Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 122966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
Grace shook her head stubbornly and fell on top of me instead, effectively squishing my nose under her belly. She found that hilarious.
“Hey, you little clown.” I huffed and repositioned her farther down on my chest.
She settled in right away, and I pulled up the covers to her chin.
She’d be out in two minutes.
Reaching up to the lantern, I asked, “Are you staying?” and paused with my finger on the switch.
“If you don’t mind…?”
“Of course not.” Why would I mind? I flicked off the light, leaving only the faintest glow from the fire some twenty feet away from my tent.
Darius and Ethan had quieted down, so maybe they’d retired too. Unlike the rest of us, Darius just rolled out a sleeping mat in the bed of his truck.
After fanning the covers over Pipsqueak too, I let out a breath and relaxed. Grace’s little suckling noises grew fainter, letting me know she was falling asleep.
“I guess we could do a quiz on civics—”
“Shh, Mister.”
Wow. I wasn’t sure I’d ever been shushed before.
“Did you just shush me?” I asked.
“I did. I thought you needed it.”
“Huh.” I turned my head to her, though I couldn’t see her very clearly. “Civics quiz, it is. You’re going to love it.”
She laughed under her breath. “Maybe I’ll follow Lias and Evelina’s lead and ride with Ethan instead.”
“Nah—wait. What? They’re not riding with me tomorrow?”
The air mattress trembled from her silent giggles. “I guess they loved your quiz so much they can’t bear another round?”
I narrowed my eyes in the darkness.
“Don’t look so offended,” she chuckled.
“You can’t even see me,” I argued.
“Uh, yes, I can. You’d see more too if you stopped being so damn stubborn and got contacts or glasses.” She huffed, whereas I just snapped my mouth shut. “It’s okay, Avery. You’re getting very old. It’s normal.”
“Wow,” I whispered toward the ceiling. “She was amazing for eighteen years, but now she’s turning into a hellion. A true Quinn.”
“Who are you talking to?” She couldn’t keep from letting out those little snickers. “It was bound to happen. But if it makes you feel better, you can really pull off the bit of gray growing out here.” She scratched her fingers gently against my temple, and I didn’t know if I wanted to throw her out of my tent or demand that she continue what she was doing.
“You’re full of shit,” I settled for saying. “I don’t have any grays yet.”
“You’re right,” she conceded, withdrawing her hand. Dammit. It’d felt nice. “But it’s just a matter of time, Gramps.”
I rumbled a quiet chuckle, too amused and contented to pretend to be insulted. If anything, I loved to banter with her.
I exhaled and closed my eyes. Grace made a couple sleepy sounds. Pipsqueak settled in to sleep too, and the moment spread warmth in my chest.
It was happiness.
Nineteen
So, Ryan’s girlfriend was an interesting character. She was an imp just like Pipsqueak and Willow, and I could admit she’d had me fooled over at the Quinns’ residence when I dropped off Grace. Angel had been, well, an angel. Polite, soft-spoken. Mary and James had expressed their fondness for her quite a bit already. But then we took off to the beach—Ry, Darius, Ethan, Angel, Pipsqueak, Lias, Evelina, and me. And like a flip of a switch, Angel became someone else. Someone ballsy, loud, brazen, and provocative.
Once we’d parked at the beach, she slapped Ryan on the ass before darting toward the water, and Ryan ate that shit up. He ran after her, of course.
I made a joke about it to Darius as we dumped our towels, blankets, and coolers in the sand. “It’s like her DNA comes directly from his gene pool.”
Darius barked out a laugh and pulled his tee over his head. “Fitting, I guess, since she calls him Daddy when she thinks no one’s listening. Mildly disturbing first time I heard it.”
I smirked and shook my head.
I was happy for Ryan, though. He needed someone who would keep him on his toes.
When I spotted the couple down by the water, I admitted to myself there was some envy too. He’d caught her, and there was no one else in the universe for them as they locked their arms around each other. I’d forgotten what that was like. And as soon as that thought flew through my mind, I knew, just by looking at Ryan and Angel, that I’d never even come close to having it.
I suppressed a sigh and diverted my gaze. It was going to be a good day. Grace was a pig in shit over at Mary and James’s house, and I didn’t have to worry about her for the next several hours.
A flash of yellow appeared in the corner of my eye, and I glanced to my left, only to do a double take. What the actual fuck. I stared in horror—or something—at the scraps of light yellow some might call a bikini. On Pipsqueak, of all people. Where was the frilly unicorn bathing suit? Or a better question—where was the rest of the bathing suit she was wearing? Jesus fucking Christ. She’d, uh, filled out. An hourglass figure, not the most modest…chest area.