Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 130380 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130380 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Riley and Giana nodded their agreement, and I chuckled, wiping my face. “You know, I never had girlfriends before you,” I admitted.
“Me either,” Julep said. “Other than my sister.”
“Fictional characters have been my only friends for years,” Giana added.
Riley poked her thumb into her chest. “I hung out with my brother and his friends, that’s how much I was terrified of making my own.”
“What does that say about us?” I asked.
“You know how they say you have to wait for the one?” Julep asked, looping us all together again. “Maybe it’s like that for us. We had to wait for the right girls to be our besties.”
“We’re soul mates,” Riley added.
We grouped in for another hug, and then Giana sniffed, and I soothed her back. “Aw, G, don’t cry.”
“No, I’m not,” she said, leaning back and wiping her nose. “It’s the book funk.”
I blinked. “Your book funk is making your nose run?”
“It’s like having the flu!” she defended. “My body doesn’t know how to function without at least two fictional stories playing out in my brain at all times.”
That made us all laugh, and as Julep and I started cleaning up and Riley climbed into bed to get as much sleep as she could before practice, Giana went into full detail about the book that had caused her funk — getting particularly dramatic over something about a cowboy hat rule — and how she had tried every known remedy to get out of it without success.
By the time we all crawled into the sheets and turned out the lights, it was just past midnight.
I rolled over and set my head on Julep’s pillow. “Thank you for coming to my rescue.”
“Always,” she promised.
“You’re getting married,” I sang with a wide grin, poking her ribs under the covers.
She did a little happy dance and squealed, then we both fell silent, and minutes later, she was sound asleep — along with Riley and Giana.
I, on the other hand, stared up at the ceiling and counted down the minutes until morning.
Leo
Before my alarm went off the next morning, I woke to the feel of a warm, lush body wrapping around me.
“You’re in my bed,” a groggy voice whispered in my ear.
I hadn’t realized how much tension I’d been holding until it all leaked out of me the second I heard her, the moment I felt her against me.
I smirked, rolling over until I could see Mary’s sleepy smile as she balanced her chin on my chest. She was careful to avoid my fresh tattoo, her eyes skating over it like she was making sure I was following her care instructions.
“Your bed?” I repeated.
She nodded, and I chuckled, not fighting her on it. Palico hopped up on the bed like she’d been waiting for Mary to show, and we both smiled as Mary ran her hand along Palico’s spine, the cat arching into her touch. She only stayed for a moment before hopping off the bed again — likely because she knew Kyle would be up any minute, and was always first in the kitchen.
Which also meant he was first to feed her.
I settled my gaze back on Mary. She looked tired and a little sad, her eyes a bit red, the skin a bit ashen. I wondered if her night had been as long as mine.
Yesterday had been chaotic. I felt alive during practice, energized from my night with Mary and flying high on just the thought of seeing her again at the end of the day. But when she didn’t answer any of my texts, that high turned into a desperate low, and it was all I could do to make it through my evening classes before speeding back to The Pit.
Only to find she wasn’t home.
There was a note on the bed, something about an impromptu bachelorette party for Julep. And while that alone wasn’t a reason to worry, the way she’d been that morning when I left, how she’d fought back tears, and how my texts had gone unanswered — the combination made me sick to my stomach.
I wanted to talk to her, to call repeatedly until she answered and told me what was wrong. But I knew Mary enough to know that if she was asking for space, that was what she actually wanted. So, I waited.
And here she was, back in bed with me.
I swallowed, brushing her hair from her face. “How was it?”
“Ridiculous,” she said with a smile. “We went to a pole studio.”
I arched a brow. “Got any video? My spank bank could use a refresh…”
“You’re disgusting,” she said on a laugh, pinching my ribs. I just chuckled and pulled her into me, kissing her forehead once she was resting in the crook of my arm. We were silent for a moment, my fingers running through her hair as hers curled into fists over my stomach.