Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Not long after, Laurelin was standing in front of everyone, and she said a prayer over the brunch. When that was all done, the losing team began to go around and collect the winners’ orders. When Nathan came over with my full plate of food, my stomach instantly growled.
“Here you go, your royalty,” he sarcastically remarked as he set the plate in front of me.
“Thank you, my servant.” I gestured toward the beverage table. “If only I had a nice, refreshing mimosa to drink with this meal. Fetch me one, will you?”
He snickered, shaking his head. “You’re going to milk this, aren’t you?”
I started to gesture me milking invisible udders. “One hundred percent.” I patted my throat. “Make it two mimosas. I’m parched.”
With a slight bow, Nathan hurried off to grab my drinks, and when he came back, he took a seat across from me. He set down the mimosas in Mason jars and smirked my way as I was stuffing my mouth with a sausage link. I paused my bite as I stared at him, confused as to why he was smiling so dang hard.
I arched an eyebrow. “What?”
“Nothing, it’s just…”
“It’s just what?”
He leaned closer, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. “You like that, huh?”
I glanced at the piece of sausage on my fork. “Clearly, seeing as I’m eating it.” I took another bite.
His chest swelled with pride as his face glowed with a triumphant gleam. “I knew you’d like my sausage.”
I almost choked on the piece of meat in my mouth as those words escaped his mouth. I started coughing, trying my best to clear my throat and swallow the meat all at once.
Nathan picked up my mimosa and held it out to me. “Don’t worry. It’s not uncommon for me to cause women to choke from time to time.”
What a freaking idiot.
An idiot that somehow made me laugh. “Why are you such a moron?”
“I was born this way.” He shrugged, then leaned in closer. “So tell me… How well did I scramble your eggs?”
“Are you just going to sit here and watch me eat while asking inappropriate questions?”
“Yes, actually, that was the plan.”
“Don’t you want food of your own?”
“I ate in the kitchen.”
“What about drinks?”
He lifted one of my mimosas and took a sip. “Thanks, Coach. I was parched,” he said, mocking me.
I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my own drink. “So what’s the deal with you? This morning, you woke me up like this baseball game thing was a huge deal.”
“It is a big deal.”
“Rumor has it that you haven’t played a game since you moved back into town.”
“It’s a big deal for everyone else.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Then why did you make it seem like it was such a big deal this morning and as if you wanted to play?”
“Because I did want to play.” He set his Mason jar down and wrapped both his hands around it. “I just wanted to play with you.”
“Don’t do that, Nathan.”
“Do what?”
Make my heart skip a million beats.
I shook my head. “Nothing. Never mind.”
His lips curved up at the corners. “I know I can be a dumbass sometimes, but I’m serious, Avery. Lately, watching you with the guys at practices, you helped me to remember why I love this sport. Today was good for me.”
“Today was good for me, too.”
I looked down at my plate for a moment because sometimes it felt hard to stare into Nathan’s eyes. It felt like staring into my future and past all at once.
“Your mom worries about you,” I mentioned, needing to shift the conversation slightly so I wouldn’t continue to be sitting in a pool of flurries. “Did you know that?”
Now it was Nathan’s turn to uncomfortably shift. “I think that’s what parents do best. Worry.”
“Should she be worried, though?”
With a quizzical lift of his brow, he slanted his head slightly. His piercing look caused a tightness in my chest that was hard to breathe around.
“Now it’s your turn not to do that,” he whispered, his voice a blend of warning and pleading.
“Do what?”
“Make me tell you the truth,” he said, his stare unwavering. The air between us felt heavy with the weight of his impending confession. My mind spun with what his truth may have been.
Before I could reply, Easton walked over and slammed his hands onto Nathan’s shoulders, breaking the tension between us. “Sarah’s here,” Easton stated.
Nathan turned to face his brother. “No shit. Sarah’s here?”
“Yup. She walked in like she still had a right to walk on in,” he explained, sitting beside his brother. Easton looked at me and grinned. “Sorry to interrupt, Avery. It’s just that Sarah’s here.”
“Oh, no. I understand,” I said. I blinked a few times. “Who’s Sarah?”
“The woman who broke River’s heart,” Nathan explained. “She cheated on him with his best friend.”