Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 72561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
“Anyone let the geezers out yet?” I asked as I walked towards the cell.
I walked up on the two men playing cards.
“Got any 7’s?” My stepfather asked Silas.
“Go fish,” Silas replied.
What. The. Fuck.
***
I walked into the room, heart in my throat.
The room was dark, except for the green lights of the monitors.
A weird rhythmic thump-thump had my eyes zeroing in on the monitor to the side of the bed before they focused back on the sleeping figure in the bed.
Channing was asleep on her back.
Her hand, the one not connected to an IV, was thrown up above her head.
Her hair was a mess, scattered this way and that around her head.
The gown she was wearing did nothing but swamp her figure, and my heart constricted once more to see her small body dwarfed in the oversized hospital bed.
“They gave her some sleeping meds. She was freaking out when she couldn’t find you. It was either sleep, or they’d have had to cuff her to the bed. I chose sleep,” my mother’s tear filled voice said from beside me.
“Is she okay?” I choked.
My mom was sitting in the very corner. Her phone lighting up her face with what appeared to be a book on the screen.
“Yes, baby. She’s okay. They kept her overnight because her blood pressure skyrocketed. They weren’t sure what it was from, but they wanted to keep her just in case they needed to do something about it. That’s not good for the baby,” she said softly. “Her arm’s going to be sore for a very long time. That man stepped on the back of her arm, pinning it down to the ground with her forearm caught in between his boot and the floor,” she shook her head as if to clear the awful image from her brain. “I shot him.”
I blinked.
I hadn’t heard that part, but then again, I’d been busy giving a statement to not only the local police, but also the state police, the Sherriff’s department, and the FBI.
I’d been detained because of my reluctance to talk with anyone until I saw Channing. However, that hadn’t worked out so well in my favor.
They’d tried to pin an obstruction of justice charge on me, but Silas and my stepfather had talked the stuck up suit out of it on account of I was ‘distraught’ over the possible harm to my girlfriend.
The two old men had come together as if they were best buddies as they ran the investigation like two people who hadn’t been doing their best to undermine each other only a few hours before.
I placed a soft kiss on Channing’s forehead before walking over to my mom and crouching down in front of her. “Are you okay?”
She placed her cool palm on the side of my head, rubbing her thumb across the scruff covering my jaw.
“You scared the living crud out of us today. Don’t do that to me anymore. I don’t think my heart can take another one,” she whimpered.
Something inside of me broke free. “I won’t, mom. I’ve got Channing to keep me in line now. I’m gonna ask her to marry me soon.”
My mom snickered. “She told me today she wasn’t marrying you until this baby was born, no matter how much you cried.”
I looked over at the woman currently the topic of our discussion. “I’m sure I can convince her.”
Chapter 20
The only reason I’d kick you out of bed was if you wanted to be fucked on the floor.
-Loki and his thoughts about mood swings
Loki
One month later
I stopped beside Channing’s car and set the stand down. Swinging my leg over, I saw the ‘FOR RENT’ sign in the front of my yard and grinned.
I grabbed the box out of my saddlebags and started walking towards Channing’s front door.
Cabe was kicking me out, but that was okay. I’d purchased a home, signing on the dotted line only this morning.
Now all I had to do was move my shit into it, and then move Channing’s shit into it. Then we’d have a home.
That was if she didn’t freak out.
Stopping beside the front door, I pulled my keys out, dropping the velvet box, I’d also gotten today, in the dirt.
Stooping down, I picked it up, flicked the top open, and stared.
“She’s going to say no,” I muttered to myself as I slipped the ring back into my pocket, and tucked the garment box underneath my arm.
Then I opened the door to the Channing’s house.
“Channing?” I called as I closed the door behind me.
I stepped out of my boots, and then kicked them into the corner under the coffee table.
Walking through the living room, I checked the kitchen but found no sign of her there, either.
“Chan?” I called again.
I found her in the bedroom cuddled up to Lucy.
Looking at the clock to double check that I had enough time, I slipped my shirt off over my head, shucked my jeans, and crawled in behind her.
Lucy moved to the floor, as was his usual since I wasn’t a big fan of sleeping with dogs.
Channing moved, pressing her back closer to my front, before falling back asleep again.
My hand went from her chest to her belly, where I could feel our baby moving away inside of her.
How Channing slept like that, I don’t know, but I commended her for it.
The kid was going to be hell on wheels when he finally got here.
I fell asleep to the rhythmic movement of our child moving against my hand, and didn’t wake up again until two hours later, sans Channing.
Stretching my arms above my head, a small groan escaped me as I worked the tiredness from my body and stood up.
I didn’t bother with pants, instead walking straight out to the kitchen to find Channing eating a bowl of cereal in her navy blue scrubs that she was wearing to work for the night.
“Hey,” I said just before leaning down and giving her a kiss.
She turned her head at the last moment, so my kiss was deflected from her lips and landed on her jaw instead.