Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 134830 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134830 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
It’s not early, it’s late, and I’m warm because Kyle is a furnace in his sleep.
“Shit. Shit!” The second exclamation is louder as I peek at my clock. It’s after eight! That means it’s Nessa banging on my door. “Kyle! Wake up! We overslept.”
He grumbles, but then his eyes pop open too. “What time is it?”
“After eight!”
“Fuck.”
We’re dancing around my room, pulling clothes on here and bumping into each other there, but in under sixty seconds, we’re striding for the front door together.
I unlock the door, flinging it open and already apologizing. “Sorry, Nessa. I overslept. Come on in.”
She doesn’t hear a word I say because she’s staring at Kyle as he pulls his shirt over his head. He grabs me by the back of the neck, places a firm kiss to my forehead, and then grins at me like he knows he’s leaving me to the third inquisition with Nessa.
“Well, good morning, Sugarbear. Where’re my forehead kisses?” She leans forward like she thinks Kyle’s going to kiss her too, and I must make some sound of ‘fuck no’ because they both look at me with glee dancing in their eyes.
“Can I help with groceries?” Kyle offers, but Nessa shakes her head.
“No, I need you to get out of here so I can ask all my dirty, filthy, way too detailed questions without you hearing Dani’s answers. So skedaddle… shoo.” She waves her hand at Kyle, and he steps around her, jumping from the porch to the yard.
“Ask her how many times,” he calls over his shoulder, and I gawk after him.
“He did not just say that.”
Nessa grins, nodding. “Oh, he did. Now come grab these bags so we have a minute to talk.”
I’m still barefoot, but I step out front and see that there’s already a concrete truck in Kathy’s back yard and Wayne, Zeus, Frogger, and a whole crew of concrete guys are watching Kyle walk directly from my house to the jobsite. He might as well be wearing a sign that says ‘I fucked Dani and slept over too.’
Zeus throws me a two-finger wave, or he tries to, but Kyle backhands him in the chest and he collapses, laughing at the reprimand.
“We already knew,” Nessa informs me, picking up a handful of bags from her backseat. “I pulled up, and Wayne jerked his head toward Kyle’s bike in your driveway. Pretty sure we’re gonna compare notes later.”
“You and Wayne are buddy-buddy now?” I ask, confused at that news.
“No, but those who enjoy tea recognize others who are tea aficionados. And Wayne’s here bright and early every morning when I deliver your groceries, so we know what’s what.”
I give Wayne another glance… or glare might be more like it. But he’s talking to Kyle and doesn’t notice.
“Speaking of things you haven’t noticed,” Nessa says, and I turn back to her. “You haven’t noticed the little issue you’re going to have today.” She jerks her chin, and I follow where she’s gesturing, only to see Kathy’s big Cadillac sedan parked in front of my house at the curb. Not only in front, though. She’s parked in the middle of my curb, effectively taking up the entire length of space in front of my house, leaving no room for even one of my customers to park behind her or in front of her.
“That bitch! What the fuck?”
I must say it louder than I mean to because I can feel the weight of Kyle’s eyes on me, and when I look over at him, he’s already coming this way. His jaw is tight, and he runs his fingers through his hair, looking frustrated as hell.
But not as frustrated as I am or my customers are going to be.
“I told her the concrete truck would need her driveway clear today because once it’s in place, it won’t move until they’re done. So she had to get her car out early if she was getting out at all. Guess she figured out where it’d cause the biggest problem.” He doesn’t look happy about where Kathy’s parked either, but it’s completely legal. I’m sure of it because I’ve argued that fact dozens of times when her rampage against me initially began. “She’s supposed to be in and out for pickleball, at least.”
“Hopefully, she leaves early, twists her ankle, and spends the rest of the day at the ER getting an Ace wrap put on,” I snarl. I’m not wishing any major pain and agony on her, just something minorly annoying that’ll keep her gone all day and out of my way.
“I’m sorry,” Kyle says, sounding truly apologetic.
But it’s not his fault. It’s just Kathy being her own miserable self and dragging everyone else down with her.
“It’s fine. I’ll figure it out.” I sigh. “I need to get cooking, anyway.”
By the time my lunch rush starts, I’ve got a system. The trucks pull up in front of Kathy’s house side by side instead of in front of mine. It makes for a longer hike for me to deliver each bag of lunches, but at least I can keep the flow going steadily.