Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92841 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92841 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
But one look at me, and his face drops. “What the hell is going on?”
“I’m not feeling well.”
It’s not a lie since morning sickness has crept up on me, and I’ve spent more time than I’d like with my arms around the toilet seat, praying to the porcelain god.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he says, stepping inside. “What’s wrong? Are you taking medication? Fuck, Kins. I thought you were avoiding me. You should’ve told me that you were sick.”
I swallow thickly at the assumptions he’s making, but don’t correct him. “I’m sorry. I know you have a lot going on,” I mutter, sitting on the couch. “How’s Taylor … and Jamie?”
“Taylor is fine. Jamie is Jamie. Right now, I’m concerned about you.” He pulls me into his arms. “Are you taking meds?”
“I’m okay,” I tell him, avoiding his question.
He looks at me for several seconds, like he wants to call bullshit, but instead, he nods and nuzzles his face into my neck. “Fuck, I’ve missed you so much. I thought you were staying away because Jamie is there.”
“Just sick,” I tell him even though he’s right.
“I was thinking—” he begins, but he’s cut off by the sound of his phone ringing.
Since he was too busy with Taylor and Jamie, he ordered a new phone online and had it shipped the next day.
“Give me a second.” He kisses my temple and then pulls out his phone, the name Jamie appearing on the screen.
His gaze flits between the phone and me like he’s trying to choose between us. The phone stops ringing, and then a moment later, it starts up again.
“You should answer it. It could be important.”
With a sigh, he nods in agreement and then hits Accept, putting it on speaker.
“Shane, is everything okay?”
“You called me,” he says.
“And you didn’t answer.”
“I’m fine,” he tells her. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes. I was just wondering what time you’d be home. Taylor and I are making dinner.”
Home. She’s calling his place home.
A ball of emotion gets lodged in my throat as I fight back tears.
“You’re both supposed to be resting,” he says.
“And we have been. You know this. We just thought we’d do something nice for you since you’ve been waiting on us hand and foot for days.”
“Dad! We made your favorite,” Taylor calls out through the phone.
“You should go,” I murmur.
But he shakes his head. “I’m with Kinsley. Let me see if she wants to come over for dinner.”
“Oh, yes! Tell her to come,” Taylor says. “I feel like I haven’t seen her in forever.”
Shane says he’ll talk to me and then hangs up.
“Come over for dinner, please.”
“With your ex?” I cringe. “Won’t that be awkward?”
“Maybe,” he admits. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want you there. She’s just that … my ex. But you’re everything, Kins. You’re my present and my future. Besides, you heard Taylor. She wants you there. It’s been too long since we’ve gotten our Kinsley fix, and we both know you can’t say no to her.”
Because he’s right, I agree to go. After I shower, we head over to his place despite knowing this is going to be a disaster.
The moment I walk in the door, Becky comes running over, begging to be pet, so I reach down and give her some love before I follow Shane into the kitchen, where Taylor and her mom are cooking.
“Kinsley!” Taylor shrieks. “You’re here.” She wraps her arm that isn’t in the cast around me. “Where have you been?”
“I’ve been a bit under the weather,” I tell her.
“If you’re sick, should you be here?” Jamie asks, her words sickly sweet, but her gaze is anything but.
“Jamie,” Shane says, a warning clear in his tone.
“What?” she asks. “I’m still recovering, and getting sick could possibly set me back.”
“This smells delicious,” Shane says, looking at Taylor with a smile as he lifts the lid of the pot that seems to contain some kind of soup while ignoring Jamie’s comment. “I have my shift tomorrow. If there are any leftovers, I’ll be bringing it with me.”
“If,” Taylor says with a laugh. “We both know you’re going to eat it all in one sitting.”
Shane shrugs. “Probably.”
“What is it?” I ask.
“Broccoli cheddar soup,” Taylor says, grabbing a spoon and scooping a little out. “And we serve it in bread bowls. Grams taught me how to make it. When I was little, she would cook with me. Since my mom sucks at cooking, I was showing her how to make it.”
“I do not suck,” Jamie mumbles. “I just prefer to focus my attention on more important things, like the poverty in Madagascar.”
Shane’s phone goes off, and his brows furrow in concern. “It’s the station. I’m going to take this and then wash up for dinner.” He leans in and kisses me. “I’ll be right back.”
Once he’s gone, the veil hiding Jamie’s cattiness seems to disappear. “So, Kinsley, Taylor tells me you tattoo people for a living. That must be fun.”