Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 112884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
“He looks at her as if there is no one else in the room,” one of them says, and Lexi laughs under my kiss.
“That’s my aunt Zara,” she mumbles. “My mother’s twin.”
“Oh, there are two of them?” I deadpan. “Fun.” She laughs as she spins around and slips her hand in mine as she turns and heads toward the table.
“Ladies,” she sings and I have never met this Lexi. I suddenly hate Trent even more for suppressing her. “I’d like for you guys to meet my boyfriend,” she says, giggling.
“Whoa,” Zara says, getting up and coming to me, “he’s got a title, people.” She smirks. “Hey, Kirby.” I’m expecting for her to extend her hand but she comes in for a quick hug. “I mean, Lexi’s boyfriend.”
“I like the sound of that.” I look back at Lexi, who lifts one of her shoulders and bats her eyes.
“It’s nice to meet you.” A woman holds up her hand. “I’m Zoey”—I look at Zoe—“with a y, named after the best one at the table.”
“Oh please,” Zara groans, and I know it’s Zara because Zoe puts her hand in the air like she’s raising the roof. The two of them are identical and it’ll take some time to get to know which one is which. “It’s nice to meet you,” she says to me and I nod my head.
“Likewise,” I reply.
“Let’s sit,” Zara suggests, leading me to the table, with me looking back at Lexi, who just giggles. I’ll make sure I do whatever I need to do for the rest of my life to hear that giggle.
I sit at the table and look around it. “Okay, ladies.” I look over and hold out my hand for Lexi, who comes to stand next to my chair. I take her hand in mine, kissing the top of it before I let it go. She wraps her arm around my shoulders and I hold her around her waist, pulling her to my side. “Fire away, I am an open book.”
“I have one,” Zoey says. “Are you close to your parents?”
“No. My father passed away when I was very young, and my mother remarried someone who was not a nice man. He died and is probably rotting in hell, and then my mother passed not too long after him.”
“Well, that’s a buzzkill,” the girl with black hair states. “I’m Gabriella, by the way. Welcome to my home.”
“Thanks for having me.” I nod at her. “But I do have a sister and we are very close.”
“She’s amazing,” Lexi praises. “You’ll meet her tomorrow at the game.”
“I have a question.” Zoe holds up her hand. “Why Lexi?”
“Oh, good one,” her twin, Zara, says.
“Well, that’s an easy one.” I look up at her. “Besides the fact that she’s drop-dead gorgeous.” I smile. “She’s kind, she’s compassionate, she puts everyone else before herself. She’s resilient and fiercely loyal. She’s funny. She literally lights up the room with the way she smiles. She is also one of the strongest women I’ve ever met.” She bends to kiss my lips. “And those are just a couple of reasons off the top of my head.”
“Good answer,” Zoe and Zara say at the same time. I don’t know how long it goes on, but I answer every single question until Lexi holds up her hand.
“Okay, okay, enough grilling Kirby, it’s time to go,” she says and I get up, following her lead. It takes another thirty minutes to say goodbye to everyone, and I even offer them my suite for the hockey game tomorrow.
We walk out and she puts her hand in mine. “I have my SUV,” she mentions, and I shake my head.
“I took a cab here,” I tell her and she walks over to her SUV and I open the passenger door.
“Wow, are you doing the whole ‘you can’t drive because I’m here and I’m a man’ thing, Kirby?” She cocks her hip to the side.
“No, I’m doing the whole you can’t drive because I think you drank an entire bottle of wine, Lexi,” I toss back and she giggles.
“Oh, yeah.” She hands me the keys. “Good call.” She kisses my neck and gets into the SUV, and I shut the door before walking around and getting in.
“Are you coming back to my house?” I ask her and she looks over at me.
“I need a couple of things from home,” she says and I pull out of the driveway and head toward her house.
“So…you love me?” I say as I drive us to her house, my heart beating loudly in my chest.
“I do. I think I’ve known for a while now. You’ve supported me and given me strength throughout these last few months even when you didn’t know it. You’ve been patient with me and let me keep my light while making it shine brighter.”