Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 86158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“Right,” Kara said, her words thrumming with amusement. “Maybe you should tell Bishop your plan. See what he thinks about it.”
“Maybe you should mind your own beeswax,” I said, looking away from him before I did something stupid. “I have a date tomorrow.”
“With who?”
“A woman that came to the shop a few days ago,” I said, finally looking at Kara again. “Green eyes, chiseled cheekbones, and legs that’ll wrap around me twice.”
“Let me know how that goes.”
“Oh, I will,” I said. “In detail.”
“Please, no.”
“We’re gonna head out, baby,” my mom said, strolling in from the kitchen. “I got all of your food put away, so at least that’s done.”
“Thanks, ma,” I said, tilting my head back to look at her.
“No one should have that much instant ramen, Charlotte,” she said, shaking her head.
“Who says it’s mine?” I asked with a fake gasp. “That’s all Kara’s. She can’t get enough of the stuff.”
“Have you forgotten that I raised you?” mom asked, reaching down to pinch my cheek. “You have the eating habits of a raccoon.”
“Thank God for your genes, am I right?” I asked, patting my belly.
“Someday it’s going to catch up with you,” mom warned with a laugh as she walked over to help pull my dad to his feet.
“Yeah right,” he said, slapping my mom’s ass. “When’s it going to catch up to you?”
“No parental ass-slapping in this house,” I ordered, pointing at them. “Get that shit out of here.”
“We’ll go too,” Rose said, climbing off the floor with a groan. “I need a bath and a massage.”
“I can handle that,” Mack replied seriously.
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Kara snapped.
“You’re such a prude,” I said, elbowing her in the side.
Kara sputtered and I made the mistake of looking at Bishop. I could never keep my eyes off him for long. He was already looking at me, laughing. Jesus, that man needed to be put in some kind of museum so people could pay to see the perfection.
“You gonna stay and hang, Reb?” Draco asked as Tommy, Will and Molly made moves to leave.
“No, Wes is coming over at seven o’clock,” she replied, shaking her head.
“That’s a little late, isn’t it?” I teased, glancing between her and her parents. “You guys okay with that?”
“It’s not late,” Rebel argued. “It won’t even be dark yet!”
“Better they’re at our house,” Will muttered.
“We like when Wes comes to visit,” Molly said, shooting her man a look that told him to shut it.
Reb made the rounds, giving each of us a hug, and I watched closely as she got to Bishop. He didn’t open his arms for her, or do anything really, but smile.
“Good to see you, Reb,” he said softly, his eyes on her. He held out his hand.
“A hug this time,” Rebel said firmly. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist and I bit my cheek at his expression of surprise and delight. It was so fucking cute I could scream.
“I finally get a hug,” he said happily, looking across the room at Draco.
“She likes tight hugs, man,” Draco said, grinning. “None of those half-assed ones.”
“Noted,” Bishop replied, tightening his arms around her shoulders.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Reb said, pulling away. “Bye!”
I laughed as Bishop quickly dropped his arms and waved as the group filed out calling their goodbyes over their shoulders. Tommy turned at the door and pointed two fingers at his eyes and then at each of us in an I’m watching you gesture. I flipped him off.
“I’m gonna start putting the kitchen away,” I said, getting to my feet.
“You’re choosing the kitchen because your mom already did most of it,” Kara accused, grabbing at my ankle as I sidestepped her. “Cheater.”
“Obviously,” I said, pretending to step on her hand.
“Fine,” she griped. “I’ll do the bathrooms.”
“Don’t steal my shit,” I said as I walked away.
“Yeah right,” she called back. “I have my own stuff, thank you!”
The guys stayed in the living room as we puttered around, unpacking boxes, and though I’d never admit it, I liked hearing the low hum of their voices in the house. It was kind of comforting.
It was weird as hell having Curtis gone. I knew he was okay, out there doing whatever for the club, but I resented the fact that he wasn’t with us. After years of Draco being in prison it had felt like everything was getting back to normal, the five of us all finally together. Now shit was all lopsided again.
“We need music,” I muttered, pulling out my phone. I searched through the box of odds and ends from our kitchen and found the speaker that we’d kept in our old place. “Gotcha.”
As soon as I’d turned on some tunes, the unpacking seemed to go faster. I had an ulterior motive for unpacking the kitchen—I could put everything away where I wanted it. Cooking in a kitchen was a pain in the ass when you didn’t know where everything was, and it was going to drive Kara crazy for weeks until she figured it out. I grinned as I shook my ass, putting silverware away in one of the drawers.