Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 92368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Crap…am I naked, too?
My hand glides up from its place on the bed, and I’m relieved to feel my nightshirt, which I now remember putting on before Zeus talked me into cuddling for a few minutes before he was supposed to leave to go home to the house, which he is now living in, as his lease was up on his apartment.
“He’s, um…well, Daddy was tired, and I said he could sleep here, so…”
“Why’s Daddy gots no clothes on?”
Fucking, fucking fuck.
“Um…because…because…”
“Because I get hot in bed, Gigi girl.” He reaches over and grabs her, pulling her onto the bed between us, making her giggle and squeal. “And I’m not naked. I’m wearing shorts. See?” He lifts the cover, showing her his running shorts, which he was wearing last night.
But I’m now wondering when he put those on because I distinctly remember him being naked when we were lying here, cuddling, before we fell asleep.
And, now, I’m wondering if he fell asleep here on purpose, so Gigi would find him here and know that we were together. He’s not asked me directly to tell Gigi that we’re together, but he has recently been making definite noises in that direction.
I stare at him, brow lifted, but he doesn’t look at me, so I poke him in the arm with my finger.
He glances at me, and I give him a questioning look.
“What?” he says.
“When did you put those on?” I nod in the general vicinity of his shorts.
“Don’t know. Must’ve done it in my sleep.”
“Uh-huh.” I nod. “Sure you did.”
He gives me a look of innocence, which I one hundred percent do not believe.
“So, will Daddy sweep here all the time now?”
“No,” I’m quick to answer.
Zeus gives me a less than impressed look. “But if I were to”—he moves his eyes back to Gigi—“how would you feel about that?”
“Good ’cause then you’d be here all the times.”
My heart clenches hard, like she just put her little hand around it and squeezed it tight.
“So, if I said to you that me and Daddy were together now, would that be okay with you?” I ask her.
“Together?” Her eyes and cute button nose screw up with confusion.
“Like Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder,” I explain. “A couple.”
“Ohs, like boyfriends and girlfriends?” She beams.
“Yeah, like boyfriend and girlfriend.”
“I finks that’d be awesome.” She pauses, looking between me and Zeus, her nose screwing up again. “But you’s not gonna be kissing all the time, are you?”
Zeus barks out a laugh, and I go beet red.
“No! Of course not. Where on earth did you get that from?” I ask her.
“TV.” She shrugs.
“What do you mean, TV?” I ask her.
“Movies, Mommy.” She gives me a look that says this should be perfectly obvious. “The mens and womens are always kissing in the movies.”
She starts to make kissing sounds, and Zeus laughs again, harder this time.
“And no more movies for you.” I reach over and tickle her side, making her squirm and giggle.
Looks like I’m going to have to monitor even more closely exactly what it is she’s watching on the television.
“Daddy?”
“Yes, Gigi?”
“Does this mean that you and Mommy are gonna gets mwarried?”
“No!” I say at the exact same time that Zeus says, “Yeah, one day.”
My eyes snap to Zeus, who’s staring back at me, a furrow puckering his brow.
I move my eyes from him to Gigi. “We won’t be getting married anytime soon,” I say to Gigi.
“Okay.” She sighs. Another pause and then, “But, when you do’s gets mwarried, I be a bridesmaids, right?”
A smile creeps onto my face. I glance over at Zeus to see he’s grinning, too.
I press a kiss to her soft hair and say, “If Mommy and Daddy ever get married, you’ll be the only bridesmaid, Gigi girl.”
“Pwomise?”
“I promise.”
She goes quiet again. I’ve just closed my eyes, and I’m dozing, loving just being here with my little family, when her little voice breaks the quiet.
“Mommy?”
“Yes, Gigi girl?”
“Can we all gets up and watch TV together now?”
“What do you want to watch?” Zeus asks her on a yawn.
“Tangled, of cwourse.”
Sigh.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I want you on your feet. It’s been too long since we last saw him in the ring…so be upstanding to welcome your very own homegrown champion…Zeus…‘The God’…Kincaid!”
The crowd goes wild. Zeus’s boxing anthem, “Lose Yourself,” starts to thrum through the stadium.
My eyes pull up to one of the big screens. It shows Zeus coming through the stadium, making his way to the ring. His robe on, hood up, face composed, focused.
My heart starts to pound with worry. It’s hard not to feel the adrenaline buzzing through the stadium, feel the rush of people’s excitement. But I’m scared. Because the guy about to climb into that ring with a complete psycho is the man I love. The father of my child.
Thankfully, Gigi won’t see this. She’s at home with Aunt Elle. She should be in bed by now. She knows that Zeus has a boxing match tonight, but thankfully, she doesn’t really understand what that means.