Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
The second I open the door to our unit, the scent of tomatoes and garlic attacks my senses.
“Oh my God. You’re home early! I’m not ready!” Evan says from the kitchen, and automatically, a smile tugs at the corners of my lips. This is what matters now. My life, Evan, my mom. Not him.
“Smells good in here. What’s the occasion?” I ask as I close the door. We’re both decent cooks, but the truth is, we don’t do it often. We’d both rather order out than take the time to cook.
I step into the kitchen to see Evan standing in front of the stove, wearing an apron we didn’t have before.
“There is no occasion,” he says with a smile. “I just wanted to do something nice for you as a thank-you for the other night. It might not be as good as your mom’s homemade Mexican food, but hopefully not too bad.”
My heart thuds in a way that tells me I’m feeling a whole lot of something. “Aren’t you the cutest fucking thing in the world? And I’m sure it will be great.”
I toss the mail onto the counter.
“Well, I don’t know about that. There’s got to be a few things cuter.”
Chuckling, I walk over to him and wrap my arms around him from behind. “Next time you should be naked under the apron.” I nuzzle his neck, suck the lobe of his ear, and feel him tremble.
“I can do that,” he replies breathlessly. “But I got an apron for you too, so if I have to cook naked for you, you have to do the same.”
“Aww, you were thinking about me, Pup?” I ask.
“They were buy one, get one free,” he replies.
“Whatever.” I pull away, and playfully run my fingers through his hair the way I know he likes.
“I’m kidding. Of course I was thinking about you. I thought we could have a nice dinner together and then maybe we could play like you mentioned the other night.”
Warmth spreads through my gut. Puppy play is exactly what I need right now to take my mind off the letter from the sperm donor.
“I was going to have everything on the table already, but someone came home early.” He jabs me in the chest with a finger.
“Do you want me to leave again and come back in once you’re done? I’m good at acting surprised.”
Evan gives me a smile, big and toothy and fucking perfect. It’s so fucking easy to make him happy. I wish more people in his life would have taken the time to do it.
“I’ll be in the hallway. Let me know when it’s ready.” I make it half a step before he wraps a hand around my wrist.
“Thank you,” he says, a sort of sweetness in his voice that’s new.
“For what?”
“For being you.” Then, Evan tugs my beanie down over my eyes. “Now go sit down. You don’t have to wait in the hallway.”
“How am I supposed to do that if I can’t see?”
“Oh my God. You’re such a dork.” He laughs.
After righting my beanie, I head over to our small dining room table, trying to ignore the stack of mail on the counter.
Evan is right behind me, setting the table and then bringing over a pan of spaghetti and meatballs.
“I feel weird sitting here while you do all this.”
“Oh, don’t worry. You can do it next time.”
“Deal.”
Once we’re at the table together with our plates made, Evan watches me as I twist my fork in the noodles, cut off a bite of the meatball and eat it. “Oh, God. I think I just came. This is fucking good.”
He gives me another of those happy grins before we start eating together. He tells me about his day at work, running into Hayden at the gym, and things like that. I enjoy just listening to him talk, seeing how excited he gets over the smallest things. It might sound funny to say, but he reminds me of a puppy in that way—happy, loving, just wanting to enjoy life and be around people he loves. It’s a rare quality.
“What?” Evan asks after a few minutes, making me realize I was staring at him.
“Nothing.”
“How was your day?” he asks.
“It was good.” I take a bite, chew, and then say, “I got a letter from the sperm donor. That fucked it up a little, but I came home to dinner so it’s all good now.”
“Wait. You what? You got a letter from your biological father and you’re just saying something? Oh my God, Frankie. What did it say?”
“Don’t know. I didn’t open it.” I pull my beanie off and toss it on the table.
“Are you going to?” he asks.
“I don’t know that either…I…fuck. I hate him, Ev. You know that. I can’t even think about him without going back to that day. Without hearing her. I…” Shit. I totally hadn’t wanted to do this tonight, but there’s something about him that makes me just open up, like I can’t help but spill my secrets to him.