Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 35017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
“Almost did,” Teddy mutters, rolling out a thing of dough.
“Cut off a finger.”
“Close a few times.” Teddy has a quick response to each defense Willa comes up with.
“Or poison someone.”
“Now that one is up for debate.”
“Hey! That wasn't my fault. You said to wash the chicken, and I did. You’re always using that 407 spray on stuff. You used it on the counter earlier, and now you're rolling food across it.”
“She has a point.” I put my fingers over my mouth. Both Teddy’s and Willa’s heads swing my way. Why did I jump into the sister fight they are having? I’m not in this group. “Sorry—”
“No apologies.” Willa’s face brightens with a smile. “Glad someone is on my side for once.”
“Here we go.” Teddy lets out a melodramatic sigh. “And that wasn’t the poison I meant, but we can go with that one.”
I’m glad I’m still covering my mouth to help muffle my laughter.
"Whatever." Willa plops back in her seat at the kitchen counter. "I have many other good skills." She winks at me. "Just ask my husband. The King."
"The King." Teddy erupts into laughter.
"The husband loves my hands." Willa ignores Teddy's laughter, wiggling her fingers.
I can't help the small laugh that bubbles from me, and I don't try to hide it. I also know my cheeks are starting to heat; my shyness about sex is coming to the surface.
All I know is what I have read in the books I could get my hands on and those small glimpses you might get from a movie or show. It’s not something that was spoken about to me ever when I lived with my father. But this is girl talk. Right? And they're including me in it.
"You haven't been married long. Right?" I ask Willa. If I want to be friends with them, then I need to try and not hide or let myself be different from the background, but it's how I have spent my whole life. I didn't want to be noticed. It was better that way.
“It was kinda a whirlwind,” Willa says with a happy sigh.
“Kinda? The man had you married in two days!” That’s impressive. I see the way her husband watches her. It’s clear how smitten he is with her. She is this delicate flower he is always handling with care but still allowing to get sun.
“You’re one to talk. You jumped my uncle's bones.”
“Well, one bone in particular.” Teddy waggles her eyebrows.
“Oh my gosh.” I laugh harder. Willa pretends to gag.
“And I didn’t jump his bones. He was all growly at first. Not that those growls stopped a girl like me.” Teddy holds up her rolling pin. No, I don't think anything stops her.
"You got married in two days?" I ask. Not that I'm one to talk. I was told I was getting married and then shoved right into it. I'd only gotten away because I risked it with the ocean and sharks over facing the man my father had ordered me to marry.
"I might have been a little drunk." Willa held up two fingers that are close together. "And he tricked me."
"Tricked you!" Is this why Rich isn't a giant fan of the king man?
"Don't let her fool you," Teddy cuts in. "‘Drunk or not, little miss I'm going to be a rebel.’" Teddy makes air quotes with her fingers. "‘Would have married him sober.’"
"I am a rebel." Willa is once again dressed in all pink. She has another bow in her hair, this time secured with a headband, and she's wearing adorable bunny slippers. I'm missing the rebel part, but her husband has that vibe. West seems more straight-laced and stoic, while my Rich falls somewhere in the middle, I think.
“What about you? Will my brother have you married to him soon?” I know Willa is teasing, but a sparkle of longing hits me. I don’t want to let myself dare dream of such things.
“We’re only…” I trail off. “Friends?” That word sounds wrong for Rich. He is so much more to me than that.
They both burst into laughter.
“Sure you are. My brother is obsessed with you.” Willa pushes the bowl she’s been stirring back over to Teddy, who peeks into it before putting it on the mixer. “You see how I’m treated.” She waves her hand toward the mixer.
“There were lumps in it.”
“Powdery surprises, I call them.”
I want to laugh at their banter, but my mind is hung up on Rich being obsessed with me. “He’s a good guy that’s helping me,” I tell them. “Super sweet.”
“Are we still talking about my brother?” Willa points to herself. “I mean, he can have his moments and fill the big brother protective spot, but I don’t think anyone would call him sweet.”
“At school some of the girls call him Rich the Dick and not because they’ve seen his dick.”