Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
My head jerked to look at Dylan.
“Just into park,” Dylan explained. “Hey, Gramps.”
“Hey, bud,” Cam replied, reaching out to slap Dylan’s shoulders. “And who’s this?”
“These are my kids,” I said, trying not to stiffen as Curtis slid his arm around my shoulders. It was going to be a day of public displays of affection, and I needed to get my shit together. “Jesse and Finn.”
“Nice to meet you both,” Cam said seriously. “You can call me Gramps, like this one does.”
“Hey,” Jesse said with a nod.
“Are you Curtis’s dad?” Finn asked, his head tilted way back to look at Cam.
“I am.”
“You look like him,” Finn announced.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Jesse said under their breath.
Cam laughed as we started toward the large grassy area full of picnic tables and people. There was a row of barbecues and tables weighed down with food along the side of the building, lawn chairs scattered around, and groups of kids running wild through it all.
“Relax,” Curtis murmured into my ear, his lips brushing my jaw.
I nodded. It was all pretend. It didn’t matter if these people liked us.
“Mom, where should I put this?” Jesse asked.
“Oh, I’ll show you,” an older woman said kindly as we passed her. She smiled at Jesse and patted them on the back as she led them toward the tables. “I’m Molly.”
Jesse’s gaze shot to me, and they widened their eyes as they walked away.
“Molly’s Will’s,” Cam explained, making absolutely no sense at all.
We’d barely entered the crowd when I abruptly lost Curtis’s arm around my shoulders. I jerked to a stop and turned toward him, only to find that a blonde woman had jumped onto his back. Her arms were wrapped around his neck like she was trying to put him in a headlock, and her knees were bent, her thighs gripping his sides.
“Hey, loser,” she sang with a laugh.
“Goddamn it, Charles,” Curtis bitched, reaching for her arms. “Your elbow’s diggin’ into my shoulder.”
“Oh, this one?” she asked, laughing as he cursed and tried to pry her off him.
I wasn’t quite sure what to do as Finn and I watched them in shock. Cam and Dylan hadn’t even paused and had disappeared into the crowd.
“You do know you’re a fuckin’ adult, right?” Curtis asked, bending at the waist like he could shake her loose that way. “Didn’t you just have another kid like two months ago?”
“You’re such an ass,” she griped breathlessly as she hung on for dear life. “I haven’t seen you in a week, and I haven’t even seen my nephew yet.”
“Why the hell didn’t you jump on his back?” Curtis shot back, finally dislodging the woman. She ended up flat on her back in the grass, laughing. “And where the hell is your husband?”
“Who knows,” she said, grinning up at him. “He’s with the kids somewhere.”
“You’re insane,” Curtis grumbled, grabbing her hand so he could yank her to her feet. “Teddy’s gonna think we’re all idiots.”
The blonde’s smiling face turned toward me, her eyes dancing. “Oh, you don’t think we’re idiots, right?” she asked. “My mom said you’ve got brothers. You know how it is.”
“This is my cousin-aunt, Charlie,” Curtis said, sweeping his hair back from his face with both hands. “She’s a fuckin’ lunatic, but she’s harmless.”
“I’m neither of those things,” the blonde corrected, lifting her hand to shake mine. “Nice to meet you. Teddy, right?”
I nodded, my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth.
“Cousin-aunt?” Finn asked in confusion.
“Well, I’m technically his aunt,” Charlie told Finn. “But we’re the same age, so we’re more like cousins. His dad is my much older brother.”
I couldn’t see any family resemblance between the man we’d just met and this woman. She was smaller than me, and Curt’s dad was massive.
“She’s also Kara’s best friend,” Curtis said, giving Finn a little more context.
I didn’t think my boy needed it. He was staring at Charlie in awe.
“Okay, she was nice,” Jesse said as they appeared next to me again. “But I still have no idea who she is.”
“Hey, Jesse,” the woman greeted. “Nice to see you again.”
“Oh, hey,” Jesse replied. “I didn’t know you were going to be here.”
“I’m everywhere, always,” Charlie replied, lowering her voice ominously. She grinned. “You haven’t been back to get coffee. Don’t tell me you’ve been cheating on my shop.”
I watched as Jess talked with Curt’s cousin like they were old friends, trying not to show any emotion. It was already happening. The kids were already finding their place with these people, and there was nothing I could do about it. And as Charlie smiled at my kid, I questioned whether I should even want to. We’d never had this—the big family get-together where everyone knows everyone else. For most of Jesse’s life, it had just been the four of us, and last year our number had shrunk. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing for Finn and Jesse to form connections with these people.