Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 82121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
I sit on the arm of the sofa near Nana. “Can you blame him? I mean, it’s a pretty good excuse.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know you’re right.” She sighs and her fingers twitch toward the cigarettes in her pocket, but she resists. “I hate moving.”
“We talked about this.”
“I know and we’re here, right? But I still hate moving. Now I have to get used to a whole new place.”
“A whole new place in a nicer neighborhood right around the corner from me and Saul. You have a ground-floor apartment. It’s perfect for the two of you.”
“Could’ve gotten us a damn house,” she grumbles.
“Nana, stop it. This is better than a house.”
She shrugs and starts badgering one of the guys as he wedges a nightstand through the door. He gives me a look and hurries into the bedroom just to escape her.
I head into the kitchen and start unpacking the dishes. I take it easy, only doing a few at a time, but Saul appears as if he can smell me doing manual labor.
“Cut it out,” I say, waving him off when he tries to intervene. “This is like putting the freaking dishes away, alright? Stop it before I get annoyed.”
He growls, clearly frustrated, but relents. “Nana’s on edge. Jason’s going to kill her.”
“Sounds pretty standard.”
“My guys are terrified of that old woman.” His grin is big and genuine. I love that look on his face. He rarely smiles like that, and a big cloud of pride blooms in my chest every time I witness it.
“She’s just jonesing for a cigarette.”
“Poor lady. Should I tell her she can smoke wherever she wants in here?”
“Nah, not yet. Let her suffer a little bit.”
“You’re evil.”
I shrug and wrap my arms around his neck. “A little bit. Do you like that?”
“Mmm, I think I do.” He kisses my neck. “You like to be a troublemaker, don’t you?”
“Absolutely. I’m a shit-stirrer.”
“More like a sadist.”
“Oooh, does that mean I get to spank you?”
“No, baby. I do the spanking in this relationship.”
Donnie pokes his head into the room. “Did I hear someone’s giving out spankings?”
“Fuck off before I shove your own hand up your ass,” Saul snaps at him and Donnie walks off, laughing.
I kiss my overly protective and snarling husband on the neck. “Easy, big guy, he’s only kidding around.”
“I don’t like it when they make jokes about you.”
“I think he meant he wanted a spanking from you, not from me.”
He frowns and doesn’t seem to like that thought. I laugh some more and we go back to putting the dishes away as the guys finish unloading everything from the old apartment.
Once the truck is empty, the hired help files out. I spot Saul slapping wads of wash into their hands. Donnie even kisses his stack like he’s in love with it. Saul comes back in, looking much less stressed now that the muscle’s gone.
“Unpacking will be a process,” Nana declares. “One which can wait until tomorrow. I’m having a smoke.” She shuffles into the kitchen, opens a window, and lights up.
I sit on the couch in Saul’s lap. Jason’s busy getting the TV set up, plugging in his PS5, and fiddling with the router. “Internet’s the only real essential we need,” he mutters to himself, looking fevered.
Saul wraps his arms around me and I let myself sink into the moment. I’m surrounded by my family, by the people that I love the most, and a new chapter of our lives is beginning. Nana and Jason have a nice place now in their own empty house right around the corner from where I live. We’re in a really good neighborhood—I don’t have to worry about Jason walking to the train anymore. Saul already filled their cupboards and their refrigerator with food and drinks. Everything is good. Everything I need is right here.
“Can I ask you something?” I say quietly in Saul’s ear as Jason starts cursing and fiddling with cables.
“Anything.”
“If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you want to be?”
He gives me a sly look. “Loaded question.”
“Yep. Answer.”
“I would want to be wherever you are.”
“Wonderful. Well done. You passed.”
He laughs and kisses my neck. Jason makes a fake gagging sound. “I don’t need the PDA,” my brother calls from behind the TV.
“Then close your fucking eyes,” Saul answers and kisses me again.
“Seriously though,” I say, nuzzling my nose against his neck. I love the way he smells; musky, bright, minty, a little bit like his deodorant, but unique. My own favorite perfume. “If you could go live anywhere, where would it be?”
“I liked Vegas,” he says but seems thoughtful. “I might be into somewhere like Colorado. Somewhere with mountains.”
“Really? You don’t strike me as the mountains type.”
“I can chop wood. I can rustle up some grub from the forest.”
My eyebrows raise. “Is that what people do in Colorado?”