Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 115683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
CHAPTER 16
Headlights
COLT
I have never, in all my thirty-one years, felt more stupid than I do howling like a wolf at my kitchen ceiling.
But I can’t stop smiling, which I take as a good sign.
Dean is really going for it now, bowing out his arms as he lets out a high-pitched sound that’s half howl, half scream.
Lainey shakes her head so her howl reverberates, her hair going everywhere.
Gone is the perfectly put-together princess. She’s wild. Unhinged even. No fucks given about how she looks or what I think.
I think you’re hot as hell, honey.
She’s making my son laugh so hard he can hardly breathe.
It’s the kind of laughter that’s infectious. One minute, Lainey and I are locking eyes and howling like we’re Georgia Bulldog fans (God forbid. Texas forever!).
The next, Lainey breaks down and laughs too. I think that’s why I “accidentally” confided in her about Billie and Ryder that morning we went riding. There’s just something…down-to-earth about her. Real. For a split second, I felt comfortable enough to let my guard down. I wouldn’t say I regret that.
In fact, I’d like to do it again, much as I hate to admit it.
Because all of a sudden, I’m joining in with a belly laugh. I wonder if I’m high. Maybe someone spiked the Shiners? I’ve only ever laughed like this when I was drunk or stoned, my sides aching, lungs spasming in an effort to pull in oxygen.
Come to think of it, I never ever saw Abby laugh this way, with tears leaking out of her eyes and her entire face going pink the way Lainey’s is.
I don’t mean to speak ill of the dead. It’s not fair to compare the two. Everybody’s different. And Abby’s not here to defend herself. Who knows? Maybe she laughed this way with other people? Maybe she didn’t feel comfortable doing it around me.
Or maybe I got so lost in trying to be a good dad that I forgot to be a good husband, one who’d make his wife laugh this way.
Done making that mistake.
Grabbing my phone out of my back pocket, I change the song. Dean leaps from his chair the second “Who Let the Dogs Out” starts.
“I love this song!” He wiggles his little bottom in time to the beat.
I’m not shocked when Lainey jumps up too and grabs his hands. Together they hoot and holler to the song, Lainey spinning Dean around the kitchen while she sways her hips.
Of course she’s a sexy fucking dancer.
Of course she’s playful, throwing her hands up over her head, rapping to the lyrics, popping her ass when the beat drops.
She’s real, unhinged and uninhibited, and I get half hard just watching her.
Even Elvis wags his tail, trotting faster than I’ve ever seen him move in an attempt to catch up to Lainey.
I don’t join in. I’m worried what will happen if I do. I start dancing with this girl—Lord, I did not make all this food just to set Dean in front of the TV with a yogurt pouch while I tear Lainey’s clothes off in the bedroom.
I assemble the rest of the haunted house while Dean and Lainey dance like lunatics around me.
Do I politely hint it’s time for dinner, bath, and bed? Thank Lainey for coming and walk her to the door?
But then that voice returns. Repeating what it just said.
Done making that mistake.
The song ends. I lower the volume and put my acoustic playlist back on.
“Guys, this is so fun.” Dean is panting, tugging on Lainey’s hands. “Can you come over every night, Miss Lainey?”
I do my best to dodge that particular bullet by holding up the LEGO house. “I finished, y’all.”
“Wow!” Lainey’s expression morphs into one of disbelieving joy as she lunges for the house, keeping Dean close. “See? We did it! All because you told me you liked LEGO sets.”
I extend my fist. “Proud of you, buddy. Spooky, right?”
Dean gives me the fist bump I’m looking for. “The spookiest.”
“How about you and Lainey do the ghosts and trees while I get plates ready for dinner?” My heart thumps. “Lainey, you’re staying for dinner, right? I reckon you worked up an appetite dancing like that.”
She presses her tongue against her bottom lip. “Like what?”
“Like you were being electrocuted.”
“The electric slide is a thing, Colton. Look it up.”
You gonna let me slide between your legs tonight?
“Yeah, Dad, look it up.” Dean bounces on his toes before turning back to me. “Please stay, Lainey. Dad’s short ribs are the best. Maybe you can stay for a sleepover too?” He turns to me. “Dad, can she stay for a sleepover?”
What’s that saying? No good deed goes unpunished?
I feel that in my soul right now.
Running a hand over my face, I push out a laugh that I hope sounds less nervous than I feel.
Fuck, why am I nervous?