Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 98134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
“I want chocolate.” Meemee takes a small step toward Andi.
“You know what?” I ask. “I was hoping you two would play hockey with the guys in the driveway while we wait for dinner. Would you like that? I could find Jake, Carter, Liam, and Maddox. You guys can pick whoever you want for your team, even Miss Andi, if you want. I’ll have to play cheerleader because I tore my rotator cuff.”
Meemee tilts her head at me, clearly confused.
“I uh, got a boo boo.”
Her mouth forms a small “O” of understanding.
“You mean we can play with NHL guys? Really?” Cade asks.
“Aren’t you excited to play with me?” Andi asks.
Cade eyes her. “If we win, will you give me your number?”
“Who are we playing?” Jake asks. He’s just coming in from the garage with Carter and Maddox. All three are sweaty like they were in there doing a workout.
Carter grins at the little kids. “Look, it’s like that Rugrats show. Except… not as cute.”
Maddox elbows him and bulges his eyes. “Dude, Carter. You can’t talk like that to kids. It’s super bad karma.” He steps forward and gets down on one knee in front of both kids. Meemee looks like she’s still not sure she wants to give up her tantrum-to-be over waiting on sweets. He clears his throat and speaks loud and slow like he’s talking to someone who barely speaks English. “You are both, really, really cute. And I mean that in a platonic, non creepy, socially acceptable adult way. Totally great kids.” He holds up a thumb and winks, then gets up.
“Uh, anyway,” Jake says. “What’s with the kids?”
“A favor for Mikey. I’ve known him for years,” I say. “And it’s one I was going to turn down until somebody jumped at the opportunity and invited them to the cabin.”
Andi does a little curtsey and smiles. “That was me. I’m the one who did that.”
Jake rolls his eyes. “So, what? We’re all babysitting now?”
“Yes,” I say. “And you’re all drafted to play hockey in the driveway. Anybody who refuses is welcome to stay here with little Meemee and try to explain why she can’t have a treat before Nolan finishes her dinner, which is probably going to be like half an hour.”
I wait, eyebrows raised. All the guys take a moment to eye Meemee and seem to come to the same conclusion I’ve come to.
Hockey it is. In a shock to nobody at all, Mia stays back and hangs with Nolan while he’s cooking. If I wasn’t so wrapped up in my own shit, I know I’d be trying to figure out what was going on with those two. Problems for another day, I guess.
I dig a lawn chair out of the garage and sit with Carter, who the kids don’t want to play either with or against because they’ve decided they don't like him. So far, the game in my driveway looks like Cade taking slap shots at every opportunity and everyone else trying their best to make sure Meemee is having a good time. Every time something doesn’t go her way, she starts making that “I’m about to explode'' face again.
“Kids, huh?” Carter says. “What makes people want to pop those things out? Like, ‘yeah, I’d love to have a little tyrant rule my life for the next eighteen plus years! Sign me up!’” He shakes his head. “Honestly, they should start doing mental screenings before allowing people to procreate. Anybody who actually wants that must be mentally deficient.”
“They aren’t that bad,” I say.
Carter eyes me. “Poop on the walls, screaming matches, gross boyfriends trying to bonk your daughter? Sounds that bad to me.”
“I’m not saying I want kids. I don’t even want…” I trail off and shake my head. My eyes keep finding their way to Andi, who really is good with Meemee, even if the little terror is making it as hard as she can on Andi.
Seeing her be so good with the kids is doing weird things to me. Stupid things. Things I don’t remotely understand, so I’m going to just keep pretending I neither feel nor understand them. That strategy has been working pretty damn well with all kinds of shit lately, so why change it now?
“Okay,” Carter says slowly. “I know you go all Guantanamo Bay the moment we bring up you-know-who, but I’m just putting this out there because I want you to know it. When the time comes that you want to talk, you can talk about it. As much or as little as you want. I may be a jack-ass, but I’ll control myself if you need an ear. Or something like that,” he adds, clearly feeling awkward.
I stare forward, eyes following Andi. She’s laughing because Cade looks deadly serious and he’s trying to score a goal on her. I’m also noticing that Andi is handling the stick suspiciously well after our one brief lesson. I’ll have to ask Jake if she has played before and was only pretending to be bad to cheer me up. I can’t even be mad if she was.