Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96112 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96112 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
I smiled widely.
Twenty-One
“I’m sorry, Kit. I thought you were on the next train. I’ll come pick you up.”
“It’s fine.” Nothing could ruin my good mood as I emerged from the Metro station in Foggy Bottom. “I’ll just walk—”
“Oh no, you don’t.” Lucas wouldn’t have that, apparently. “Either you wait for me to pick you up, or you take the bus the last way. We’ve done it before.”
Sometimes I wanted to curse Georgetown for not having a Metro station. “We’ve also walked this route before,” I reminded him. “I’m supposed to face my mom’s paranoid fears, remember? It’s literally the safest area of DC.”
Daddy sighed in the background. “Okay, you’re right. We’ll compromise. We both start walking now, and we’ll meet halfway.”
That was fair. It would still give me a ten-minute walk alone. “Deal. I’ll keep my phone close.”
“Good. See you soon, sweetheart. Love you.”
“Love you too.” I ended the call and crossed a street, beginning my trek up to Georgetown. Feeling all adult-like. A weird thing to be proud of, probably. Feeling like an adult was also the last thing I wanted as soon as I met up with Daddy. As good as this day had been, it’d also been long and exhausting, and I couldn’t wait to go to my Little space.
Much to my joy, Vincent had come with me on my errand today, and then we’d had snacks afterward. Not ice cream! I’d had a big serving of mozzarella sticks in marinara sauce at this place Vincent introduced me to. It was rather affordable, even, and the food there was amazing. I was totally going to bring my Daddies there.
This walk was a good idea. I needed to work up a nice appetite for Colt’s cooking. We were having grilled salmon out on the porch for dinner, one of Lucas’s favorites. I liked it too, but it didn’t beat the buttery garlic mashed potatoes we were having with it! This time, I was going to eat it slowly so my stomach didn’t explode.
My steps faltered when I reached a street with two broken lights. It was a short street, and it shouldn’t scare me. It was Mom’s fears that’d been drilled into my head. Fuck, did it have to be nearly pitch black? No—damn it. The Four Seasons was right around the corner, and there were people everywhere. I wasn’t gonna let the fears grab another inch of me.
I kept walking, maybe walking a little faster, and breathed a sigh of relief when I reached a well-lit street again.
Booyah.
It wasn’t long thereafter I saw Daddy walking toward me. He hadn’t changed from his work clothes, so I was greeted by hotness in a suit.
“Hi! I walked up a street that had, like, no lights.”
He smiled a little unsurely and cupped my cheeks, then dipped down for a kiss. “I’m still the worrier in the family, love. Maybe leave out that part.”
I snickered and kissed him once more, and then I grabbed his hand, already feeling myself letting go of certain things. Daddy was here now.
“Colt mentioned you had a good day with Vincent,” he said.
I nodded lots. I’d called Colt earlier to ask if I could come home a bit later. “Vincent said I’m his annoying little brother.”
Daddy grinned. “That might be a fitting relationship for the two of you, wouldn’t you say?”
“Yeah,” I laughed, “I thought it was funny.”
“Well, I’m very glad you worked things out.” He kissed the top of my head. “I’ll want the details when we sit down for dinn— What on earth happened to your leg, Kit?”
Crap. I’d hoped he wouldn’t see it yet.
His eyes flooded with concern, and he scanned my face and arms. “I thought your scratches from the game had healed. Did I miss something?”
“You weren’t supposed to notice it yet,” I grumbled. “Can you pretend it’s not there until we get home? Pretty please? I swear everything is fine.”
I’d asked Kirk to wrap the tattoo around my calf as if it were a real wound. With plastic wrap instead of a bandage, my Daddies wouldn’t be surprised. But now, well, okay, Daddy got worried, which wasn’t awesome, but I wanted it to be a surprise! I had something else too, in a small shopping bag, though that wasn’t as big.
“All right,” Daddy replied warily. “You didn’t fall, though, did you?”
“No, I promise.” I dragged Daddy along up the sidewalk again, because he’d slowed down earlier, and I swung my shopping bag in my free hand. “Daddy, did you know how expensive ice cream is? It can be up to six dollars a scoop!”
His gaze gave way to mirth, which was much better. “A bit of an eye-opener, huh?”
“It was better when they were closed, to be honest,” I said frankly. “At least when it comes to ice cream. And toppings! You’ll never believe it. A dollar for hot fudge—it’s an outrage.”