Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94279 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94279 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Maybe I should bake a cake to celebrate? Cupcakes … yum.
And shoot, I needed to get my eyebrows done on the way home.
Is my apartment clean?
I looked at the time on my phone. If I left by five, I could stop at the grocery store and pick up ingredients, take the 1 train over to Libby to get my brows shaped, and still have time to clean and freshen up my makeup.
Freshen up my makeup. Yeah, it was the friendly thing to do. I rolled my eyes at myself, but also picked up the pen from my desk and started writing a list of things I’d need. Then I added a few more quick stops I should probably make. Shoot. I better get out of here a little early.
A few minutes later, I was busy chewing on my pen, deciding if I needed anything besides under-eye concealer from Sephora—I hadn’t slept so well last night—when my phone buzzed.
Wilder: You still there?
Oh my God. I’d gotten so engrossed in planning all the crap I needed to do that I’d forgotten the most important thing: the invitation. I shook my head.
Sloane: Dinner at 7?
The little dots bounced around.
Wilder: We’ll be there. Thanks for the invite, even if I did have to invite myself, friend.
* * *
“Why is this guy coming over again?”
I opened the oven door and slipped two cupcake pans inside. “I told you, he’s celebrating that he gets to start a rugby team here.”
“Who plays rugby?” Olivia snarled.
“It’s a very popular sport in Europe. There’s a professional league here, too. It’s just not as popular as football or soccer. But Grandpa watches it. He actually went to a game with Wilder.”
“Wilder.” Olivia scoffed. “Stupid name.”
“Can you please be civil when they’re here?”
“Why? Is this guy your boyfriend or something?”
“No. He’s just … a friend.”
The buzzer rang, and a flurry of butterflies flapped their little wings in my belly. I frowned down at my stomach. Did you not just hear me say he’s a friend? I shook my head and grabbed a bottle of wine out of the fridge. “Can you press the button to let them in, Olivia, please?”
She mumbled something, but did it. I opened the wine to let it breathe and went to the door, pointing my finger at Olivia. “Be nice to Lucas.”
Her response was a typical eye roll.
Wilder came up the stairs first, with his brother behind. They both held bags in their arms. Wilder’s mouth curved to a flirtatious grin when he saw me. “Hey.”
I smiled. “Congratulations, Mr. Team Owner.”
He shifted the bags to one arm and kissed my forehead. “Hello, gorgeous.”
Lucas rolled his eyes.
I stepped aside for Wilder to enter and smiled at his mini-me. “Hi, Lucas.” Right this way, to the other half of the I-hate-everything matching set.
He lifted his chin. “Whassup.”
Olivia was busy texting on her phone and didn’t bother to look up as they entered. I cleared my throat. “Olivia, this is Wilder and Lucas. Guys, this is my niece, Olivia.”
She managed to hold back an eye roll, but the bored look on her face remained as she lifted her nose from her cell. Though it changed when her eyes found Wilder. She blinked a few times with an open jaw.
Yeah, tell me about it, girl.
She looked away, attempting to cover for her face, but she got hit with a second punch when she saw Lucas. Olivia had her mother’s nice, year-round-tanned skin, but I could’ve sworn I saw a pink blush dust up on her cheeks.
“Olivia is in ninth grade,” I said.
Wilder nodded to his brother. “Lucas, too.”
“Oh, I thought he was a year older.”
“He’s got an early birthday, so he’s one of the oldest in his class.”
Lucas straightened his spine. “And I’m the tallest.”
Wilder chuckled. “Yes, that you are.”
There were a few awkward seconds as the two teens looked anywhere but at each other. Wilder raised the bag in his hand. “I didn’t know what you were making, so I got red and white wine.” He gestured to his brother. “And that bag has dessert. One is sugar free.”
“Thank you.” I gave Olivia a nudge. “Why don’t you put the desserts away and see if Lucas wants a soda or some water or something?” I took the other bag from Wilder. “Thank you for this. I already opened a bottle of cab. Or would you rather me open what you brought?”
“Whatever you have is fine.”
Lucas walked over to the art I had hanging on the wall. “Where’d you get this?”
I smiled and looked at Olivia. “My super-talented niece painted it.”
Lucas’s eyes widened. “Really? You’re into manga?”
She shrugged. “I drew that a few years ago when I was into Shojo, but I’m more into Josei now.”
“Josei’s cool. I spray-paint Seinen.”
“You used to spray-paint,” Wilder said. “You’re not going to destroy public property anymore, right?”