Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 118780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 594(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 594(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
“I’m getting by. Ready for him to be home but afraid to get my hopes up on his actual return date.”
“He’s coming home tomorrow.”
I jerk a little. This is news. “I thought he said Sunday.”
“Things changed. He and Talon are finishing up tonight.”
“He said that last week, and then there was a development.”
“No fucking development this time. He’s already talked to Robbie. We’re working some new angles here in town.”
The flutter of excitement is short-lived. “Why didn’t he tell me?”
The look they exchange speaks for itself at the same time sending fear slithering through me.
“Is everything okay?”
“He’ll talk to you.”
“Unlikely,” I mutter bitterly, my gaze dropping to the floor.
“Rowan.” Ace lifts my chin, giving me no option but to face him. “He and Talon have kicked ass these last weeks.”
“You all kick ass in everything you do.”
“It also comes with sacrifices. We all have our special skills. Ford and Talon led this because of their skills.”
My shoulders sag. “Logically, it makes sense, but my heart isn’t catching up. I miss him.”
“He feels the same, which is why—”
Major clears his throat, and Ace stops, rolling his bottom lip between his teeth.
“What were you going to say?”
“Whitman will explain.” He lets go of my chin, taking the bottles out of my hands.
I push, wanting to know what he was getting to. “Fine, I’ll just let my curiosity get the best of me and think of all the worst scenarios in my head until the anxiety takes over and they put me in a straightjacket. Do you want that on your conscience?”
They both have the nerve to grin complacently at me.
My reflexes have a mind of their own, and my foot stomps as my hands go to my hips. “Seriously? Do you know what overactive nerves can do to a person? Hair loss, weight gain, skin rashes, irrational thoughts and actions. Is that what you want for your best friend? Him to return to a bald, overweight, acne-infected, crazy person?”
Ace’s grin widens, his dark eyes glittering. “All that gonna happen in one night?”
“Achilles, you are not funny.”
“No, you are hilarious. And cute when being melodramatic.”
“Melo-melodramatic?” I screech. “I’m curious, worried, and uninformed.”
He tweaks my nose, stepping aside and tilting his chin to the door. “Girls are inside.”
This effectively ends the conversation, and I mutter past them with Pepper running off to explore the house.
Jewls’ conversation stops when I enter the nursery. “Who pissed in your Cheerios?”
“Your husbands are infuriating,” I snap.
“This is not news, but what did they do this time?”
“They’re hiding something about Ford.”
Harley’s face pales. “What did they say?”
“We were discussing me missing Ford, and Ace was about to tell me something, but Major shut him up. Then they dismissed me!”
Harley blows out a breath. “I’m sure you’re overreacting.”
“Yeah, you are sex-deprived or something.” Jewls flicks her hand. “Ford will be home soon to take care of you.”
“You know he’s coming home, too?”
“We may have overheard it?”
“And neither of you told me?”
Her eyes grow wide and she looks to Harley for help, who jumps in. “We just heard tonight.” There’s a hitch in her voice, and her eye twitches at the corner.
An eerie suspicion skitters over my skin, and I glimpse between them. Before I can ask more, Pepper races in.
“There’s the pretty girl!” Jewls exclaims a little too loudly.
It all happens in slow motion—Pepper’s excited bouncing, Jewls leaning over, her stomach so round it doesn’t adapt to her position and her realizing the mistake. She twists, going down on her butt and rolling back with her legs wiggling in the air like a crab.
My heart stops until she squeals, her stomach shaking.
Harley looks at me and we both howl at the same time. I can’t stop the tears pouring down my cheeks as I laugh harder than I ever have in my life. My bladder warns me it’s close to exploding, but I have no power over the uncontrollable giggles. Harley is in the same position with wet cheeks and a red face, crossing her legs, and holding her stomach.
“Help me, fools!” Jewls demands from the ground with Pepper licking her hands.
Major rushes in, taking in the scene. The initial look of panic turns to resignation. “You know you can’t bend over.”
“Screw you! This is all your fault.”
“Here we go again.” Ace enters the room, clearly entertained and not surprised.
“Screw you, too, Kingston.”
“Why me?”
“Because you always take his side.”
“Not taking sides, it’s pure biology how you got pregnant.”
“But it’s his fault for being so sexy and swoony. My ovaries didn’t stand a chance.”
“Babe, you’re the one who packed that scrap of lace. You knew what would happen,” Major adds proudly.
“Are you seriously suggesting this is my fault? I was on the pill! You have superhero sperm that broke the barriers of science and lit up my insides.”
“Please, God, don’t let her mention superhero sperm again,” Ace pleads to the ceiling.