Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
I look over at her, and she shrugs. “He tells me dad jokes every day. He was in a rush to get back to the firehouse when he dropped off y’all’s coffees.”
I don’t know why I’m surprised by how great of a dad Dean is. My childhood is a testament to his caring nature. “I swear, there is nothing wrong with your dad.” She shrugs, and I bring in my brows. “What?”
“He’s lonely.”
“Lonely?” I ask with a laugh. “He can have anyone he wiggles that stache at.”
Skyye wheezes with laughter, and I cuddle into her. She meets my gaze, sadness filling her features. “But he hasn’t had anyone.”
I frown, but before I can comment, I hear movement in the kitchen before the voice of a man I assume is my sister’s husband. “Why did he bring you coffee?”
Skyye rolls her eyes as she turns to her back, looking out the door. I glance over, and sure enough, I can see into the kitchen where my sister is leaning across the counter, holding her coffee and her head. Nyle stands above her, irritation all over his face as he reaches out his hand to where she is nursing her coffee. Nyle has always been a decent-looking guy, like the kind you trust until he’s slimy and grabs your ass. I have never seen Dean lose his shit like he did the day Nyle grabbed Sadie’s butt. He beat the snot out of the dude, and now he’s married to Missy.
Messy with a capital M.
“Because he knew I’d need it,” she mumbles. “I don’t know why it matters.”
“Because it’s my job to get you coffee!”
I bring in my brows, and I’m about to yell at him for yelling at my sister, when Missy moans, “Please, Nyle. Don’t yell.”
“Is this how it’s going to be now that Kenni is here? You’re going to be getting shit-faced, and your ex is going to be bringing you coffee?”
Skyye rolls her eyes as she shakes her head. I don’t like the look on her face, and I definitely don’t like what Nyle is implying. Missy is quick, though, and gives him a dirty look. “We celebrated my sister coming home. And Dean is not my ex. He’s my baby daddy. Stop this. I don’t have the mental capacity to soothe your insecurities. I’m married to you. I love you. Stop.”
Nyle lets out a long breath and takes a step forward, wrapping his arms around my sister. I look at Skyye, and she shrugs. “This happens a lot.”
I make a face. “Why?”
“I don’t know. It’s dumb. She obvi loves him.”
She points back to where Nyle kisses Missy’s temple and nuzzles his nose in her hair. He whispers something into her ear, and she smiles before leaning into him. I love seeing my sister happy, but his jealousy needs to stop. Missy is loyal, and if she loves him, then she loves him. I don’t see it, but who am I to judge? I stayed with a man for six years who had a whole other family.
Skyye leans into me, and I wrap my arms around her after setting my coffee on the nightstand. She cuddles into me, and I hold her close as I inhale her sweet scent. Against her temple, I ask, “How’s it been with him here?”
She shrugs. “Same old, same old.”
I feel her heart racing a bit, and I hold her tighter. “He isn’t treating—”
“No, never,” she insists. “He’s good to me, even if he’d rather I weren’t here. He has some deep-rooted issues with my dad.”
I grimace. “Well, your dad did beat his ass.”
Skyye snorts. “I know, but they were kids, ya know?”
“Yeah, but small-town living—no one ever forgets.”
“True,” she agrees. “Dad doesn’t care, though. He only wants Mom to be happy.”
I smile against her hair because that sounds just like the guy I grew up with. If Nyle looked past his jealousy, he’d see that Dean does everything for everyone. I mean, he’s a damn firefighter, for goodness’ sake. He’s a good guy. I think it was his grandma who made him that way. He spent so much time with her, she doted on him, and she raised him to be a gentleman. Once his mom passed when we were ten, I think he felt like he had to take on her role as the caregiver since his daddy worked just as much as mine did. Dean is selfless and only wants the best for the people he cares about.
He has one hell of a savior complex, and, by helping people, it fills his cup.
What’s wrong with that?
I take a sharp breath when I remember that I puked in his hat.
The same hat his grandma gave him.
I groan loudly into Skyye’s hair and then ask, “Can you Google how to get puke out of a cowboy hat?”