Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 139088 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 695(@200wpm)___ 556(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139088 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 695(@200wpm)___ 556(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Right.
It was weird I was watching Dream sit there, looking like she was fighting tears.
But it was also cool.
Her gaze came to me.
“I don’t want you to pay back what you owe me either,” I said. “Because if I needed it, you’d do the same for me.”
Her eyes got squinty.
“Stop being awesome,” she groused.
“You stop being awesome,” I returned.
“You’re so annoying,” she said.
“You’re so annoying,” I replied.
“Girls,” Mom broke in for the eighty-nine thousand, six-hundred and first time in our lives.
“I’m totally in for you to keep my fund until my wedding,” I declared, returning to the matter at hand. “Especially after what I went through yesterday. And today. That was a chunk of change day. One word. Scary. More words. I want an awesome wedding gown like Alexis’s.”
My goal: Make Knox lose it.
A man being moved to tears by the sight of his woman?
Forget about it.
“All right, love,” Dad murmured. Then, “Dream?”
“I don’t know,” Dream said.
Mom, Dad and I exchanged looks because…
Dream didn’t know if she wanted Mom and Dad to save her wedding money?
Wedding money?
Holy shit, Byron was so totally in there.
His fingers must be really strong.
“I…I think…it would be foolish…it’s very early…” she stammered, and I felt for her. She didn’t have a lot of practice talking shit out with people. She finally got a handle on it. “I think I need to prioritize my babies. We need somewhere bigger. Nicer. And I need to feel settled so they’ll feel settled. Not to mention, landlords are greedy, they’re contributing to the housing crisis by demanding outlandish rents, and I don’t want to feed into that system.”
There was a long pause and then she homed in on Dad.
“Do you think that’s the right choice?” she asked.
Dad’s throat bobbed. Twice.
Then he pushed out, “Yes, sweetheart. Family is always priority.”
They had a moment.
Mom and I let them have a moment.
Dad broke the moment.
“Will you…allow your mother and me…?”
Damn, now Dad was stammering.
He cleared his throat and went on, “It would mean a lot to us if you’d allow us to help you find a house. And if you need more for the down payment, we can offer a no-interest loan.”
Gaze on Dad, Dream was sniffling and at a loss for words.
“In case you don’t know this, that means yes,” I spoke for her.
She squinted her eyes at me.
Again.
“Don’t speak for me.”
“Am I wrong?” I asked.
“No. But I still don’t want you speaking for me.”
“I’m multi-tasking because you being in my face means you won’t burst into tears at the dining room table.”
She rolled her eyes.
“I need another piece of cake,” Mom decreed.
I could use one too.
Gluten-free and vegan aside, it was still freaking good.
“One more piece of cake and you and Knox can head home and rest,” Mom said and turned to Dream. “And my grandbabies are coming home so you have to get back too.”
With that, she got up to make cake happen.
“Is Byron going to meet the kids?” I asked Dream.
“I think it’s too soon. But he’s really excited to meet them. So I don’t know,” Dream answered.
“Why wait?” I queried.
“I don’t know about that either. But Luna, it’s only been a week.”
“So? Knox is moving in. We already have a wedding scrapbook. Like Mom said, when you know, you know.”
“Hmm,” Dream hummed.
“I am a very happy man today,” Dad, who had been watching this byplay, said, and after saying it, he got up and walked out of the room.
Dream and I sat across from each other and didn’t move or speak.
She broke it.
“They’re so extra.”
I grinned at her. “They totally are.”
“Raincheck on that sister date this week?” she asked.
“Is that code for, ‘come over and help me with my Etsy packages while I have my kids’?”
“Yes,” she copped to it.
“Pick the day and I’m there.”
We got up and returned to our guys.
Knox gave me a penetrating look when I showed.
I smiled.
He relaxed.
We ate cake.
Those that didn’t live there anymore left.
After Knox and me (and Jacques) got home, he and I had sex because we had to report for cleanup duty at eight o’clock sharp that morning, and I’d had a mild hangover when I reported for said duty, so we missed morning sex.
Then we pulled on clothes, collapsed on the couch, and I passed out with my head in my man’s lap with my puppers curled in the curve of mine while my guy watched a game.
And I found I could do sports this way, totally.
Unconscious was the way to go.
It was Tuesday, about two hours from when my shift would end, when my phone vibrated in my apron.
I was about to do a round of my tables to see if anyone needed anything, but I stopped, took the phone out, and seeing it was a call from Knox, I connected.
“Hey.”
“Can you take a quick break so we can talk?”