Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85274 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85274 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
“Friends,” he finally says.
“Good.” I plaster on a smile I hope one day will become real. “Now, I need to start house hunting. Wish me luck, friend.” And with a playful wink, I disappear into my room to find a realtor.
“Have you had any luck finding a place yet?” Sienna asks, as we wade in the pool at the water park. Because it’s indoors, they keep it at a perfect eighty degrees. We’re both floating on our backs, relaxing with a virgin daiquiri in our hands.
“I have an appointment this week to see a few places.” I take a sip of my drink and glance at Lincoln, who’s chatting with his brother and dad. Unlike his usual businessman attire, today he’s sporting board shorts that are hanging low on his hips, sans shirt.
“Lincoln mentioned that he told you he wants you to live with him.”
“Yeah, but he’s not thinking clearly. We can barely be in the same room as each other without fuck—” I cover my mouth, realizing my error too late, as Sienna scrambles to stand up, her drink falling into the water.
“You what?” she hisses, her gaze flitting between me and Lincoln.
“Nothing,” I choke out, standing as well. “Nothing.” I repeat.
“El, I heard you,” she whisper-yells. “Please don’t lie to me.”
“I—” She arches a brow, daring me to lie, so I switch gears. “It’s not that I want to lie to you,” I say, glancing at the guys to make sure they’re out of earshot. “But Micah’s your husband, and you don’t keep secrets.”
“You’re my sister,” she says. “Whatever you say, stays between us.”
“I don’t want to put you in that position.”
“You’re not. I don’t tell Micah everything. And I wouldn’t tell him whatever you tell me unless you were in danger or something. You’re not only my sister, but you’re my best friend, and I’ve missed you these past several years. I want you to be able to talk to me. To trust that you can tell me anything. Please, no more secrets.” The hurt on her face has me sighing in defeat.
“Okay, fine. While you guys were quarantined, Lincoln and I...” I clear my throat. “We had sex.”
Her eyes go wide. “So, what? You’re together?”
“No, that’s the thing. He has it in his head that I’m off-limits, so afterward, he regretted it and then began avoiding me.”
“That’s because of Micah,” she says with a frown. “He told Lincoln that you were too young and that he can’t be with you. You were there.”
“Yeah, I know, but that doesn’t mean Micah’s word has to be law.”
“No, but you are several years younger than him.”
I roll my eyes, hating that people take one’s age so seriously. “Age is only just a number,” I point out. “But it doesn’t matter because Lincoln obviously agrees with Micah. And after his constant hot and cold crap, I finally had enough and told him we need to be friends if we want to co-parent. Hence, me needing to find a place to live.”
I glance over at Lincoln and find him staring at me, his gaze burning with desire as he drags his eyes down my bikini clad body. Unlike some women who hide their pregnancy, I love my bump and have no problem sporting it.
“Holy shit,” Sienna murmurs. “He’s practically undressing you with his eyes.”
Because she’s right, and it’s Lincoln’s fault for not hiding his blatant lust for me better, I don’t bother to deny it. “Which is why I need to move out. He may consider me off-limits, but his dick doesn’t agree.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
ELLIE
“I’m starved. Any chance we can stop by the Mexican place on the way home? Oh! Or the sushi place. Mmm...Or Thai.”
Lincoln chuckles from the driver’s side. Since the water park was a bit of a drive, we carpooled because I haven’t gotten a chance to buy my own vehicle yet. I’m putting it off, knowing I’m going to have to buy some sort of mom mobile like Sienna. Well, maybe not as mom-ish, since I’ll only have one baby and she’s about to have her third. “Which one?”
“Huh?”
“Which place,” Lincoln asks. “Mexican, sushi, or Thai?”
“Oh, right. All three?”
I bat my lashes playfully, and he shakes his head.
“Okay, fine. Mexican...No, Thai...No, sushi. Actually! You know what we should totally do?”
I wait for him to play along, and he doesn’t disappoint. “What should we do?”
“Pickup ice cream for dinner!”
Lincoln barks out a laugh. “We just had cake and ice cream at the party.”
When I give him a so what look, he chuckles. “Ice cream, it is.”
Ice cream turns into banana splits, and once we have everything we need to make the best ones ever, we head home.
While I’m setting up shop, Lincoln sits at the island and we talk, something we haven’t done much of since everything went down. Sure, we’ve fucked a couple of times, but we haven’t actually had a real conversation.