Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 121755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
So, yeah, the Angels were covered so closely by the Nightingale Men because the original crew were dealing with HEA PTSD, and that might sound crazy, but it was true.
Though, now I kinda wanted to read Luke and Ava’s story.
I kept mixing Shanti’s drink as she went on.
“He says he sees the writing on the wall. He’s not the guy for me, and he doesn’t want to get his heart involved when he’s a side character or he has to wait for a spin-off or a next-gen, or worse, being wedged in some random other series.”
Okay, that might sound crazy too, but I totally got where Titus was coming from.
I squirted the wedge of lime into her drink then took it to her.
She was now sitting cross-legged in the lounge extension corner of my couch with the pillow still held to her belly.
Shanti accepted the drink with a mumbled, “Thanks,” took a sip and then kept at her tale of woe. “Now, due to sheer embarrassment, I can’t go back to the man cave.”
I gasped in shock and horror for two reasons.
First, this surprised me. Shanti Winston didn’t tend to get embarrassed. She was Shanti, you took her as she came, the end.
Then again, Titus was a god among men, and to be turned down by him would remind you eloquently of your mere mortal status, so I understood.
Second, I couldn’t imagine never being able to go back to the man cave.
“I have to put a moratorium on man-cave visits until I’m over it,” she continued.
“How long is that going to last?” I asked.
“At least a whole week.”
I almost laughed, because there was my Shanti.
She kept going.
“He says I’m supposed to be with Liam, or Roam, or Brady. Like I’d ever go there with Brady.”
“Brady’s gorgeous.”
“Every time we go out into the world, Brady either picks someone up, or gets someone’s digits, or simply sits there while napkins and receipts with phone numbers written on them rain down on his head.”
This was fact.
“That doesn’t make him less gorgeous and nice. He’s also funny.”
“Brady’s a white boy.”
“He’s a gorgeous, nice, funny white boy.”
“He’s still a white boy.”
He was that.
Even so…
Brady was Shanti’s bodyguard during the Kev/Trev thing, and they seemed to get tight during it. Not tight tight, but tight.
“So you got nothing when he was your bodyguard?” I asked.
Her face took on a faraway look that gave me hope.
Then she spoke. “Oh, for sure I got some fun Whitney Houston/Kevin Costner-themed fantasies during that time. But fantasy is fantasy, Will. This is real life.”
It certainly was.
However, I was undeterred.
“Okay then, Liam and—”
I was going to finish…Roam are also gorgeous and nice, but when I mentioned Liam, her eyes slid to the side, and she put her drink back to her lips not to sip, but to hide.
Oh my God.
“Liam?” I whispered.
“He’s not my type,” she said quickly, then actually took a sip.
“What do you mean he’s not your type?” I returned. “He’s totally your type.”
“He’s together. He’s adjusted. He’s confident. What’s the fun in that?” she asked.
“Are you high?” I asked back.
“When we go out, he also usually picks someone up, gets someone’s digits or is showered in those napkins and receipts,” she said.
Also fact.
“But when that happens, he’s sitting at a table with you,” I reminded her.
She thinned her big, beautiful brown eyes at me. “Okay, Ms. Sworn Off Men, I just got turned down, and Liam treats me like a friend. Have a heart.”
So, I was determined to be a spinster, looking forward to it, actually (Liar! Dreamer screamed in frustration) and was definitely adopting seven cats when I had a good six months of living expenses in checking, a minor medical emergency covered in savings and a beach vacation under my belt.
But that didn’t mean I didn’t want my friends to find partnered-up happiness.
So I didn’t let up.
“Liam is your friend,” I pointed out.
“Will, the way he treats me, a girl knows, that’s all I’ll ever be,” she said softly, hurt in her tone.
Ouch.
Yeah, a girl knew.
And if she was into him, that was killer.
How I thought I’d be able to live with Gabe in my friend posse after I convinced him to retreat, I didn’t know. But Shanti, mercifully, didn’t have a Kev in her history, a Kev who was haunting her present.
“Okay, backing off,” I told her.
“Thanks,” she said then took another sip.
I changed the subject. “So do you know what’s happening with Mr. Shithead?”
She focused on me. “Nice pivot, bitch, but don’t think you’re getting around talking about Gabe with that gambit. Alexis told Rhea who told Sally who told Raye that she saw Gabe with you and your cakes last night. And Raye told me.”
I loved living here.
But, as you could see, it also had its drawbacks.
“Though, just to say, Raye wants us at headquarters tomorrow at eleven so we can have a briefing,” Shanti continued. “Clarice got some deets, and Jinx too.”