Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 64910 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64910 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
“That’s her third, by the way.” Iris giggled. “I’m glad we stopped by and got some. It’s quite comical to see how much she’s putting away. You’d think that she wouldn’t eat so much because she’s so small.”
“You’d think wrong.” I shook my head. “I’ve seen Dory put some food away in our time together but watching her eat this… it’s amazing.”
And it was great to see her actually eating.
Once upon a time, she wouldn’t have eaten that cupcake that he’d brought her. She would’ve overthought the hell out of it.
Though my brother would never, ever in a million years hurt her, the fact that she was eating anything he brought was a sign of trust.
That, and the pregnancy had changed a lot of her eating habits for the better.
Now, she didn’t have a problem with eating anything sweet or a craving when we went out to eat. I was sure that it wouldn’t continue this way when she wasn’t pregnant anymore, but one could hope.
If anything else, I would have to keep feeding her and bringing her food.
She trusted me.
If that’s what it took to get the girl to eat, then I’d do whatever it took to make it happen. Even tell my boss my girl needed lunch and I had to bring it to her.
I’m sure he’d love that.
“Give me a sec to call Wake. He was on the way to our house with Tex,” I said to Dory.
I heard Shine say ‘Tex?’ and then Dory explain quietly who Tex was as Wake answered the phone.
“Change of plans,” I said to Wake. “Can you come out to dinner with us? My brother ended up coming into town.”
“Sure.” He paused. “Where?”
There were a few places he wouldn’t go, according to the last time I’d invited him out to eat with us. One of those places being the restaurant on the bay that he’d sent us to last time.
“What do you suggest?” I asked. “We’re not picky, and I’m fairly sure my wife won’t be able to eat a single thing anyway after stuffing her face so full of cupcakes.”
“Worth it.” Dory patted her belly.
I looked down to see her belly do a slow roll, indicating that our child was, indeed, doing somersaults inside of her.
Smiling, I pressed my hand to the side of her belly where I’d seen the movement, and the baby kicked.
I snorted and pressed in more firmly. Which he didn’t like at all.
The boy already liked his space.
Just like his father.
“Head downtown,” he said. “I’ll meet you in that parking lot along the bay, and we’ll walk from there.”
“Ten-four,” I said and hung up before addressing the rest of the room. “Wake suggested we head downtown,” I said as I eyed Dory. “That all right with you?”
Again, she was a bit wary when it came to restaurants, but she’d eat just about anything if I ate it first.
Which ended up happening more often than not at this point.
I’d order something for me, eat enough of it to show her it was okay, then transfer the plate over and start on the other order of uneaten food that she’d ordered.
It was a weird game we played that worked really well for us.
“Sounds great.” Dory smiled. “Do y’all want to ride with us?”
Shine and Iris agreed, and we met Wake downtown where we then walked to the restaurant that ended up being on the beach.
“Wow,” Dory breathed as she saw the sunset we were walking up to. “This is gorgeous.”
CHAPTER 23
Am I taken? Yeah, taken for granted.
-Dory to Bram
DORY
“This is gorgeous.” I must’ve repeated for the thirtieth time that day.
But seriously, the restaurant on the beach really was beautiful. But the sunset went from a bright yellow to a deep orange, and now to shades of purple and almost brown. It was seriously breathtaking.
Wake snorted. “I think you need to expand your vocabulary.”
I flipped him off, causing him to laugh.
When I shifted my gaze to Shine, I saw that he was staring at me with confusion on his face.
“What?” I asked.
He gestured to me. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you flip anyone off before. Or say ‘fuck.’”
“I curse.” I snorted. “I just usually don’t do it around anyone, because it draws attention to me, and that’s not something I generally want.”
Shine looked like he’d been hit.
Iris patted his chest and leaned into him as she reached for another slice of bread.
She ate half of it before offering the rest to Shine.
I eyed the bread and really wished I could have some.
I’d gotten a lot better about eating lately, but some things, like shared food in the middle of the table, were a hard no for me still.
Bram flagged the waitress down and said, “Do you think you could bring us another basket of bread?”
The waitress snagged one quickly and brought it back, and before she could put it in the middle of the table, Bram caught it and placed it directly in front of him.