Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 76609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Why we weren’t inside, I didn’t know, but it was what it was.
And if everyone felt more comfortable being outside bullshitting around a fire, then I was down.
Especially with the woman of my dreams in my lap helping me keep warm.
When I reached the seat I’d previously occupied, which was now missing Aspen, my brows furrowed.
“Where’s Aspen?” I asked Booth.
He pointed to where my daughter and Mace had been sitting in the back of the ambulance, which now only held Mace.
“Where’d they go?” I asked him once I reached them.
He pointed to her house.
I nodded my thanks and went inside through the carport door, finding the two of them in the kitchen looking through the cabinets.
“Can I help you find something?” I asked the two.
Aspen smiled at me over her shoulder but didn’t stop looking, Attie, however, stopped and smiled.
“I told her about the stuff we bought to make s’mores last week, which you stashed over here since you were convinced I’d eat the ingredients,” she explained. “And she’s looking for it.”
I snorted and walked into the pantry.
I kept it hidden away, because if it was out within reach, I’d eat the fuckers.
Pulling it off the top shelf, I handed it to Attie.
“Take this outside,” I ordered. “The sticks are right inside the carport door right next to the dryer.”
Attie smiled at me and took off, leaving me alone with Aspen.
“What was that about?” She asked once the door slammed shut.
“Your brother?” I confirmed.
She nodded.
“He wanted to thank me for ‘saving’ you today,” I said. “And he’d like to talk to you in private.”
Her eyes widened.
“Did he say why he wanted to talk?” She licked her lips nervously.
I shook my head, and she bit her lip in worry.
“Go, Baby. He’s on the side of the house. And don’t be too hard on him, okay?” I murmured, pulling her into the shelter of my arms.
She looked up at me, the brightness of her eyes revealing her vulnerability.
“I love you, you know that, right?” She whispered.
I leaned down, pressing my lips against hers.
“And I love you right back. You know that, right?” I teased.
She smiled, the vulnerability in her eyes vanishing.
“Be back in a few.”
“I’ll heat you up a marshmallow,” I promised.
She grinned and disentangled herself from my arms.
“Make it two.”
I followed her out, but moved towards the fire where my daughter was roasting her own marshmallow, Mace right beside her.
“You doing okay?” I asked her.
She turned a smile up at me.
“I’m better than okay,” she promised. “And I’m happy.”
Mace grinned, and I realized that I liked the kid—even if it took him a long time to pull his head out of his ass.
I looked over to the men that surrounded me. My brothers. My daughter. Then over to where Downy was pulling Aspen into his arms, and I couldn’t help but agree.
“No, things don’t get much better than this, do they?” I asked her.
“Hey!” PD barked. “You gonna hog all those marshmallows all day long or you gonna share?”
I tossed him the bag and he caught it, pulling out his own marshmallow before picking up one of the sticks from the ground where Attie must’ve left them.
“You’re gonna share, right?” Naomi, Aspen’s best friend, asked cheekily.
PD looked at her, then back to his marshmallow.
“Nope, sorry. This marshmallow is all for me.”
Then he ate it, all to Naomi’s surprise.
And I wondered if she knew what she was getting into with him.
PD’s heart had belonged to someone else for quite a long time, and she would likely always own it.
I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her as she looked at PD with those big puppy dog eyes.
But those didn’t affect him either.
Arms wrapped around my chest and I moved my hand down to cup Aspen’s ass.
I handed over her marshmallow and she took it with a happy smile.
“All for me?” She teased. “Thank you, you didn’t have to!”
She winked, and I snorted.
Laughing, I said, “Oh, honey. You mean the world to me. I’ll roast my marshmallows for you anytime.”
“That sounds dirty,” she teased, pressing her body up against mine.
I snorted.
“It kind of did, didn’t it?”
She nodded and offered her lips to me, which I took in the next moment.
“Ewww, Dad!” Attie said. “Get a room!”
I tossed a look at my daughter that clearly said what I thought of her teasing.
“Or you could go to your room?” I suggested.
She stuck her tongue out at me, and Mace pulled her over to the back of the ambulance, out of ear range.
“You know, they’re going to get married, don’t you?” Aspen said soberly.
I looked over at the two, then back at the woman that I loved.
“Possibly,” I shrugged. “But only after she’s graduated.”
“From high school or college?” PD butted into my conversation.
I looked over at the group.
Then smiled.
“Graduate school.”
Epilogue
Who ever invented the alarm clock should be ashamed of himself.