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)
Rome: How do cows stay up to date? They read the Moo-spaper.
Rome: Which days are the strongest? Saturday and Sunday. The rest are weekdays.
Rome: What do you call a werewolf with a YouTube account? Lycan Subscribe!
Rome: What do you call it when an animal is invisible in the desert? Camelflage
Liam: Holy fuck! Don’t you have to work or something?
Liam: Please give your phone a rest. Some of us have important things they need to get done.
Rome: Send me a joke and I’ll stop.
I waited, eager to see if he would play along. As kids, Liam would cackle at the very worst, lamest pun jokes in the world. I refused to believe he’d lost that sense of humor. If he had, I was going to give up on him completely. It was too sad to think the grumpy man had lost the ability to laugh.
Liam: I don’t mean to boast about my finances. However, my credit card company calls me all the time to tell me my balance is outstanding!
“Yes!” I hissed, pumping my fist into the air the second I saw Liam’s text. That was just as bad as I remembered them being. I lounged on my sofa and prepared to search the internet for yet another bad dad joke. It was tempting to return to the dinosaur ones because he was a paleontologist. Or maybe I should look up some about rocks. He’d studied geology as an undergrad. He’d appreciate some bad rock jokes.
Liam: No more jokes. I’m serious, Rome. I’ve got to get back to work, and I don’t like turning off my phone during the day.
Ugh. Reality. That sucked. I had the day off, and I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. My first thought had been to irritate the fuck out of Liam, but I didn’t want to pay to save his job only to have him lose it because I was texting too much. That was annoying.
Rome: Fine. But do you have our next date planned? Just three to go!
Liam: Not yet. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours since our last one, and some of us haven’t lived in the area long. It takes time to research stuff.
Rome: [eye-roll emoji]🙄 Scientists and their research.
Liam: [GIF of woman flipping off screen]
I snickered. He could bitch all he wanted, but I knew in my bones he was enjoying this shit. He wouldn’t be so quick to respond to my texts if he weren’t.
Rome: So…a friend of mine recently started playing with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He has his first official performance this weekend. Would you be interested in going with me? I’ve already got the tickets. I’d be willing to count it toward your required dates if you did.
Liam: Seriously?
My heart jumped into my throat, and I had to wipe my sweaty palms on my jeans before I typed a response. Why the fuck was I getting so nervous about this? It wasn’t a big deal.
Rome: It’s okay if you’re not interested in classical music.
Liam: No! I love the symphony! I caught part of their performance at the museum. Your friend is the new guest violinist, right?
Rome: Yep. Simon Miller.
Liam: I can’t believe you know someone so talented.
I rolled my eyes at my phone, but I couldn’t stop the smile that had formed on my lips. Yeah, so I might have been a little proud of Simon. The man was stupidly talented. It was only a matter of time before he’d be flitting around the world, playing with all the best orchestras and getting even more famous. We had to enjoy having him close while we could.
Rome: Is that a yes or do you want to rip on me some more?
Liam: Can’t I do both?
Rome: Asshole.
Liam: I learned it from you.
Liam: Date and time? Do you want me to pick you up since you’ve handled the tickets?
Rome: Saturday. I’ll pick you up at six-thirty.
Rome: We’ll be close to a lot of interesting restaurants, so we can stop off afterward for a late-night snack, if you want.
Liam: Sounds good. Thanks!
After Liam’s last message, I tossed my phone aside and paced to the kitchen, trying to will my pounding heart to slow. This was stupid. Why did this feel like a real date? It wasn’t a date. I’d sent almost the exact same text to Sebastian, Declan, and Pierce at least two dozen times in the past, and those never felt like dates.
Was this what I was putting Liam through every time he had to invite me out?
If so, I was a bit of a psychopath. This was crazy.
It wasn’t a date. Only two friends hanging out. Nothing more. Same as when I went out with Pierce.
Shit!
Sebastian, Declan, Pierce, and the new boyfriends were all supposed to be attending Simon’s first performance. There was no way I could avoid introducing Liam to them. It would be rude and undoubtedly obvious that I was ducking them.