Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 114068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
I scoff. “I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like, a man that good can’t possibly exist, you know?”
“Oh, I know,” Ava says with a mirthless laugh. “Why do you think I settled for my ex? It’s what I was taught—that men just aren’t as kind or thoughtful as women. But they can be.” She points to the boys. “Those men are.”
I think I knew the night we met that Duke is one in a million. Every interaction with him just hammers that point home. I want him.
I’m falling for him. I can’t fuck this up.
I just need to figure out how to like myself a little more, so I can let him in without being terrified that he’ll be turned off by what he sees.
Am I kind enough? Smart enough? Do I love hard enough? I think so. But everything I learned growing up told me otherwise. I’m so, so scared Duke won’t love me back because of that.
Ryder comes over to give us a hug.
“I’m so glad you came,” he murmurs in my ear. “You bein’ around is making my brother a very happy man. Kinda grosses us out, actually, how chipper he is.”
I lean in to whisper in his ear. “It’s the sex.”
“Figured as much,” Ryder replies with a smirk. “How’re you feeling?”
Wrong that I appreciate how everyone’s asking me that question tonight? Seems silly, but their genuine concern makes me feel…safe. Taken care of.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Wyatt approaching.
“I’m feeling all right tonight,” I say.
Ryder’s smirk stays put on his handsome face. “Duke makes everything better, huh?”
“Are you bein’ a perv again?” Cash appears over Ryder’s shoulder. He’s holding hands with Mollie, who beams at us with a knowing twinkle in her eye.
“Probably shouldn’t say the word ‘pervert’ when you’re at a preschool.” Wyatt glances around.
Cash rolls his eyes. “You just said it.”
“What? Pervert?” Duke strides over wearing a cocky smile. “Yeah, that’s definitely inappropriate.”
Sawyer groans. “Can y’all be polite just once in your lives?”
“Nope.” Ryder holds out his arm. “May I escort you inside, Miss Wheeler? My brothers may be heathens, but I’m a gentleman.”
Cash lets out a bark of laughter. “I call BS.”
“Case in point,” Ryder sniffs. “C’mon, pretty lady.”
I meet Duke’s eyes, and my heart takes a tumble. They glimmer with happiness, the kind you can’t fake. Happiness and…is that pride?
Why wouldn’t he be proud of you?
Why am I not more proud of myself? I’m pregnant. Scared. Sick. But I’m showing up anyway.
I’m trying my best anyway.
I smile at him, and he smiles back.
“I’ll allow him to take you inside.” Duke tips his hat at Ryder. “But then I take over, yeah?”
Ryder chuckles. “We’ll see about that.”
“Your brother is cute.” I slip my hand into the crook of Ryder’s thick arm.
Duke shrugs. “Well, yeah, because he looks exactly like me.”
Ryder and I introduce ourselves to the teachers at the door. One of them, Ms. Blair, looks to be about my age, and she tells us how much she and her teaching partner Ms. Sherman enjoy having Junie and Ella in class.
“I hope my daughter is as kind and happy as those two are.”
“Oh?” I ask. “How old is your daughter?”
“She just turned four months old yesterday.”
“Aw.”
Ms. Blair wiggles her shoulders. “She’s chunking up.”
“She’s absolutely delicious,” Mrs. Hobson adds with a smile as she hands us each a paddle. “And sweet as pie.”
“Probably why I could eat her with a spoon,” Ms. Blair replies. “Welcome, y’all. We’re so glad you’re here.”
I have the strange urge to hug her. Will this be our first and last interaction? Or will she become a new friend? A mom friend?
The event is taking place in a large central hall with a stage on one side and more chairs than I can count on the other. It’s already loud inside. Kids are running around, and parents chat while holding beers and plastic cups of wine. My smile grows when I see Tallulah tending a makeshift bar in the far corner.
Sally and Patsy are on the stage. Sally plays the violin, while Patsy sings a twangy version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” into a microphone.
Large bulletin boards are set out across the space, each one pinned with dozens of pieces of the children’s art. There are paintings of strawberries and houses. Centipedes constructed out of egg cartons. Hats that look like bunny ears.
“All right, this is really adorable,” Ryder says.
“The most adorable,” I agree. “It’s perfect.”
Never thought I’d want to spend a Saturday night at a preschool function, but this is actually sweet and very well done.
There’s nowhere else I’d rather be right now.
I can’t stop smiling as we approach a bulletin board that a placard tells us belongs to Ella and Junie’s class. “The finger painting.” I gesture to the kaleidoscope of colors that make up a finger-painted heart. “I remember loving that as a kid.”