Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
“Friends, Duke, remember?”
He sighs. “Yeah. Friends. But some friends kiss, you know.”
“Do you want to kiss me?”
“I want to do more than kiss you,” he says, and shivers roll down my arms.
His hands move from my hips and up my sides. He stops just below my bra, with his thumbs pressing into my skin over the fabric. Duke holds me so tight it’s as if he’s afraid to let go. I can tell from the time we’ve spent together that when Duke loves you, he loves you hard. He’s not the type of man who will walk away from something he wants. And I’m hoping he stays. Because I feel like there’s something more between us, something we both need to explore.
His mouth is dangerously close to mine. I lean into him, ready to kiss him when Max snaps me back to reality.
“Mommy and Duke, sitting in a tree,” she sings, “k-i-s-s-i-n-g.”
Duke and I burst into a fit of laughter.
“First comes love,” she continues, now dancing as she sings, “then comes marriage…”
I laugh so hard, my stomach hurts. Duke can’t even look at me. We didn’t want Max to see us together. Well, I also wasn’t planning to kiss him again, either. We’d agreed to be friends until the end of our sessions. If what we both feel is real, then we can wait. It will only make it more worthwhile.
“You were kissing my mommy,” Max says as she sits next to Duke at the kitchen table.
“No, I wasn’t.”
She makes a fish face at him. “Yes, you were. I saw it.”
“I almost kissed your Mommy,” he says.
“You like Mommy,” she says with a wide grin.
“I do,” Duke admits as his eyes find mine.
She leans into his shoulder, glances over at me, and whispers, “Mommy likes you, too.”
Chapter Fifteen
DUKE
I promised I would apologize to Dean before I meet my family in Chicago. This time, I have to apologize for real. Lila says this is part of my anger management treatment. Plus, Kat already reamed me out for leaving a voicemail for Dean. It went something like this, Hey, dickhead. Sorry, I fucked up your face. Maybe next time, try not to get my sister pregnant.
I dial Dean’s number and raise the phone to my ear, cradling it against my shoulder. It rings a few times as I add the rest of my clothes to the duffle on my bed. My flight leaves in a few hours. The airport shuttle will be here soon.
On the last ring, Dean answers. “What now, Duke?”
“I’m calling to apologize,” I groan, annoyed with his attitude.
“So, then do it,” he snaps. “I already got your last apology. Thanks for that.”
“Look,” I say, “Kat is my baby sister. I overreacted.”
“Ya think? I didn’t even know Kat was pregnant. Imagine my surprise when you hit me for no reason, and then slapped me with the news that Kat’s having my baby.”
“Well, imagine my surprise,” I say through clenched teeth, “when I found out her so-called best friend knocked her up. So, you thought it was okay to fuck around with my sister and lie to our faces?”
“This is exactly why Kat didn’t want you guys to know. Kat’s not some hookup. She’s my best friend. I love her, and she’s having my baby. Deal with it!”
“Are you going to be a man and marry her?”
He snorts. “Yes, I was planning to ask your dad for permission.”
“I raised her,” I point out.
“I know, Duke. Everyone knows that.”
“You should be asking me.”
He sighs, and an uncomfortable silence passes between us. “I already bought the ring. Don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”
“She loves you,” I say. “And as long as you make her happy, then it’s okay with me.”
He blows a deep breath into the phone. “I’m still going to ask your dad.”
“Go ahead. I already know he’ll say yes.”
“Theo and Travis still won’t talk to me,” he says.
“What do you want me to do about it?”
“For a split second, you acted like a normal person,” Dean says. “But I see you’re back to being your usual self. I was going to ask you to talk to them for me. You can get through to them when Kat can’t.”
“Trav and Theo are mad that you lied to them. You were their teammate, their roommate, and their friend. Think about the situation if it were in reverse. I wouldn’t talk to you either.”
He laughs. “Yeah, well, our situation is different. You hate everyone.”
“Only select people,” I say with an attitude. “I’ll see the twins in a few hours. I can’t make any promises, but I’m sure they’ll come around eventually. They don’t hold grudges.”
He sighs in relief. “Thanks, Duke. I appreciate it.”
“I have to go,” I say when I hear the doorbell ring. “My ride is here.”
It took five hours to pack all of Kat’s boxes into the moving van. For a tomboy, she had a lot of shit in her bedroom. I can pack at a moment’s notice. My travel bags are always light, nothing of any importance to take with me. But Kat apparently is a collector, or more like a hoarder. She has five colors of every shirt, which I don’t understand. Why do you need the same shirt in multiple colors?