Total pages in book: 203
Estimated words: 199654 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 998(@200wpm)___ 799(@250wpm)___ 666(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199654 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 998(@200wpm)___ 799(@250wpm)___ 666(@300wpm)
“Happiness.” She shrugs. “Livin’ the dream.”
A stench hits my nose. Male sweat. Fuck. They’ve started shit outside. It’s probably either arm wrestling, push-up competitions, or actual wrestling.
I eyeball my mate, needing to get her the fuck out of here.
Erica bumps my side with her shoulder. “I’m giving you a compliment, Jase. And I guess you can take it as a hint, too. You handled this well. Pay attention and it’ll all become crystal clear.”
“What’ll be clear?”
“What you need to do.”
“Or, you could just make this shit stop, Erica. You know we’re fated to be together. So, why are you and your sisters interfering with the way it should go like this? I thought you helped Fate rather than worked against it?”
She smiles and says, “Aw phooey. I guess this isn’t your eureka moment after all.”
The door opens and Riley comes in.
“Snookums!” she exclaims.
He flashes her a dark look. “What’re you doin’ at Roxy’s on a Saturday night without me, little witch?”
He’s smelling what I’m smelling and mated or not, doesn’t want his woman near a bunch of amped males without him. This means I’ve got this to look forward to always, not just because I haven’t claimed Bailey yet.
Fanfuckingtastic.
“I’m ready to go home. Vivi and Ronnie are gonna stay over.”
“Why don’t they go to the apartment? It’s a ten-minute drive.”
“They’ve been…” she mimes a drinking gesture with her eyes crossed. “They’ve had a lot more than I have.”
He surveys the space. “Dani can’t come back for them?”
“She’s jetlagged. Probably asleep.”
“I’ll drive ‘em,” he offers.
“Or they can stay over.”
“We’ll drop them off, Rik,” he asserts, grabbing her hips and pulling her close, asking, “Okay?” against her mate mark.
“Okey dokey,” she whispers, melting into him.
He’s shooting me a look. “All good?”
I scoff.
He slaps my back. “It will be.”
I say, “I see you haven’t been able to talk some sense into your mate and your in-laws. Do that when you drive ‘em to The Hollow, will ya?”
Riley is about to speak when Bailey walks past me, calling out, “Night all! Until the next dance party.” She blows a kiss and opens the door, heading through it.
“Later,” I mutter to Rye who replies with,
“Good luck.”
I follow her.
***
We’re on the bridge that crosses the river when the rain starts. And it starts at full blast, like it has a point to prove.
“Shit,” she mutters, staring at her bare feet. “I forgot my shoes.”
“I’ve got ‘em,” I say.
“Put them down so I can get them on?” she requests.
I set them on the ground, sure this is a bad idea. She’s staggering. How the fuck is she going to walk in these things?
She tries to get into them but she staggers and nearly trips.
And I’m pissed off because I can’t catch her. I can’t handle even the most basic task to look after my mate. If she lands on the ground and busts her ankle, I can’t lift a muscle to help.
It’s not supposed to be like this! Irritated, I snap, “Why the fuck would you wear those shoes walking here?”
“Because I wear what I want, that’s why,” she fires back with a sour look on her face as she gets them on, that newfound stubbornness she never had before Italy shining through.
And if she was staggering before, now it’s worse.
I pull in a big breath and try to summon some patience.
“You’re gonna bust an ankle, babe.”
“Ugh. I know,” she mumbles and takes them off. “I’ll just wash my feet when I get…ouch!” She hops a couple times on one foot before she looks at me with her nose scrunched. “I stepped on a rock.”
I stop and squat. “Hop on my back. Hopefully you don’t electrocute me.”
The rain has picked up pace.
She unties her sweater from her waist and puts it on, not that it’ll do much.
“Bay?”
She’s staring at me with wide eyes.
“A…piggyback?” she asks.
“Hurry up, baby, we’re gettin’ drenched.” I pick up her shoes.
She jumps up on my back.
“Hang on tight. Loop your legs through my arms. If I do it, you’ll zap me.”
She’s on, arms looped around my neck tight.
I break into a jog. It’s really pouring, pounding down hard. My house is soon in sight.
I jog up to the porch.
“Wait, what? No, Jase. Not here. I wanna go home.”
“We’re soakin’ wet, Bay. I’m not runnin’ another coupla blocks in this rain when the house is right here.”
She mutters something under her breath as I climb the front steps and open the door.
The house is dark, so I slap the plate of multiple light switches, which lights up the whole main floor, squatting so she can get down.
When I straighten up, the look on her face stops me cold. My first instinct is that I need new furniture. It doesn’t look quite as much like a frat house as it did a few weeks ago, but it’s definitely time for new stuff. I’d figured my new mate, whoever she was, could pick stuff out after I identified her.