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)
“Fuck. Rome.” Liam moved closer and put his hand on my shoulder, squeezing lightly. “I’m sorry. Really.”
I forced a weak smile on my lips. “Thanks. I’m kind of glad Simon wasn’t there at the time. Sawyer’s parents and little brother had planned to head up to the cabin the next day for one big family cookout. Simon idolized his brother. It would have crushed him if he’d been there…”
“I’m sure he was crushed, regardless.”
Sucking in a deep, cleansing breath, I held it for a count of five and pushed it out, trying to release all these heavy feelings. “Yeah. Because we were close with Sawyer, we all decided to look out for Simon as he grew up. Be there if he needed someone. Sebastian, Declan, Pierce, and I flew to Massachusetts to be there for Simon’s high school graduation. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Sebastian had a hand in convincing Simon to accept the offer from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.”
“So, Sebastian is the meddler out of all of you.”
A loud bark of laughter escaped, and the last of the tension rolled out of my frame. I leaned on the railing facing Liam, while he rested his back on a column. “Total fucking meddler. He’s the reason Kaylan and Arden are dating.”
“Yeah, he mentioned something about that.”
“Well, I mean, I’m sure they’re dating because they love each other. I’d forgotten earlier that Sebastian got Kaylan set up on a blind date using this app. They’ve been together since Valentine’s Day. Sebastian wants to start a betting pool for when they’ll get engaged, but Byron keeps shutting him down.”
“Didn’t your friends say something about Byron being his assistant?”
“Yes, Byron was Sebastian’s assistant for three years before Sebastian finally conned Byron into dating. They’ve been together for like four or five months; I don’t know,” I said with an absent wave of my hand. With an evil grin, I leaned closer to Liam and dropped my voice. “I do know that Sebastian is a little pissy that Declan got engaged first. He’s fucking chomping at the bit to propose to Byron, but he doesn’t want to do it too close to Declan’s proposal and look like a copycat.”
Liam seemed to hold in a laugh, but it escaped him as a snort, which only made me laugh harder.
“You’re shitting me.”
I bit my lower lip and shook my head. “Nope. Declan and Parker had a sort of friends-with-benefits thing going for more than a year. Just sex. But things got serious when Parker suddenly became a single dad and homeless. Declan took him in and fell hopelessly for Parker and his baby girl. They’ve been dating-dating for a couple of months.”
Liam jerked back, knocking his shoulders on the column. His face shifted into a scowl. “Suddenly became a single dad? How? Was he cheating on his wife with Declan?”
“What?” I squawked. “No! Parker’s gay. Always has been.”
“How does a gay man suddenly become a single dad? It’s a reproduction question. Men don’t.”
My eyes widened as my brain caught up to the critical pieces of the story Liam was missing. “Oh. No, Parker had this good female friend who wanted a kid but didn’t want to do the marriage thing. She asked Parker to donate his sperm because they were besties. Unfortunately, she died last summer, and since Parker is Joy’s biological father, she naturally came to him. And because Parker was going through a streak of shit luck, his apartment burned down two weeks after his best friend died.”
“Fuck. My bad.”
I shrugged. “Not your fault. I didn’t give you all the details. Parker’s a great guy. Very protective of his daughter and Declan. It’s adorable.”
“It’s cool you’ve got this group of close-knit friends you can hang out with,” Liam murmured. “But you were always outgoing. You could talk to anyone. Hell, I think I can remember you talking to the wall when you were bored.”
A groan left me. “Yeah. I think I drive them crazy because I talk so much. But I’m sure you’re going to make a lot of friends once you’ve been here a while. You’re still settling in. Are you in contact with friends you made in college?”
Liam frowned. “I wasn’t close with many people in college. I remained focused on my studies most of the time. It was where I met Fiona.”
My brow furrowed, and I leaned toward him. “The hippo?”
“What? Oh God, no.” His moan turned into a soft snicker. “If that keeps her out of Cincinnati, though, I’ll take it.”
“Huh?” I wasn’t following him at all.
“Fiona is my ex-wife. We met while I was in undergraduate school,” Liam clarified.
“Oh, fuck! My bad! My bad!” I held up my hands in front of me to ward off his vengeance. However, he didn’t seem all that offended by the mistake. “I think it’s a Cincinnati thing. We all watched as that preemie hippo grew up. It was Fiona this and Fiona that. As soon as I hear the name, it’s all I think about.”