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)
“Hey there, big guy,” Jaxon coos, taking him from her and kissing his cheek. “Did you have fun with Auntie Lexi?” He looks at Jagger as if he’s going to answer him. “Want to go see your uncle Kirby?” he asks him as I stand here, wanting to get closer to Lexi. “I wouldn’t want to either,” he tells him, making all of us laugh, “but he said he missed you.”
I chuckle and reach out my hands for him. He looks at me and then my hands before turning back to look at Jaxon and then back at me. “He’s not as scary as he seems.” Jaxon tries to encourage him. But he turns back and smacks Jaxon’s chest. “He seems to only like three people.” Jaxon tries to make me feel better. “Lexi is his favorite.”
She isn’t only his favorite, my mouth almost says, but I bite my tongue. “That’s only because she takes him in her bed and cuddles with him instead of letting him cry in his crib,” Ariella says.
“I’m moving out soon,” she states, shocking me but I try to not show it on my face, “and I’m not going to have any Jagger cuddles.” She rubs his back gently and he plunges toward her and she catches him laughing.
“Am I your favorite?” she asks him, blowing bubbles in his neck. This is a side of Lexi I’ve never seen before. I’ve never seen her this carefree. I’ve seen her let loose before, a little bit, but not like this. Not the way she is with Jagger, and as I stand here, I find myself jealous of a twenty-pound baby who has no teeth.
“You want something to drink?” Jaxon takes off his baseball hat and tosses it on the couch before heading into the kitchen.
“I’ll have a water,” I tell him and Ariella follows him into the kitchen.
“Fancy seeing you here,” I remark softly as I walk to Lexi, who looks up at me and tries to hide her smile.
“Well, considering I live here, it’s not that surprising,” she says, looking down at Jagger. “Be careful of this one.” She looks up at me as she whispers in his ear, “He’s very sneaky, and whatever you do, don’t fall for his dares.” I can’t help but throw my head back and laugh.
I hold up my index finger and Jagger reaches out to grip it in his fist as he moves it up and down. “I’m not as bad as she says I am.” I look at her. “She’s just mad she can’t say no to me.”
“Oh, I can say no to you.” She rolls her eyes.
“We were just about to eat dinner,” Ariella interjects. “Kirby, you want to join us?”
I stare into her eyes. “Sure,” I reply, then turn to her. “Never a third without a second, I guess.”
“Who says I’m staying for dinner?” she retorts, and now I’m the one who looks like a deer in the headlights. “I could have a date.”
The minute she says those words, I feel my whole body turn almost to stone. “Do you?”
“Obviously”—she looks at Jagger—“I burn up the town.” She then turns to me and chuckles. “Especially when someone, who shall remain nameless”—she looks at Jagger—“keeps me up most of the night.”
I don’t ask her anything else because Ariella comes into the room and Jagger whines for her. She comes over and grabs Jagger from Lexi. “I’ll go and set the table,” Lexi says, walking away from me and up the steps toward the kitchen.
“What can I do to help?” I offer, following her into the kitchen.
“You can sit down.” She looks over her shoulder and I cock my hip against the island.
“It’s four plates, I can handle it.” She turns to reach for said plates and my eyes can’t help but roam down to her ass.
“I have no doubt you can handle anything.” I fold my arms over my chest. “Just trying to help.”
“You can help by taking your ugly face to the table,” Jaxon teases, “and leaving her alone.”
Lexi and I both let out a little laugh as I wait for her to turn around and then grab the plates in her hands. “You can get the cutlery while I do this.”
“Do not play tug-of-war with my plates,” Ariella warns, walking into the kitchen.
Lexi looks like she wants to murder me, but she lets go of the plates before turning and going to get the cutlery. I turn and head to the table that has four chairs on each side and one at each end. “Do you guys ever have ten people over for dinner?” I put one plate next to the other and then two more across from them.
“Yes,” Ariella confirms, “my family is huge. Well, our family is huge,” she says of Lexi, “and they are always dropping in.”