Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Not surprising. Incredibly annoying. And yeah, maybe I was a little jealous of the very easy life Rome had paved out in front of him.
Stupidly jealous.
“But Sebastian convinced me and Pierce to move here after we finished college. I started volunteering at the Cincinnati Public Library out of boredom and discovered that I enjoyed it. Not because I love reading, but I loved helping people find the information they were searching for. I got addicted to having all the answers.”
“And there’s no place in the world with more answers than the library,” I added with a chuckle.
“Exactly,” Rome said, snapping his fingers at me. “There’s no book in existence that I can’t find. And I love getting the kids interested in books.” His joyful expression sobered in a flash, and he pointed at me. “Before you ask, yes, the library has to pay me a salary because I’m an employee, but everything they pay me gets donated right back to the library.”
Oh. That was really nice.
We polished off the rest of the pizza, talking about the books he’d read to the kids lately, and headed into the gaming area. I kicked his ass some more at pinball, only to have him utterly decimate me at Skee-ball. The asshole found the sweet spot and kept hitting the five-hundred-point hole while my balls bounced off the barrier.
The entire time, we laid the trash talk on thick, calling each other every name in the book, and it felt like when we were kids. There was no malice meant by any of it. Just good-natured teasing.
We didn’t get downtown until after ten. Most of the nervous energy that had pulled the muscles tight in my body had dissipated, and I was able to relax at last. We didn’t talk much on the drive, but it was a comfortable silence. With one date in the books, the other four were looking far more manageable. I might actually keep my job and help the museum.
I pulled into a parking spot and put the car into park. Rome hadn’t told me the exact location of his place, but I was sure he had some flashy penthouse in one of these buildings. All he would admit to was that he was within walking distance of Fountain Square.
“You know, I had a pretty good night. I’ll have to check out that pinball joint again,” Rome admitted as he unbuckled his seat belt.
A soft grunt of agreement rumbled up my throat. “You should take your friends.” I glanced at the clock on the dashboard and did some quick math. I still had time to get home and review my class notes before bed. “Well, I’ll need to check my calendar, but I’ll text you for our next—ahhh!” I screamed as I looked at Rome to find that his left arm was resting on the driver’s seat and he’d leaned in ridiculously close. “What are you doing?” I shouted as I slammed against my door, trying to put as much space between us as possible.
Rome reached out and put his hand on the steering wheel as if he meant to get even closer. “What? Don’t you end every date with a kiss?”
“What? No! Fuck, No! I’m not kissing you!”
Rome’s crazed laughter filled the car, and he flopped back into his door. “Holy shit! The fucking panic! You’re hilarious!”
“It’s not funny, you twisted fuck! Why would you do that?”
Rome grinned and pointed at me. “To see that expression right there. I’ll be waiting for your text.”
He didn’t give me the chance to shout or sputter anything else. Rome opened the door and rolled out of my car. I watched him in the rearview mirror as he strolled down the block, his hands in the pockets of his coat and a spring in his goddamn step.
Oh my God, I hate this man. Four dates are still too many.
9
ROME ASHBRIDGE
“Rome, you didn’t have to bring a gift!” Parker exclaimed with a laugh as I strolled through his and Declan’s home.
“This isn’t so much a gift as a duty. As a librarian, it’s my job to supply books to readers, especially the littlest ones.”
Parker accepted the colorful book with the pair of penguins on the front wearing rainbow bow ties. It didn’t hurt to introduce Joy to books that featured two daddies, because that was her reality.
“Holy crap, this is precious!” Parker paged through the book, cooing at the adorable illustrations. He lifted his head and smirked. “Declan told you he’s started reading to Joy every night before bed?”
“He mentioned he was reading the Wall Street Journal to her to put her to sleep,” I replied, following him through the foyer to the lounge where Sebastian, Byron, Declan, and Simon were seated. Pierce was still missing.
Declan and Parker had invited everyone over for dinner since we hadn’t gotten together as a big group in almost three months. I also hadn’t seen Joy in three months, and she was so big now. She sat on Declan’s lap, chewing on some colorful toy and watching all the people around her as if they were the most fascinating things in the entire world.