Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 24578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
But I leave that part out. If I even so much as breathe a syllable about a woman, Mom will hound me for days.
She’s desperate for me to marry and give her grandkids.
“How long are you there again?” she asks.
“Through the first. Maybe a little longer. We’ll see. There are parts of Iceland I haven’t seen before, and I’d like to catch them this time since I’m here.”
“That makes sense. Just be careful out there. It’s dark and cold. Icy.”
“I’ll be fine. The dark doesn’t bother me. Really. And we should be able to see the northern lights every night.”
“We?” I can almost see her sit up straighter in her chair, cradling the phone to her cheek harder. “Who’s we, Dylan?”
“Figure of speech, Mom. You know, we, as in everyone in Iceland.”
She blows out a breath. “Well, damn.”
Chapter Three
Maddie
“So, where are we having family Christmas in this place?” I unpack the few things I brought with me as Josie tucks a pillow under her chest while lying on the bed, watching me as I bustle about the room.
“Uncle Luke rented out an awesome suite on the top floor. It’s two stories and has its own lagoon. The presents and stuff will be in there.”
“This is the present,” I reply in surprise.
“Oh, I agree. But, apparently, there’s a little more because all the parents agreed that we must have something to open on Christmas morning. As if we’re all toddlers.”
“Huh.” I shake my head. “I didn’t bring presents for anyone, Jos.”
“Don’t worry about it. You always stress about this stuff, and it’s literally fine.”
“Where’s Brax?”
Brax is Josie’s musician boyfriend. They were together for a few years and broke up. Now, they’re back together again.
“He’s sleeping. Jet lag sucks. We’re not meeting with the family until three anyway.”
I nod. Once I’ve put away the last of my toiletries, I crash in the chair by the window with an awesome view of the lava fields.
“The sun is starting to come up.”
“We only have about five hours of daylight here.” Josie rolls onto her side and looks out the windows. “Surprisingly, I don’t hate it. Maybe it’s because Seattle has so many dark, rainy days.”
“Maybe it’s because you’re used to working the night shift at the hospital.”
She smiles. “Probably. Okay, enough small talk. Tell me everything about Dylan.”
My stomach knots. I usually tell Josie everything. I think it’s a twin rule or something. But I don’t know how she’ll react to learning what I did on that airplane.
“I don’t know much about him,” I reply and yawn, trying to be nonchalant.
“Bullshit.”
I sigh, rub my hands over my clean face, and then look at my sister, who’s watching me with shrewd eyes.
“You know him. Because no one who doesn’t know a woman looks at her the way he looked at you this morning.”
“Okay, this is going to be the craziest story I’ve ever told you, and you can’t tell the cousins.”
She blinks at me in surprise. “All right. Give it to me.”
“I didn’t know him until I got on that airplane. And then we fucked in the bathroom.”
She just keeps blinking. “On the airplane?”
“Yes.”
I chew my bottom lip, waiting for her response.
“I know people talk about it all the time but is that even possible? I mean, they’re so small.”
“You don’t need much room.” I smile to myself, hearing Dylan’s words echoing in my head.
“Oh, I like that smile.” She sits up, crosses her legs, and then hugs the pillow to her chest. “I like it a lot. That’s a satisfied smile.”
“Yeah, well, it was fun.”
“Did you just say fun?”
“If you say a word about me not being fun, I’ll come over there and break your nose.”
“You always were violent. I’d say you got it from Dad, but despite being a former SEAL, he might be the gentlest human alive. Okay, so, there were airplane shenanigans.”
“Yes.”
“What else?”
“He just flirted with me, practically the whole flight. And he’s nice. Which is weird.”
“I know they seem to be fewer and fewer these days, but there are nice guys out there.”
“Yeah, well, we seem to be related to ninety percent of them. Anyway, I don’t know much about Dylan other than what he does for a living and that the sex is beyond anything I’ve ever had before.”
“Honey, as a woman well into her thirties, it’s about damn time. I’m glad we talked you into staying the week. Now, you can hang out with Dylan more. Have a vacation fling. If that’s all it is, it’s still time well spent.”
“Huh. I never considered a vacation fling.”
“Well, I say start considering it.” She glances at the clock. “We should get up to Luke and Nat’s suite.”
“I need to put on a little makeup. Just a smidge so I don’t look like a jet-lagged zombie.”
“Hurry. I’ll text Brax and make sure he’s up.”