Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 33887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
She whipped her head back to Hale, who was now grinning.
“That was just cruel,” she hissed. “Cruel.”
“You’ll get over it,” Hale replied.
“Not without a lot of pouting,” she returned. “A lot,” she stressed. She went back to her husband. “This means we have to get pregnant soon, darling.”
Judge choked on some brioche and now his eyes were slits.
He swallowed and asked his wife, “Why?”
Chloe wafted a hand across the table. “Well, obviously all the cousins need to be close in age so they can go trick-or-treating together and have slumber parties and have a buddy when they take skiing lessons.”
“Baby, we live all the way across the continent from Hale and Elsa,” Judge pointed out. “That isn’t conducive to trick-or-treating together.”
“Not when they’re in LA,” she retorted.
“When they’re in LA, they’re six hours away, which is also not conducive to trick-or-treating,” Judge shot back.
She turned her attention again to Hale. “You need to buy another plane.”
“I’m not buying another plane, Coco,” he returned. “Actually, I’m thinking about selling the one I have and flying commercial.”
That was when Elsa choked on her brioche.
He turned his head to the side and looked at her.
She took a sip of half-caff coffee (she told him that morning her doctor wanted her off caffeine, but in order to combat the headaches she would get if she went cold turkey, the doc gave Elsa a week to titrate off the stuff) before she focused on him and declared, “I share your mission. I really want to save the planet. I really, really, really do. For you, me, everyone on the globe, and especially for our child, not to mention the children our child might have. But, handsome, you can’t give a girl a private jet and then take it away.”
“This is true,” Chloe chimed in. “You cannot.”
“I’m pretty sure all the carbon neutral stuff you’re forcing on your companies means you’ve done your part and we get to keep our plane,” Elsa went on.
“It doesn’t work that way, sweetheart,” he shared something he knew she knew.
“But, what will Frosty and Cheddar do?” she demanded.
“Learn to settle for first class,” he replied.
She shifted her gaze to Chloe. “Seems like I need to conduct a lot more interviews.”
Chloe laughed.
“Are you done?” Matt asked his sister through her amusement.
“Done with what?” Chloe asked back.
Matt didn’t answer.
He got up, walked around the table, and held out his hand to Hale.
Hale pushed his chair back and took Matt’s hand, whereupon he pulled Hale out of his chair and into a hug.
“Pleased for you, man,” he murmured, thumping Hale’s back. “Thrilled.” He let Hale go, bent to kiss Elsa’s cheek and said, “Really happy for both of you.”
“Thanks, Matt,” Elsa said quietly, smiling at him and watching as he walked back to his seat.
She hadn’t gotten a lock on Matt yet, and since that was her thing, and she thought she was failing at it with Matt, it was killing her.
He’d tried to tell her Matt was a unique guy. Ridiculously smart, not exactly an introvert, but far from an extrovert. He didn’t readily open up, and when he did, it was rare and solely done with a carefully curated crew that was small (and fortunately, Hale was a member). He was protective of his mother and sisters, and fiercely loyal.
Not too long ago, Matt had come out to the family as bi, but since, he’d only dated women.
Outside of that last part, Matt reminded Hale of Hale’s dad, and it wasn’t the first time he thought that Matt was far more like Corey than Hale was. If Matt wasn’t the spitting image of Tom, there’d be uncomfortable questions, but he was, and he got that mad protective streak from his father.
Elsa was convinced there was more to it, something he was holding back, and suggested Matt was worried how his sexuality would reflect on his parents if it was known publicly. Thus, she was concerned he was burying that part of himself to protect his family.
Although Hale knew Matt had been concerned about how Tom would take it, considering Tom veered more toward the traditional, when Matt came out, Tom didn’t give a fuck. And once that hurdle was passed, Hale knew the only thing holding Matt back was his acute focus on his studies, and now, building his practice.
“When the time comes, Matt will do what Matt needs to do,” he’d told Elsa. “He’ll find who’s right for him, if that’s what he wants. With Chloe being so forcefully affectionate, and Sasha so flower-child loving, they overshadow Matt, and I promise, he’s good with that. He works better in the shadows left to do his own thing. He thrives there. But he has his ways of showing his love. You’ll learn how he is. But, trust me, that’s the way of it. So don’t worry.”