Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 48061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 240(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 240(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
After work, I pick up deli sandwiches for supper. Mom has her leg stretched out on the couch while she does a sudoku. Liam’s watching a dinosaur cartoon and eating a huge bowl of cereal. I glance at the deli bag in my hand and shrug.
“I got sandwiches and pickles. If you don’t want yours now, I’ll put it in the fridge.”
Mom starts to get up and reach for her walker. “Let me bring it to you on a tray,” I say, and hurry to the kitchen. I get the tray down from the top of the cupboard, wipe it off and arrange a plate with her turkey on rye, chips and pickle. I get her an apple and a bottle of water from the fridge and present it to her.
“Thank you, baby. This is nice. You don’t have to wait on me though. I’m getting much better.”
“Wow,” Liam says with a mouthful of cereal, “She never lets me eat by the TV.”
“I’m special,” she quips.
“It’s only if you have broken bones,” I tell him. “You want to eat your sandwich?”
“No thanks, Mommy. I’m full,” he flops back onto the floor, flipping over his bowl of cereal in the process. Thank goodness it didn’t have any milk in it. I help him scoop it back into the bowl and herd him to the bathtub. I read hm a book while he plays in the tub and promise to take him to the library in the morning before camp.
Once he’s asleep, I grab my mom’s tray, wash the dishes and decide against staying up for any reason. I had promised myself I’d slip out for an hour to see Benny, but I’m wiped out and tomorrow’s another long day.
I miss him, and sadness twists in my chest when I think of him. When my phone buzzes with an alert that he replied to my message from earlier, I feel relief and elation. Miss you too. Still in a meeting.
It makes me feel better that he’s busy too, that I didn’t miss a chance to see him. I fall asleep yearning for him and wake wishing I could be in his arms. Same as every other day. I’m not sure when I got in this deep, but I can’t make myself want to take a step back.
I’m playing with fire, and it’s only a matter of time before I get burned.
14
BENNY
Daisy says yes. She’ll meet me for a late-night picnic. It’s been two weeks since we’ve had more than an hour together. I miss her, but it’s not just that. I don’t want her to feel like a hook up when she’s far from it.
I order everything from new Korean restaurant near my office. I’ve been there a couple of times and it’s delicious. She’s always been adventurous about food and I want to share the experience with her. If I got all her old favorites and brought them it would send a message—that I was nostalgic and wanted to recapture something from our youth. But I want her as she is now, and she needs to know that. I just can’t tell her out loud, not just yet.
The stricken look on her face when I saw her and called her name in the street—that sticks with me. She wasn’t overjoyed to see me. She didn’t walk back into my life feeling the same way I do. The way I didn’t know I felt until she held out her frozen Coke and I took a drink, and it all came flooding back to me.
I want Daisy to see that every minute we have together is special, a gift I never expected. That it’s not a relic from our past but something brand new, made of the bits and pieces we didn’t destroy the first time.
I cut the lights when I turn onto her mom’s street. I text her when I’ve parked down the block. I walk to the house and wait for her. She quickly slips out the back door. She’s silent, perfectly still and listening for a second before she grins and breaks into a run.
I open my arms, lean down a little and catch her as she throws herself against me. It’s a fierce hug, warmth rolling through me like I’ve been frozen until now. With her legs around my hips, I carry her to the truck while she tries to muffle her giggles against my neck. Once I set her down on the passenger seat, I lean in and kiss her.
I feel the curve of her smile against my lips. I have to deepen the kiss now, no more sweet greeting. I part her lips and lick inside with one long stroke. She melts, sagging against me, fingers gripping the front of my shirt as she meets me stroke for stroke. A tidal wave of how much I’ve missed her crashes over me, and I gather her against me, press her close. I bend her head over my arm so I can kiss her more fully, my hand caressing her breast, making her nipple stand up stiff in response. I nip at her lower lip and pull away with a groan.