Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 68500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Her thinking that anything we did together sexually was a mistake burned.
“I don’t… That’s not what I was trying to do,” I admitted.
I didn’t know what I was trying to do.
But I was just so fucking thankful that she was there.
There was no one else in this entire world who I would’ve rather had here with me today than her.
“Then what were you trying to do?” she asked, leaning back so that her hips were resting against the counter.
I reached out and curled a lock of her blonde hair around her ear, then dropped my arm when she moved away.
“I was trying to say thank you for helping me today,” I said quietly, moving back and giving her space.
Her eyes went soft again, but she didn’t move toward me like I’d wanted.
I crossed my arms over my chest as she said, “I had this bad feeling today. All day. I just kept thinking that I should stop by and check on you. I’m glad that I did.”
Val and her feelings.
She got those a lot.
Most of the time, they were about something simple like it was going to rain and the weather didn’t forecast it. Or that we needed to get more milk, but there being a full half gallon at home, we didn’t need it. Then that night, the milk fell and burst all over the kitchen floor when I’d opened the fridge for a bottle of water.
Just simple, silly things like that when it came to Val’s feelings.
But sometimes, like when she said something bad was about to happen right before her dad died, it really meant something huge.
Today had obviously been a big day for her feelings.
“I’m glad you listened to that feeling,” I said softly.
She softened even more.
“Felix, I’m sorry,” she murmured. “This whole situation is terrible for you.”
I moved away from the counter, heading toward my room. “Are you going to stay?”
Her head tilted and she pushed off the counter before saying, “Do you want me to stay?”
Forever and ever.
“Yes,” I admitted.
She gave me a firm nod, then said, “Are you going to shower?”
She knew me so well.
After a long hard day, or even a short hard day, I always took a shower because there was just something so soothing about the hot water running over my body and washing away the day.
“I am,” I said. “Do you want to watch a movie?”
Please say you’ll watch a movie.
Please say you’ll stay for a long time.
“Of course,” she said. “I’ll set it up in the living…”
I interrupted her. “Not there. Please, not there.”
I didn’t think I’d ever be able to go in there again.
Which fuckin’ sucked, because that’d been my most favorite room in the house.
The house that I’d searched and searched for over a period of six months.
A house that had once been Val’s dream home.
A house that we’d fought over, over and over again, when we’d talked about living out the rest of our lives.
She’d wanted old. I’d wanted new.
And I knew I’d always give her what she’d wanted.
When this all started a few months ago, getting the house had been a big ‘fuck you’ to her.
Now… well, now I didn’t know what I was doing.
What I did know was that now that I had the house, I wanted her in it more.
“Okay,” she said softly. “Where then?”
“The only other television in the house is in my room. Pops has one…” I paused. “Pops had one, but it broke last week. That’s why we decided to set the bed up in the living room.”
She nodded her head, and then I disappeared into my bedroom, her not far behind.
I grabbed some things out of the dresser, pants, underwear, and a t-shirt, and headed to the bathroom just as she was making her way inside my sanctuary.
I closed the door on her wide eyes taking in everything.
The house was cool.
One of the oldest on Swiss Avenue, it definitely had a lot of character to it—character that really was a complete pain in the ass, like I’d always told Val.
The bedroom was made up of lots of crown molding, wallpaper that was probably put up in the eighties, and enough gaudy old stuff to make even a historical person cringe. But overall, a lot of room with even more potential.
I could practically see her wheels turning, wondering what she would do to the space if it was hers.
I turned the shower on, and grimaced at the way the pipes groaned in the walls.
At first, I hadn’t realized how much trouble the old house would be. I mean, logically, I’d known it would be a pain in the ass. But I’d underestimated just how much of a pain in the ass.
Not just because it was old, but because it was old in a way that the City of Dallas required certain steps to be taken in the restoration process.