Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Me: Or when.
Me: Or what.
Me: Oh well. It must not have been important.
I can't help but needle him. He tried to warn me away from Gabbi, and he threatened to send her to a convent. He deserves to sweat a little for that bullshit. I get that he's been responsible for her since she was a little girl. He probably feels more like a father to her than her brother. But I'm not the enemy here.
The sooner he learns we're on the same page when it comes to her, the better all our lives will be. She's worth fighting for, and I'll go down swinging if that's what it takes.
Cranky Future Brother-in-Law: I'm not fucking around, Jacks.
Me: You said you want me to marry your sister, right? Don't worry. I'm all over it.
Cranky Future Brother-in-Law: Tell her to answer her phone.
Her phone didn't even ring. I'm guessing she silenced it because she doesn't want to talk to him. I'm Team Gabbi on this one. At least for now. I'll convince her to call him after he has time to stew for a little while.
Me: Can't. She's driving. Safety first. Besides, I think she's giving you the silent treatment.
Cranky Future Brother-in-Law: I know. It's pissing me off.
Me: Maybe don't threaten to send her to a convent next time?
Cranky: She started it.
Me: Are you two?
Cranky: You do remember that I own the Falcons, right? That basically means I own your sorry ass. Don't insult me. You may accidentally get loaned out to another team. I hear the East Coast is nice this time of year.
Me: Liar. It's colder than a well digger's ass over there.
Cranky: Take care of her, Jacks. I fucking mean it.
Me: With my life.
It's not an empty promise. I mean that shit. He may be pissed, but he didn't lock her in a closet. He didn't try to stop her from coming with me. I figure that means something. He's trusting me with her, giving me a chance to prove that I'm a man worthy of her.
I plan to deserve every ounce of that trust.
I drop my phone into the console and reach for Gabbi. She glances over at me, smiling as I pull her hand toward my mouth to brush a kiss across her knuckles. Her smile only grows.
Fuck, I can't wait to see that expression on her face every day forever.
I lay are linked hands on the console and close my eyes. Despite what I told her, my head is still pounding. Every fucking time I breathe, a hot poker stabs me through the skull.
Fun times.
Chapter Eight
Gabbi
For a man named Atlas, he has a terrible navigation system. It doesn't reroute us back to the interstate. As he sleeps beside me, snoring and mumbling something about a puck wearing a sombrero, I drive deeper into the woods, swerving around and bouncing over potholes.
At some point, the woods become a certified forest, the canopy overhead thick enough to choke out what remains of the daylight. Lingering rays pierce through the dense canopy in places, causing little motes of dust to dance in midair. Those few sparkling rays give the scene an idyllic, almost dream-like quality. It's quiet underneath, almost peaceful.
I don't mind the detour much. It gives me plenty of time to think. When Jordan called me this morning, trying to boss me into backing out of this trip, I refused. For the first time in a long time—perhaps for the first time ever—I did what I wanted to do, not what was expected of me. And it felt good.
He threatened to ship Atlas off to another team. I think I shocked us both when I threatened to follow him to wherever he went. Until that moment, the thought hadn't even entered my mind. Silver Spoon Falls is my home. I don't want to leave here. But for the first time, I think I'm realizing that home isn't a place, it's the people in it.
Since meeting him, Atlas has become one of the people who makes Silver Spoon Falls feel like home to me. He feels like home to me. I don't know what that means for me. I don't know what it means for us. But I want to be the kind of person brave enough to find out. Rome and Jordan are where they are in life because they took big risks.
It's my turn to take one too.
Jordan doesn't have to like it. He can stomp around and threaten to ship me off to convents or threaten to send Atlas to another team all he wants, but I'm not a little girl any longer. If I want something different in my life, I can't stand idly by and wait for someone else to make it happen. I've done that for far too long, letting Rome and Jordan call the shots.