Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 52975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Grateful for the distraction, I say, “Three.”
“Is the plural of octopus octopi?” Carter asks me.
“It’s octopuses.”
“Lainey, geez.” Bash puts his hands over Hallie’s ears. “There are children present.”
Carter laughs. “They hear a lot worse than octopuses from me. And Aunt Mara.”
Mara nods. “Aunt Mara needs her mouth washed out with soap. Preferably by Jason Momoa.”
“Okay, people!” Suki calls from the kitchen. “Dinner’s ready!”
Everyone makes their way into the kitchen, where Harry and Suki have prepared an elaborate taco bar on the island. There are hard shells, soft shells, tortilla chips, grilled steak, chicken and shrimp, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and several kinds of cheese and sauce.
And best of all, a heaping bowl of fresh guacamole. There are also bowls of rice and beans for the side and a big glass pitcher of margaritas.
“Lainey?” Suki offers as she pours a margarita. “Can I get you one?”
“Not tonight, but thanks. I have an early morning.”
“I want to hear more about your work sometime. I had no idea the bacteria in our intestines could have anything to do with mental health.”
This is my catnip—people who like hearing about what I do. I’m passionate about it.
“Anytime.”
A teenage girl comes into the room, AirPods in her ears. She silently makes herself a plate.
“That’s our oldest, Olivia,” Suki says. “I’d introduce you, but she’s a teenager, so she can’t even.”
I laugh. “I get it. I’ll meet her another time.”
Carter walks over to Suki and puts a palm on her lower back, his other hand on her hip as he pulls her closer and kisses her. “This looks amazing, babe.”
She smiles up at him, radiating happiness. “I didn’t try to cook the steak. I left that to Harry.”
“You ruined it one time,” Harry says. “You need to get back on that horse.”
“She has something better than a horse to ride now,” Mara quips.
“What?” Hallie gives Suki a questioning look. “What do you have that’s better than a horse?”
“Aunt Mara can explain,” Suki says breezily.
Hallie turns to Mara, who smiles brightly. “I meant the wave of life, honey. She’s riding the wave of life. It’s metaphorical.”
I make myself two tacos with grilled chicken and veggies, avoiding the cheese and steak because I don’t think they’ll agree with my stomach.
When I’m back in the dining room, Bash comes in carrying a plate loaded up with steak, chicken and veggies.
“This is okay for you, right?” he murmurs.
“Yeah, it’s fine.” My cheeks warm. “It looks like you’re eating for three.”
He grins. “I’m a growing boy.”
I appreciate his concern about my health, but at the same time, it’s humiliating. I’ve had irritable bowel syndrome since I was fourteen. I have to be careful about what I eat and always know where the nearest bathroom is.
Who could blame Bash for not being interested in me? No man’s checklist for his dream woman includes prone to sudden diarrhea. It’s why Shane and I have never spent a night together. I have my place and he has his, and I’m nervous about us living together once we’re married.
Carter sits down across from us at the dining table, his plate as loaded up as Bash’s.
“So Lainey, anytime you’re ready to share embarrassing childhood stories about Bash, I’m all ears.”
I glance at Bash and laugh. “I always thought Bash and Eric were the coolest. I don’t really know anything embarrassing about him.”
He knows lots of embarrassing things about me, but I know I can trust him not to blab. They’re ancient history now.
“Oh, but there was the mustache.” I glance at Bash, who rolls his eyes. “That was pretty hilarious.”
Carter’s face lights with amusement. “Tell me more about this mustache.”
“What year was that?” I ask Bash? “Were you a sophomore?”
He nods. “It was for my team’s no-shave November. But since I have more male hormones flowing through this honed body of mine, my stache was more impressive than anyone else’s.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Was it, though?”
“It got me a date with a college girl. She thought I was twenty.”
My eleven-year-old self would have been crushed to know he went out with a college girl. Or any girl, honestly. I cried over the homecoming and prom photos my mom took of Eric and Bash with their dates because I wanted to be the one next to Bash more than anything.
“Then she saw that you looked like one of those hairless cats between your legs?” Mara quips.
“Nah, I didn’t make it past the first date without a driver’s license.”
After dinner and dessert, which is a decadent flourless cake I don’t dare risk eating, we return to trivia. Carter and Bash go into Carter’s study for a while, but I still feel very comfortable with Suki and her friends. By the time I leave, I have all their numbers in my phone, and they have mine, too.
“Did you have fun?” Bash asks on the drive home.