Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 41782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 209(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 209(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
“You sure about this?” I ask him. We’re almost at my parents’ place. I can tell Mom I was just messing with her. She’ll buy it. She knows, hell, everyone knows that there has been no love lost between Eli and me over the years. What they don’t know is that it was his coping mechanism. Well, that’s what’s going to come as a shock to them. Now that I think about it, Cameron took this all too well. I’m going to have to talk to him about that. Did he know?
Eli pulls our entwined hands to his lips and places a feather-soft kiss on my knuckles. “I’m sure, Marley. I know it’s going to take some time for all of this to sink in and for you to believe me. I get that. I’m here for that.” He slows his car and pulls into my parents’ driveway. “Ready?” he asks.
Pulling in a slow deep breath, I exhale and turn to face him. “Yeah. I’m ready.”
“Stay put. I’ll get your door.”
“I can open doors on my own.”
“Yeah, well, I can also do it for you. Stay put.”
My eyes follow him as he rushes around the front of his car and reaches for my door. “Didn’t know you had it in you, Morrison,” I tease.
He nods. “I know. I’m going to change that.”
I was trying to tease him, lighten the mood before we enter my parents’ house and drop the bomb on them that we’re… together, and he didn’t take the bait. “Hey.” I reach for his hand, pulling him to a stop. “I wasn’t trying to be mean. I was teasing you.”
“I know you were, but I also know that the teasing is also an insecurity of yours. I’m going to work on changing that. Now, let’s get in there before your parents think we’re having our first fight in their driveway.”
“Are we fighting?”
“No, but I’m not against pretending that we are so we can skip this cruise and get right to the make-up sex.”
“We don’t have to go—” I start, but his lips pressing to the corner of my mouth stop me.
“It’s going to be fun. Besides, we’ll hang out today, and tonight I get you all to myself. That is all the motivation I need to get your fine ass in that house, showered, changed, and on the boat. That just means that I get to take you home soon. To my bed.”
“No turning back,” I say, placing my hand on the door handle.
“We only move forward from here,” he assures me, placing his hand on the small of my back.
“Mom, Dad, I’m home,” I call out. Might as well just rip the Band-Aid off. Besides, I told Mom that Eli was coming with me.
“In the living room,” Dad calls back.
I glance over at Eli, and he nods. All right then, we’re really doing this. With each step we take toward the living room, the heat from his hand on my back intensifies, as does the beat of my heart. “Hey,” I say, my voice rough. “I’m going to take a quick shower, and then we’re going to take a boat cruise with Cam and Carla.”
“Oh, we met her. She seems like a sweet girl. I hope your brother holds onto this one,” Mom tells us.
“It’s about time he settles down,” Dad adds. “We aren’t getting any younger, and we need grandkids while we can still enjoy them.”
“Dad, it’s a lunch date. I don’t think they’re talking kids just yet.” I laugh.
“Well, he’s never going to get there until he settles down. You too.” He points at Eli, and my eyes widen.
“Yes, sir. I think I’m well on my way,” he says, giving my hip a gentle squeeze. I hadn’t even realized he was holding me until that point.
My dad, being the smart man that he is, notices Eli’s hold on me. “What am I missing?” he asks.
I look at Mom, and she smiles. I was hoping she would have broken the ice, but it looks as though she saved that for me. “Eli and I are… dating,” I announce.
Dad looks from me to Eli and back again. I feel like a younger version of me who would get in trouble for sneaking out to the yard in the middle of the night to scare Cam and Eli when they were camping in the backyard. “Finally,” Dad says, a lazy smile tugging at his lips.
“Um? Finally?”
He throws his head back and laughs. “There isn’t anyone who has spent any time with the two of you together that didn’t see this coming a mile away.” He looks at Eli. “I assume you’re good now. Got it all worked out of your system?” Dad questions.
“Yes, sir. I fought it long enough.” He surprises me when he leans over and presses his lips to my temple, just as he did in front of Cameron, but these are my parents.