Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113130 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113130 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
“Here you go,” my father offers, handing me the fruit bowl and then sitting in front of me. “You doing okay?”
“I slept for three hours straight,” I tell him.
“Why don’t we come back later this afternoon and take him, so you can get some rest?”
“Dad”—I try not to laugh—“you don’t have to make excuses to come over. We told you guys this.”
“I told him this also,” Manning interjects from the kitchen, sitting on a stool eating his bagel. “Man has not listened to me at all in his whole life.” My father looks over and glares at him.
“You guys need alone time.”
“You’ll be gone in a week,” I remind him, “when you leave to go back home.”
“I don’t know how I’m going to leave him,” he admits and then corrects himself. “You. I don’t know how I’m going to leave you.”
“Mmm,” I say, grabbing a piece of strawberry and popping it into my mouth, “nice save.”
“What are you two doing here?” Jaxon asks, walking into the kitchen, wearing shorts and a white T-shirt. “I told you guys to come in the afternoon when I’m not here, so she has help.”
Manning looks up at him mid-bite. “Would you relax? We brought breakfast,” he tells his son. “We’ll be here when you go train.” Even though he is on summer break, he still has to keep his training up. He hates it and has now taken to doing his off-ice training at home in the gym he created in the pool house, but he can’t build ice in our backyard, so he has to go. “You look like shit,” Manning tells him. “The rule is you sleep when the baby sleeps.”
“I would if I would be able to spend time with my son when he was awake, but I can’t,” he retorts, walking over to the bag and grabbing a sandwich. “Baby, did you eat?”
“I’m having fruit,” I toss over my shoulder. “I’ll eat when you burp him.”
I look at my father in front of me. “You happy, baby girl?”
All I can do is smile at him and look down at my son in my arms. “More than I can put into words,” I assure him and then I look back over at Jaxon, who is now sitting beside his father. “I got really lucky,” I tell him and he shakes his head.
“No, he got really lucky,” my father counters.
“What’s that?” Jaxon asks.
“I said, you got lucky with my daughter,” he states, his voice going higher.
I look over at Jaxon, who just smirks and my stomach flutters with that look. It’s the look that he gave me that night. It’s the look he gives me often. It’s the look I plan on spending the rest of my life getting. “You got that right,” he agrees, winking at me. “Love you.”
ONE MONTH LATER
“He’s down”—I collapse in the bed beside Jaxon—“and my nipples are raw.”
“He’s going through a growth spurt,” Jaxon mumbles and I have enough energy to open my eyes and glare at him. “I’m just repeating what the doctor said.”
“Thanks,” I retort as the phone on my nightstand rings, “it’s like I wasn’t even there.” I look at it and see Lexi is calling me.
I answer it right away and I hear her soft voice. “Ariella,” she whispers and I sit up in bed.
“What’s the matter?” I ask her, my body going on alert as she sniffles.
“I just left him,” she says, her voice sounding defeated in a way. “I left Trent.”
“Oh my God.” I look at Jaxon, who is now sitting in the bed and waiting for me to tell him something.
“Where are you?” I ask her, getting out of the bed. “Do you need me to come to you?”
“No,” she answers, “I’m with my parents but…” Her voice goes even lower. “Can I come and stay with you?”
“You don’t even have to ask,” I tell her. “Come now.”
“Thank you,” she says and disconnects, and I look over at Jaxon.
“That was Lexi, she left her husband.” His eyes go big. “She’s coming to stay with us.”
Lexi
He told me he loved me after a day.
I should have seen the red flags, but I didn’t.
If you would have told me I would fall for a man who would
Slowly take me away from everything I loved
I would have told you that you didn’t know me.
He was what nightmares were made of.
I just didn’t know I was living in the nightmare
Until my eyes were opened and I made my escape.
I was ready to find myself again.
Kirby
First time I met her I was struck by how beautiful she was.
Then I saw the fear in her eyes.
Fear I’ve seen before but wasn’t sure it was my place.
One chance encounter turned into two.
I didn’t want anything from her, except to get her the help she needed.
What I didn’t expect was that I would lose my heart to her.