Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
I shake my head. Last night, sitting down with him at the table while I drank a beer had been the most nervous I’d ever been around a man before in my life. The minute he sat down and I looked at him finally, which was weird since I’ve seen him before but never that close. His hair is a bit lighter than brown, maybe because of the sun and the scruff on his face is longer than it looks. His eyes look brown from afar, but when you get close, you can see they aren’t. I couldn’t even tell you what color they were. It’s so strange because they are brown in the center and blue gray around the pupil. Sometimes they looked gray, while other times, they looked brown. I tried not to stare too long, which made me even more self-conscious about not staring and that made me itch to leave. I must have sounded so rude when I just up and left in the middle of the conversation. I sit at the table, turning on the television as I enjoy my coffee.
The phone beeps, and I reach for it, seeing that it’s Franny.
Are you up?
I laugh at her message, and instead, I press the FaceTime button. I look at the clock and see it’s not even five her time. She answers right away. “Well, well,” I say, looking at her sitting on her couch with Stella in the middle of her legs. “Look who it is, Stella Bella.” She just laughs at me as she waves her hands in the air. “Thanks for calling me right back last night,” I tell Franny, who has a cup of coffee in her hand. “It’s a good thing I wasn’t in trouble.”
Franny throws her head back and laughs at the top of her lungs. “If you were in trouble, why would you call me? I live in Dallas.” I roll my eyes. “If anything, you would have called Auntie Vivi, who would have then called Stefano, who would have then bailed you out.”
“Wow, so that’s how it goes,” I say, taking a sip of my own coffee.
“We got in later than we thought,” she huffs. “Then I got home, and this girl just wanted her mama.” She kisses Stella’s head, hugging her. “I fell asleep before her in my bed. Anyway, I’m here now.” She smiles. “So what was the big question you wanted to ask me?” Franny asks, and I tap my nails on the cup in my hand. “Oh my gosh.” She sits up. “The nervous tap-tap-tap of nails.” She looks into the phone. “Should I call Wilson to take Stella?” Her eyes go big. “Is this a sex question?” She puts down her cup of coffee and claps her hands, Stella copying her.
“It’s not a sex question,” I inform her. “It’s not even that big of a deal—”
“You called me for advice,” Franny cuts me off. “If that isn’t a big deal, I don’t know what is.” She chuckles. “You never call me for advice. The only thing you call me for is to ask if you can stay with me when you come to Dallas.”
It’s my turn to laugh now. “I call you for more than that,” I protest, and she shakes her head. “Anyway, so you know my neighbor?” I start to say. The lump forms in my throat, and I push it down.
“The one Dad spent half the day saying he knew but didn’t?” Franny laughs. “Then it got Cooper saying, ‘I think I know him, too.’ You should have heard them the whole fucking flight. Mom finally snapped and shut them both up.”
“Yeah, him.” I ignore the fact they were talking about him, even when they left. “Well, he came back from wherever he went, and I helped tie his boat.”
“Oh my God, you fucked him.” She gasps and then puts her hands on Stella’s ears. “Don’t listen to this part. Your aunt Vivi is a dirty, dirty girl.”
“Okay, well, one, her mother is dirtier than her aunt.” I hold up one finger. “And two, why would you automatically go to me f—” I stop before I say the word. “Banging my neighbor?”
“Because everything is about banging,” she says, and then I hear Wilson laugh in the background.
“Morning, Wilson,” I greet him, and he mumbles.
“I’m going to take my pretty lady.” He grabs Stella, who is so excited to see him that she grabs his face and leans in with her mouth open to give him a drooly kiss. “Now, you can’t give anyone else kisses like that,” he tells Stella. “Boys are gross.”
“Oh, here we go,” Franny says, and Wilson leans down and kisses her on the lips. “I’ll join you guys when we finish here.”
“Wait,” I say. “Wilson, I want your opinion, too.”