Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
I grin at her. “Worth a try.” I then glance around the kitchen and realize it looks like a tornado hit. “Um… you sure you got everything under control?”
Brienne glares at me and moves to a large silver pot. “Of course, I’ve got it all under control. I’ve followed Daniel’s instructions to a T. I put the turkey in at six and it’s cooking nicely. There’s apparently a little red thingamabob that will pop out when it’s done. Did Kiera make it to Red Wing?”
“Yup. I’ll have the boys call her and Mom in a bit.”
I invited my mom to come to Thanksgiving this year, but she’d already made plans to eat with her church friends. Kiera decided to go home for a visit, though, so it’s just me, the boys, and Brienne, who insisted on making the meal from scratch.
Brienne starts to mash the potatoes by hand, an arduous task as I’ve done it myself on occasion. She blows out a breath of frustration, grunting with effort. I nudge her out of the way with my hip. “This is man’s work. Let me finish.”
That earns me an eye roll, but she moves on to the next task on her list.
“Did you bring the cranberry sauce?” she asks as she pulls open one of the double ovens to peek inside at what appears to be a nice-looking green bean casserole.
“In the grocery bag,” I say, nodding to it. “There’s something else in there too.”
She cocks an eyebrow at me and saunters over. Peeking into the brown paper bag, she laughs in delight as she pulls out a bouquet of fresh daisies. “Apparently, Tanner wasn’t the only one listening last week when I said daisies are my favorite.”
“I listen to everything you say,” I assure her. Hell, I pretty much obsess about her all the time.
The last three weeks have been amazing, more than I could have ever imagined.
Since we practically broke the sporting news cycle with my public declaration of love, life has been damn near perfect.
Although we made big news, we’re no longer interesting, and the media has moved on, mostly because we refuse to comment about our relationship. The guys give me lots of shit about it, ribbing me that I’m only on the team because of my sugar mama. It’s all in good fun, though.
Crystal has disappeared again, and I’d like to say that’s a good thing, but it’s not. It only makes us wonder when she’ll resurface, and it leaves me walking on eggshells a bit. The only comfort is that the boys are thriving and happy, which is all that matters.
Brienne spends as much time with us as her work schedule allows. She’s actually turned most everything Titans related over to Callum and is learning how to give up a little control at work to free her evenings some. I spend plenty of nights with her on away games or here after our home games. We still haven’t progressed to staying the night at my house with the boys, but tonight will be a test to see how they handle it. We’re going to stay here tonight.
I fully intend to have my way with Brienne then, but we’ll just have to be super quiet.
This will be a good way to introduce them to the concept of overnights. It’s like a big, fun sleepover to them, and hopefully, that will facilitate a smooth transition as Brienne becomes more ingrained into our family.
“Have you ever thought about living together?” I ask as she opens a can of cranberry sauce.
She doesn’t jolt with surprise, which tells me she has. She slides her eyes my way. “Sometimes.”
“Would you move in with us?” I grin at her, knowing the answer before she says it.
“And give up this luxury?” She gasps, sweeping her hand outward. “No. When we’re ready to move in together, you’ll come here. We can put Kiera and the boys in one wing, and you and I will take the other. But that’s not anytime soon. I want the kids to be good with it.”
“Are you kidding? They’d move in with you tomorrow if you let them. They adore you.”
“I love them too.” She sighs and then looks across the kitchen wistfully.
“What’s going on in that pretty noggin of yours?” I drop the masher into the pot and move over to her. My arms slide around her waist and I pull her back into me. Her hands cover my arms, and her head falls onto my chest. “I never thought I’d have this. It wasn’t even a dream of mine, but now that I have it, I don’t understand how my dreams were never this big.”
I ponder that, giving her a squeeze. “I guess we all change, right? All I know is that you are an absolute dream come true. I didn’t know I was looking for you either.”