Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Noah heads to the dining room with his plate and takes a seat beside Ethan’s daughter, Lilly.
Jake hands me a plate. “Since this is your first Jackson family brunch, you’re required to stuff yourself until you feel mildly nauseated.”
I arch a brow and open my mouth to protest, but across the room, Nic shouts, “It’s tradition.”
“Well, who am I to buck tradition?” I fill my plate and follow the Jacksons to the massive dining room table. Within seconds, everyone is eating and talking. Noah’s smile grows and grows.
He’s never had this—a meal with a big, happy family like this. Until six months ago, the only family he knew aside from me was my mother, and she didn’t get to see him very often because I lived so far away. Now I’ve told everyone about my son and why I had to keep him a secret.
Even as my heart aches that I couldn’t give him this big family experience myself, I know I’ll never stop feeling grateful for the Jacksons for showing him what family should be.
“Come on,” Jake says, waving a plate of cookies in my face. “You have to try these.”
“They’re his best cookies,” Ava says.
They smell so good my mouth waters, but I just finished a big brunch-style lunch, and I don’t need to heap on the calories from one of Jake’s decadent cookies. I pat my stomach. “Did you know that in the few months I worked as a sales manager, I gained ten pounds? I still haven’t gotten that weight off.”
Carter looks me over. “You look fine to me.”
My cheeks heat, not because of Carter’s innocent approval, but because of the way his words make Brayden’s jaw twitch, something like a warning flaring in his eyes as he turns to his brother. It’s not the first time Carter has given me a compliment, only to have Brayden tense. Is it jealousy, or does he not want his brother involved with someone as broken as me?
“He means you’re curvy in a hot way,” Shay says. “Lucky bitch.”
I laugh. “Nevertheless, I have a perfectly lovely wardrobe, and half of it currently doesn’t fit me. I’d rather lose the weight than buy new clothes.”
“Why don’t you come work out with us?” Carter says.
“Don’t do it!” Shay’s eyes are wide, and she shakes her head vehemently. “It’s a trap!”
Carter chuckles. “It’s no trap. My brothers and I like to work out together. It’s all in the name of good health.”
Shay snorts. “They treat their workouts like competitions. They think they’re professional CrossFit athletes or something.”
“It makes what would otherwise be a tedious hour in the gym a good time,” Jake says. “Come on. Join us.”
I turn to Shay. “It can’t be that bad.”
She folds her arms. “It’s your funeral. The last and only time I worked out with them, I couldn’t walk down stairs for a week. I had to grip the handrail like a ninety-year-old woman. And sitting on the toilet to pee? Lord help me.”
Carter bites back a smile, but Brayden looks at me with a cocked brow. “What do you say? Join us?”
I hesitate. I didn’t realize Brayden works out with his brothers. I always imagined him working out alone for some reason—maybe because he’s so private about everything else in his life—but backing out now will make it look like I’m avoiding him. “You wouldn’t mind?” I ask Brayden. He sees me at work, got stuck giving me a place to stay, and now he can’t even work out without facing poor, broken Molly.
But Brayden shrugs as if it’s nothing. As if he didn’t tell Ethan how much he regrets hiring me. “I think it’s a good idea. Just ease in slowly so you don’t hurt yourself.”
“When do we start?”
Carter grins. “Can you meet us at the gym at eight tomorrow morning?”
I nod. “Sure. I’ll come after dropping Noah off at preschool.” I turn to Shay. “Will you come with me? Please?”
“No. Just . . .” Shay wrinkles her nose and shakes her head. “No. And when you can’t walk in two days, don’t come crying to me.”
Molly
Shay was right. Working out with her brothers was a terrible idea, and my Monday morning started with fifteen minutes of utter hell. Only fifteen minutes, I thought when they described the workout. How bad can it be?
I drop the barbell and collapse to the floor. My lungs are on fire, and every muscle in my body is screaming at me about my bad decisions.
Note to self: You can die in less than fifteen minutes. And I’m pretty sure I almost did.
“Are you okay?”
I open my eyes and find Carter grinning at me. I would scowl, but even my face hurts. “Do I look okay?”
He hands me my water bottle and chuckles softly. “You did great.”
“Don’t condescend to me,” I mutter, pushing up. “You guys did way heavier weights and twice as many reps.”