Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 98736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
“Great.” I plaster a smile onto my face. It’s not that I don’t want to eat with all of them. I’m just… honestly, I don’t know what I am. Nervous to be around Roman. Nervous because I love him.
“Emerson!” I hear my name shouted. I barely have time to turn before Gabe is there, lifting me off my feet and spinning me around, much like Legend just did.
He places me on my feet and grins down at me, his arm still around my waist. “We did it, babe.” He smiles proudly.
“We did.” I return his smile because we worked our asses off this last semester. Between classes and clinicals, I wasn’t sure I would make it to today.
“Who’s this?” Forrest asks.
“Oh, right. Guys, this is Gabe. He was in the surgical tech program with me. Gabe, this is my brother, and his friends slash business partners, and you know Monroe.”
“Nice to meet you.” Gabe holds his hand out for my brother to shake, which he does.
“You too. So you two had class together?”
“Yeah,” Gabe answers. “We were in study group, and I might have been this one's knight in shining armor at one point,” he teases.
“Stop.” I roll my eyes. “I had a flat a while back, and Gabe saw me pulled over on the side of the road and stopped to help me.”
“Thanks, man,” Forrest says with sincerity.
“We appreciate you looking after our girl.” Maddox crosses his arms over his chest, which earns another eye roll from me.
“Anything for Em,” Gabe says sweetly.
I hear a grunt, and I turn to see Roman glaring at Gabe. I ignore him. He doesn’t have the right to be pissed off. Not that there is anything to be pissed about. Gabe and I are just friends.
“Is your family here?” Forrest asks Gabe.
“They are. We’re heading out. I just needed to come and say hi before we left.”
“It was nice to meet you,” Forrest tells him again.
“You too.” Gabe turns to me. “See you around?”
“You bet.” I smile and wave. Gabe stops to give Monroe a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“Is he why you didn’t come home?” Lachlan asks, wagging his eyebrows.
“I thought we were going to eat?”
“We are. Let’s go.” Forrest wraps an arm around my shoulders. I hold my arm out for Monroe, and the three of us head to Forrest's truck.
“This place is fancy,” Maddox says. “Thanks for graduating, Em. This gives us an excuse to try this place.”
“You know, you could try dating. That’s also a good excuse to try a place like this.” Monroe laughs.
Maddox shudders. “Roe, let’s not go talking crazy.”
“You know, one of these days, all five of you are going to meet a woman who will change the way you think,” Monroe muses.
“You trying to marry us off?” Lachlan asks.
“No.” She giggles. “Just stating the obvious. You can’t seriously want to be a bachelor your entire life.”
“Not my entire life,” Forrest speaks up. “It’s going to take someone really fucking special to lock this down.” He motions down his body and we all crack up laughing.
“Yeah? What are the qualifications?” Monroe asks.
“Are you submitting an application?” Lachlan asks. “If so, I can give you a list for myself.” He winks at her.
Monroe points at him. “No.” She shakes her head, smiling. “Forrest?”
“You’re being serious?” he asks.
“Yep.” Monroe takes a sip of her water. We’re still waiting for her parents. Apparently, they got turned around and are stuck in traffic.
“She has to be family oriented. She needs to get along with Emerson, and respect that we’re close. She needs to want to be with me for me, not for what I can give her. She needs to be someone who I know will always be in my corner, a true partner in life. She needs to understand that my job can have crazy hours to fit the schedules of my clients, and she needs to know that my Everlasting Ink family and our traditions are important to me.”
“Is that all?”
Forrest shrugs. “Yeah.”
“If you find her, hopefully, she has a sister,” Lachlan tells him. “All the ladies I’ve met recently want the status that comes with being with the bad boy, or the fact that we’re gaining national recognition for our ink.”
“Same,” Maddox agrees.
“What about someone who would give up everything for you?” Legend asks.
“What do you mean?” Forrest asks him.
“That’s true love, right? What if you found someone who worked her ass off to build an empire, but to be with you, she’d have to walk away from that? What if she walked away from that for you?”
“Whoa.” Forrest holds his hand in the air. “I wouldn’t let her. Fuck that, she worked for it. We make it work.” Forrest takes a drink of his water. “But yeah, I mean, that’s pretty fucking intense if you think about it.”