Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Physical contact and intimacy treated the symptoms of the heat, but they weren’t a cure. Neither of us would get a reprieve until we’d cemented the bond, and even then, it took weeks or even months before we’d be able to separate for any length of time.
By the time we reached the dining room, everyone was already seated at the table, even Beau and Reese. Charlie must’ve showered. His hair was combed neatly, and his face shaved for the first time since I’d met him.
“Look at you,” Lucy said when she reached him, leaning down to kiss the top of his head. “You smell—” The words seemed like they got caught in her throat. She straightened. “Good,” she choked out.
“This is my sister, Lucy,” Charlie told Reese. “Lucy, this is Beau’s mate, Reese.”
“Hello,” Lucy replied, sitting in the chair I’d pulled out for her. She glanced over her shoulder and smiled at me in thanks.
“Nice to meet you,” Reese said kindly. “Charlie was just telling me about your trip. I’ve always wanted to go to Europe. That must’ve been so exciting.”
“It was epic,” Lucy agreed as I sat down beside her. “Until this one went and found himself a mate. Things got a little boring after that.”
Charlie let out an offended huff while Reese laughed.
“I can imagine,” Reese said, still grinning. “Lots of time stuck at the hotel, am I right?”
“Bingo,” Lucy said. She elbowed her brother.
“Don’t pretend you were languishing at the hotel,” Charlie replied, elbowing her back. “You did plenty of exploring on your own.”
“He’s right,” Lucy agreed with a shrug.
I looked diagonally across the table and found Chance smirking at me. He wiggled his eyebrows. I glared back. I knew exactly what he was thinking, and I’d fucking kill him if he said any stupid shit. Lucy was having a hard enough time dealing with the mating bond. She didn’t need him hassling us about it.
“This is wonderful,” my mom breathed, standing at the end of the table. “This is just—”
“It is.” My dad nodded and squeezed my mom’s hip. “Sit, love.”
“Your family really goes all out,” Lucy said to me, looking at the large array of food and dinnerware that my mom had arranged across the tablecloth. “Is this normal, or…”
“Mattie wanted to make it special,” my dad explained. “Since everyone is home.”
Lucy jolted, and her head snapped up to look at him.
“They hear everything,” Reese explained, widening her eyes comically at my mate.
“Right,” Lucy replied. “I knew that.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Reese said as Beau laughed. She scowled at him. “What? I’m getting better.”
“Sure you are,” he conceded unconvincingly.
“Their rooms are safe,” Reese told Lucy conspiratorially. “Just FYI.”
“Good to know,” Lucy replied. She turned to Charles and smiled at him.
“Charles was telling us that you two grew up in the same apartment building your whole lives,” Danny said, changing the subject. “That must’ve been nice. We moved all over hell and back.”
“To be fair, you’ve lived a lot longer than us,” Lucy replied as my mom waved at the table, gesturing for all of us to start serving ourselves. “But yeah, same place.”
“I mentioned the courtyard,” Charlie told his sister, his mouth twitching.
“That frigging courtyard,” Lucy grumbled. “Swear to god, it stunk so bad in the summer it felt like it clung to you after you’d gone back inside.”
“Like what?” Reese asked.
“Poop,” Charlie and Lucy answered together. They both laughed.
“I don’t know what it was.” Lucy shrugged. “But you never got used to it.”
“Our parents were terrified we’d be hit by a car if we played out by the street,” Charlie explained.
“So if we wanted to go outside, it had to be the courtyard,” Lucy finished. “I swear, one summer I think the scent burned off all my nose hair.”
“Why didn’t anyone talk to the landlord?” my dad asked curiously.
“Oh, we did,” Lucy said, shooting me a smile when I set a roll on her plate. “They weren’t exactly slumlords—”
“They weren’t much better,” Charlie continued. “It took forever for them to fix anything. One time our kitchen sink got backed up, and we had to wash the dishes in the bathtub for a month.”
“Was it at least rent-controlled?” Danny asked.
“Nope.” Lucy shook her head. “But it wasn’t a bad place to live, all things considered.”
“The tenants were mostly older people,” Charlie explained. “We were the only kids there for most of our childhood.”
“Olly olly oxen free,” Lucy whispered to her brother with a small smile.
Charlie smiled back at her and then glanced around the table. “School wasn’t easy for me,” he said softly, pressing his lips into a flat line. “Our building was a safe zone.”
“Children can be assholes,” Lucy announced. She reached for some pasta salad. “Unfortunately for them, I was the supreme asshole when provoked.”
My father chuckled.
“She was in more fistfights than anyone else in our elementary school,” Charlie said proudly, glancing at his sister. “Picture a little girl in purple overalls—”