing to be doing on a Sunday night.
Maybe for him, it is. But for me? I’m about to walk into a battlefield of board games—and first impressions. Could there be a worse combination?
Ugh.
I drag my sorry ass to his massive front porch and lean up when he goes to kiss me on the lips.
“Hey.” Dex kisses me full on the mouth at the same time he’s pulling me into his arms. “Ready for game night?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” I force a smile.
He chuckles, kissing my forehead. “Don’t worry, it’s just for fun. Landon and Harlow are pumped to meet you.”
The knot in my stomach turns, and I put a hand there to quell it as he ushers me into the foyer.
As I walk inside, the sound of laughter and chatter greets my ears, the kind of good-natured laughter that calms me a bit.