Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 78634 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78634 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Maybe that was the best I could hope for.
3
Embry
My dog woke me up the next morning by standing over me and breathing in my face. “It’s too early, Dusty,” I mumbled, as I tried to hide under the covers. He stepped up his game by whining and digging at me, until I finally stumbled out of bed and pulled on my unicorn hoodie over my pajamas.
He kept darting around me, so I had to concentrate on not tripping over him as we made our way downstairs and down the long hallway that led to the back of the house. As soon as I opened the kitchen door, Dusty launched himself through it like a rocket. Then he did a quick lap to make sure his territory was secure. The little tan and white terrier mix barely weighed ten pounds, but he was fully convinced he was a big, tough dog.
Once he finished doing his business, he bounded back into the kitchen. I filled two bowls, one with cat food, the other with dog food, and put his on the floor. The black cat who’d showed up one day and never left appeared out of nowhere as I placed her dish on the counter. We fed her up there so Dusty couldn’t inhale all of her food.
I muttered, “Hi, cat,” as I rinsed and refilled a pair of water dishes. After I placed them next to the food bowls, I pulled my hoodie over my eyes. The sunny pink and purple kitchen was way too bright at this hour. Then I curled up on the floor and waited for my dog to finish eating, so we could go back to bed.
Apparently I fell asleep, and when I woke up two of my housemates were eating breakfast at the kitchen table. I sat up and pushed the hood off my head as I mumbled, “What time is it?”
Hal tucked a strand of his long, dark hair behind his ear and grinned at me. He was a former model and intimidatingly gorgeous, but he was also nice, so I’d stopped being afraid to talk to him at some point. “Almost nine. We tried to wake you to see if you wanted pancakes, but you sleep like the dead.”
My disappointment must have been written all over my face, because Vee chimed in, “Don’t worry, we saved you some. There’s a plate in the oven. Be careful, because it’s probably hot to the touch.”
I leapt up and grabbed a dish towel, which I used to maneuver the plate to the table. As I sat down, I asked, “Have you seen Dusty?”
“He’s hanging out in the living room with the cat and the bird.” That combination could have spelled trouble, but Vee’s little blue parakeet Clementine was firmly in charge. Vee reached out and plucked a piece of kibble off my hoodie. “Rough night?”
“I had a lot to think about, and it kept me up late.” I drenched the pancakes in syrup and asked, “If I get married in the next few days, do you guys think you’d want to come to the wedding ceremony?”
They didn’t reply, and when I put down the syrup bottle and glanced at them, both of my friends were staring at me. After a beat, Hal asked, “Is that a possibility?”
“I think so. I mean, Bryson hasn’t agreed to it yet, but it’s not like he has a lot of options.”
Vee’s dark eyes were big as saucers. “Maybe start at the beginning, Em.”
“I met a guy at a coffee house last night. He needs to get married, and I offered to help him out. It would be a pretty sweet deal, except that I’d have to move in with him. But I’d keep my room here and come visit all the time, so it’s not like I’d never see you guys again. And of course, once the year was up, I’d move back in.”
My friends were still staring at me. After another pause, Vee shook his head, hard enough to toss around his shaggy black hair. “Nope. Whatever scam some guy is trying to pull on you, it’s not happening.”
“It’s not a scam. Let me start over.”
I told them the entire story, in between shoveling pancakes in my mouth. When I was finished, Vee and Hal exchanged looks. Apparently they shared some kind of mental telepathy, because Hal muttered, “Be right back,” and got up and hurried out of the kitchen.
Vee pressed his hands to either side of his face. His dark purple nail polish was halfway chipped off, so I said, “We should do mani-pedis later if you’re going to be around.”
“Don’t change the subject.”
Hal reappeared a few moments later with his laptop. He pushed his plate aside and flipped open the computer as he asked me, “What’s this guy’s full name?”