Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 75003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
At the corner of the table, Mackie was gripping the bars of his cage and hanging down toward Kylo—who he’d rightfully decided was the club sucker when it came to sneaking him food—who immediately ripped off a piece of bread and handed it to the bird.
“I’m always down for poker,” Kylo said as York came in from the backyard, a large plate in his hands after likely having dropped off food for the tortoise.
“We’re playing poker?” he asked.
“Once the girls get here,” Coast confirmed. “Gonna start making some calls,” he added as he got up to put his plate in the dishwasher. “Sure you don’t wanna hang?” he asked me.
“Nah. Rather have some alone time with Jade. Been cock-blocked twice by my uncle.”
“Good luck to you, man,” he said, already reaching for his phone.
“You ever want someone to talk to about her…” Velle invited as he loaded up a plate.
“And find out I have some long-buried mommy issues and anxious attachment or whatever shit I heard you talking to Candy about? I’ll pass,” I said, getting a smile out of him. “I got my pep talk from Teddy already,” I added.
“Can’t get a read on that man,” Velle admitted. “There’s… something going on with his need to get the guys of this club to get their heads outta their asses and commit to their women. But I can’t put my finger on it.”
“Well, good luck with that, man,” I said, clamping him on the shoulder on my way toward the door, wanting to make sure I made it to the building before the delivery window, not wanting my stubborn-ass uncle to refuse delivery or some shit like that.
—
“What do you want?” Uncle Will greeted me, shooting small eyes at me as I moved into his apartment to find him in his chair waiting for something in the microwave.
“Got a delivery coming for you in a few minutes,” I told him.
“Don’t need nothing from you.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before,” I agreed, hanging back near the door, pretending I was waiting for the delivery guys when I was really just listening to hear if Jade was in or not. “Any idea what happened to Jade’s whiteboard?” I asked.
“Her what?”
“The board on her door? It’s gone.”
“Probably some little shits stole it,” he said, shrugging it off.
That was possible.
Just seemed unlikely that it would have been up for over a month only to be stolen now. That said, the paint on the door was chipped where it had been hanging, so who knows.
“What are you waiting for?”
“Your new electric wheelchair. I ordered it weeks ago. Timing is good now, though, with your hand.”
“I’m managing,” he insisted, but I saw that spark of interest in his eyes, no matter how much he tried to squash it.
“And now you can do more than manage,” I said. “And I’ll run the cord under the rug to near your recliner, so you can charge it when you’re sitting there.”
I got a harumph at that but he sat up a bit straighter in his chair at the prospect.
“Speaking of, I’m gonna run a vacuum real quick,” I said, hearing nothing but silence from Jade’s apartment, and feeling kind of silly for standing there listening.
With that, I got to cleaning as much as quickly as I could as my uncle ate his food sitting in his wheelchair in the kitchen. Uncharacteristically out of my way to let me get things ready for the delivery.
By the time I was somewhat satisfied about the state of the apartment, the delivery arrived. It was an unexpectedly lengthy visit where they actually helped my uncle into the chair, showed him how to use it, made adjustments, and made sure he didn’t have any questions before they finally packed up and headed out.
“You sure you got it?” I asked as he zoomed over to the living room, narrowly missing running into the TV dinner table he used as an end table by his recliner.
“Not a fucking idiot,” he said.
I figured that it was pretty idiot-proof, so I didn’t bother going over anything again, just made sure the plug was easily accessible, then made my way out of the door.
Then three feet across the hall.
I knocked, wishing she still had the whiteboard so I could leave a note to text me since it didn’t seem like she was home.
But then I heard the slide of the locks and watched the door slide open.
Maybe if I’d hesitated for just a moment, I would see that she looked even more haunted than the last time I’d seen her, that the dark circles under her eyes had intensified, that she looked pale and shrunken into herself.
I didn’t hesitate, though.
I ducked low, grabbing the backs of her knees, and lifting her up off of her feet.
Then walked both of us into her apartment.