Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76693 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76693 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“To say the least,” I mutter.
“So you sought her out?” Pops asks, jaw muscle flexing. “To punish us?”
Dad gives a sharp shake of his head. “Grant. Cool off before you say something you can’t take back.”
“I just want to understand how it is our son is apparently dating the girl we almost adopted.” Pops pinches the bridge of his nose. “All scenarios as to why this has happened in my head are bad ones. What did we do to ever deserve this betrayal by our own son?”
“Betrayal?” My voice rises several octaves. “How betrayed do you think I felt when I discovered I was your second choice?”
Tears of anger and years’ worth of pain form in my eyes, blurring my parents’ figures. I press the heels of my hands against my eyes, trying to get them not to leak. A ragged sob rips from my throat anyway. So much for that.
Hands are suddenly on either side of my head as Dad kisses the top.
“You weren’t a second choice, honey,” Dad says with a broken voice. “You were the best decision we ever made. Instalove. The second we laid eyes on you, you were ours.”
His words prickle their way into my aching heart.
“But you wanted Gemma. Enough to name her and fix up a nursery for her,” I argue through my tears. “She was your number one. I was the backup option after Jamie broke your hearts.”
Dad pulls back and kneels in front of me. “Eyes here, Two.” He motions at his red, teary ones. “You are our number one. You.”
Pops comes over to join, sitting on the arm of the chair. “You really thought we were pining away all these years over Gemma?” His strong hand clutches my shoulder. “Son, from the second we got you, you’ve been our entire world.”
“Did you start dating her to get back at us?” Dad asks. “Because of how you were feeling?”
I swallow hard and shake my head. “No. As soon as I learned who she was, I hated her instantly. I didn’t want to like her, Dad. I fucking swear it. It just happened.”
Pops chuckles. “Sounds like when I met your dad. We weren’t ever supposed to be a thing, but it just happened.”
“Once you realized you weren’t exactly straight,” Dad reminds him with a goofy grin. “Had to convince you a few times until you understood.”
They join hands, sharing in their moment, gazing happily at each other. It gives me hope that this whole Gemma thing won’t completely destroy them.
“How’d you meet her?” Dad finally asks. “If you didn’t seek her out, how did it happen?”
“In class. She called my car a hunk of junk.”
Pops scoffs and Dad sniggers. Since the vehicle is Pops’s old car and Dad made him retire it, their reactions are appropriate.
“Then she hit me with her car!”
Dad’s humor is wiped right off his face. “She what? On purpose? What the hell? Are you okay?”
I let his rapid-fire questions penetrate my aching heart. He loves me. They both do. Their concern and care have always been so overwhelming in a good way.
“It was an accident. I’m fine now. Just got bruised at the time.” I can’t help but grin. “I was such a dick to her. Naturally, I got partnered up with her for the Hemingford Hall project.”
“Gemma’s your project partner? Jamie failed to mention that part.” Dad’s eyes widen comically. “Gemma was here, wasn’t she?”
“Yeah,” I admit, feeling terrible. “She’s actually cool, though. Not at all a bitch like I’d assumed.”
A smile tugs at my lips as I think of her pretty glossy lips and sassy personality.
“Well, I’ll be goddamned,” Pops says with a chuckle. “Our boy is in love.”
Dad squeals—legit squeals—making me and Pops both wince.
“You’re being safe, right?” Pops continues. “I know we’ve had the birds and the bees talk many times before, but I feel like we might need to have a refresher course.”
“Pops, no,” I say with a grimace. “I know everything there is to know about sex. I’m a grown-ass man in case you forgot. Besides, we aren’t even there yet. Damn.”
“Thank God,” Dad says, shaking his head. “Take things slow. Get to know each other before you make commitments with your bodies.”
“Dude,” I grunt. “I really don’t want to talk about this with you guys.”
“Condoms?” Pops asks, completely ignoring my request. “You have them just in case?”
“I’ll put them on the grocery list,” Dad interjects. “Should we buy more lube?”
Fuck my life.
Now they’re just tormenting me.
A blossom of warmth fills my chest. This wicked, ugly secret is now in the open and we’re all teasing and laughing, sitting close by each other and touching.
They do love me.
I’m their whole world, they said.
“How did you know Jamie anyway?” I ask, still needing to know more about their past. “There seemed to have been some sort of relationship there.”