Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 68814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
“You’re set to come with me today, right?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Then I’ll send all your stuff home with Sway and Hancock, that way we don’t have all your crap strapped to my bike,” he said.
“Sounds good,” I continued to mumble.
He laughed and then started dressing me.
I flopped over onto my back as he slid on a thong—it was weird being dressed instead of undressed by him—and then my favorite shorts. Followed shortly by the pair of sweatpants I’d commandeered.
I waited to see what he’d do next—because bras weren’t the easiest thing to put on, especially when they were mutilated—but he slipped a t-shirt over my head.
Then a brand-new red sweatshirt I’d never seen before.
“I went down to the gift shop down the street and bought it for you,” he said as I gave him a questioning look.
Warmth suffused my veins as I snuggled deep into the sweatshirt.
It had ‘I <3 Missouri’ on it.
I ran my finger around the soft, faux fur heart, then looked at him with a smile.
“Ready?” he asked.
“For…” I waited, knowing exactly what he was going to say.
“If I don’t go, he’ll never shut up about it,” he explained.
“How do you know he’ll even be there?” I wondered.
“Because he’s my twin brother. I know him better than his wife knows him.”
We met them for breakfast.
After we’d had sex in the shower not once, but twice.
After I was rinsed off and my hair was dried and then he’d dressed me again, we went down to the lobby to find Hannibal’s family waiting there as if they’d known he’d come all along.
Sometimes, I knew when Tony would do things, too.
It was just something that I felt deep inside.
Hancock waited until Hannibal was at his side before saying, “Do you think they’ll limit us on the amount of waffles we can eat?”
Hannibal said something under his breath that sounded a lot like ‘fuck my life.’
Grinning at the two of them, I passed them by for a heart-shaped waffle.
Two of them.
And a little cup of Froot Loops.
Once I placed my plate on the table, I went back for a glass of milk and some orange juice, then took a seat and dug in.
“Hungry?” Hancock asked.
“Famished,” I answered around a mouthful of Froot Loops. “I haven’t eaten since last night.”
His eyes twinkled as he said, “I would like to point out that it’s normal for people to not eat in that amount of time.”
“I usually have at least one midnight to three in the morning snack,” I said. “When I don’t, I wake up grouchy and hungry, and the last thing I want to do is wait for my food to get made.”
He eyed me weirdly, as if what I’d just said was unheard of.
But then Hannibal sat down and said, “Man, I’m starving. I didn’t get my snack last night.”
I looked over at him just as Hancock burst out laughing.
“What?” Hannibal asked.
“Hades was just telling us that she eats a snack every single night,” Sway said. “Y’all fit perfectly together.”
I felt stunned. “You eat midnight snacks?”
“Yep,” he said as he dug into an omelet the size of my head. “Every night if I can. I don’t know why I wake up in the middle of the night, but if I don’t go eat something, I’m never…”
“Going back to sleep,” I finished for him. “Me, too.”
“The midnight snacks, the devil names…y’all are a match made in heaven.” Sway smiled before taking a bite of her granola.
I wrinkled my nose. “Why are you eating granola? Go grab a waffle, ma’am. These are great.”
Hancock snorted. “She’s ‘trying to watch her figure’ but really all she’s doing is torturing herself.”
Sway sighed, as if this was a normal argument for them.
“If it makes you feel better, I think you look great. We have a woman at our circus that drops in from time to time to work. She draws the biggest crowds because she’s the prettiest person ever. And everyone loves the girls with the hips and the curves.” I pointed at me. “I have a great, athletic body. But we’re a dime a dozen. You can find us nearly everywhere. But you…” I eyed her speculatively. “You could definitely draw a crowd.”
Sway blushed.
Hancock gave me an approving look, as if I’d just solidified my spot in his heart with my words.
Then he surprised me by asking his next question.
“Your circus?” Hancock asked.
I felt my heart stutter.
I wanted the man to like me, because I wanted his twin to love me.
If he didn’t like me then what would Hannibal do?
But Momma didn’t raise no coward…though Momma and Daddy didn’t raise me at all. Maybe ‘Hades didn’t raise no coward’ was a better fit.
“Well, my old circus now, I guess. My family owns and operates Singh Circus. I used to perform…but it’s a really long story.”
“Well, we’re here to listen,” he said. “Tell us everything.”