Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 135696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Riggs had noted there was one difference between the two outside the color of their skin.
Maribeth got high.
But Nadia got chill.
“Year of the Cat” slid into “Steal Away” as Riggs dragged her up his chest and kissed her.
When he ended it, she whispered, “Murphy just stole your marijuana.”
“He’s like that. He says I hog it, but he uses it as his excuse to be a mooch.”
She giggled again.
“Having fun?” he asked softly.
She gave him a little shake with her arms around him. “You have good friends.”
“Yeah.”
“I really like Murphy,” she said.
He grinned. “Me too.”
“And he really loves you.”
His grin died, but not for bad reasons, for the best ones.
“Yeah.”
“Not to mess with the mood, but you should know, another reason, outside you and Ledger, why I was considering Misted Pines is that you have a big family. They’re everywhere you turn.”
He heard her, and he got it.
She’d lost the last of hers five months ago.
He slid his finger from her temple to behind her ear to slide her hair away from her face, then he tangled his fingers in it. “Maribeth is good family too.”
She nodded and turned her head into his touch. “She totally is. But Chicago is big. You’re always a bit alone in a big city. You can get lost in it. And after what happened, I knew it wasn’t healthy to be lost. I think maybe I didn’t realize it while I was doing it, but I picked somewhere like Misted Pines so I wouldn’t be lost. But I got here, and I didn’t know how to get found.” She gave him another shake. “Until you found me.”
“Princess,” he murmured, curling his fingers around her head and feeling what she said heat his chest in a way he liked a fuckuva lot.
“Thank you, Riggs.”
He pulled her to him again and kissed her.
They were straight up making out when “Steal Away” slid into, “Make It with You.”
He’d been waiting for that song to come on, and he was glad it happened when they were right there, just as they were.
He slid his cheek against hers and said in her ear, “Picked this one just for you.”
She stilled, listening to the song.
He tugged her head back so he could watch her face in the firelight while she did it, and he ran his thumb along her cheekbone and lips as the lyrics hit her, and they did this hard.
But that wasn’t in a bad way either.
No, thank Christ, he could see it was really fucking good.
The song moved into, “You Make Lovin’ Fun,” when she said, “I wish they hadn’t stolen that wine.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Because I think there might be reason I’d want to keep that bottle forever.”
That made heat light up his chest too, and he was about to reply, but he heard a sharp, “Doc. Hup,” coming from his right.
He looked that way to see Jaeger’s eyes on him, and the man was taking his feet.
In fact, everyone was.
And they all had attention aimed in the same direction, at something happening behind his back.
He lifted up, taking Nadia with him, and turned to look over his shoulder.
And he saw Angelica bearing down on them, openly raring to go.
He hadn’t heard a car pull up, not that there was much room with the vehicles in his drive and lining the lane, but they weren’t so far back he wouldn’t hear another one approaching. And other than the lights that illuminated the pier, only a few scattered camp lanterns and the fire were giving the space light, so he hadn’t seen her headlights either.
Which probably meant she parked on the road and hoofed it so she could do this.
Take them unaware.
He pushed up to standing, again bringing Nadia with him, but he then moved her to his back as he watched Murphy try to head Angelica off.
She purposefully slammed her shoulder into him as she walked by him, snapping, “Fuck off, Murphy.” She stopped a few feet in front of Riggs, her gaze shot from him, to Nadia, to Storm, back to Riggs, then she announced, “You two, fathers of the year, so fuckin’ high and mighty. Where’s my kid at, Doc, while you get high and laid?”
Storm came up to his side. “Where’s mine, Angelica?”
“Kiss my ass,” she sniped at Storm.
“Thanks, no,” Storm retorted. “Still have no clue why I went back three times. The first was tolerable, at best.”
No warning, nails bared, she launched herself at him.
Riggs moved to intervene, but Harry got there first, catching her at the waist and pulling her away.
That was when Rus slid in at Harry’s back.
“Let me go, Harry!” she shouted, fighting his hold.
“You either calm down right now, or you do it at the station,” Harry warned, not letting her go.
She stopped fighting and aimed her glare at Storm, then moved it to Riggs. “Bubbles is a piece of shit liar. Everyone knows that.”