Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“Thanks.” He kissed the top of my head. “If you promise to not let either of us fall asleep, I suppose I could be persuaded to read a chapter before you go upstairs.”
I grinned, loving that he was as reluctant to part as I was. “Only if you agree we can do this again.”
Jonas exhaled hard, looking skyward for several long seconds. “Yep. You win.”
Chapter Fourteen
Declan
I’d done more laundry the past few weeks than at any point in my life, including my teen years when my parents had a color-coded chore list. But four dirty T-shirts, a hoodie, and a pair of jeans were the perfect excuse for a trek to the basement. I’d clomped down the stairs around nine, and now it was nearly eleven. We’d made it through my laundry, his laundry, and now a load of sheets.
And still, we were talking. Since the door was closed, we could have been sneaky kissing or more, and I figured we’d get there eventually before I snuck back upstairs, but right then, I was enjoying leaning against the warm dryer, quizzing Jonas on his unusual upbringing.
“How many siblings do you actually have?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” Jonas screwed his face up like he was thinking hard. I had no idea how one could have so many as to not know every name, birthday, favorite ice cream flavor, and more. “Some kids undoubtedly arrived after I was kicked out, but when I left, there were…seventeen? Eighteen?”
“How do you explain that at school? Or the hospital?” I shook my head, imagining a whole bus load of kids coming to visit a new baby in the hospital or a classroom with half the kids related. “That’s a lot of half and full siblings.”
“And cousins.” Jonas shrugged. “And we were homeschooled and coached not to talk to outsiders, ever, or reveal any details about the plural marriage. Heck, when I was first sent away, I didn’t trust anyone and barely knew how to talk to people not in our sect.”
“That’s terrible.” I reached out to pat his arm. “At least you got over the not-talking thing.”
“Yep. And as for hospitals, pray you don’t get sick. And pray the group has access to a decent midwife.”
“Wow. Practically pioneer living.” I couldn’t keep the horror from my voice. Had they even had indoor plumbing? “Makes my having the one sister and growing up in Seattle seem easy.”
“There were things that weren’t so bad.” Jonas stretched as he moved the sheets to the dryer where I stood. “Always someone to play with. Never lonely.”
“You like being surrounded by people, don’t you?” I leaned in for a quick kiss while he was close, loving the pleased sound he made every time I was the one to initiate contact or kissing. His obvious delight made it far easier to keep touching him.
“Yep. Eric accuses me of needing to be needed too much, but I’ve always liked doing things for others.” Jonas offered a crooked smile, which earned him another fast kiss. “I was one of the middle siblings, and it was kind of nice taking care of the younger ones or running errands for the older kids.”
“Work.” I shook my head at the notion of having so many siblings to manage.
“How about you?” Jonas asked, tickling my side lightly through my T-shirt. “Would you rather spend an afternoon alone or with others?”
“With you.” I grinned at him, proud of my spot-on answer, but he groaned.
“Be serious.”
“I am.” I held up my hands. “You’re my current favorite person to hang out with. It doesn’t feel like work. I like the energy of groups and parties, but I hate feeling like I’m on the outside looking in. And social obligations, like the Fan Zone on race days, can pump me up, but they’re always exhausting. Gah. I sound like such a—”
“Introvert.” He captured my hands in his before I could call myself a loser. “It’s okay to not be a people person, and it’s definitely not something to beat yourself up over.”
“You make being a homebody fun.” I went for the flip answer because the truth was I had beat myself up over social stuff for years. But with him, it was all so easy. It felt warm and natural to spend time together, not like solving complex equations.
We’d been playing music on his phone to cover our talking, and a goofy oldie came on, and of course, Jonas started singing along, nailing the deep baritone perfectly.
“That is the worst song in the history of songs,” I teased, rolling my eyes at him.
“You’re just too young.” He wagged a finger at me as he added a shimmy to his singing.
“Am not.” I stuck out my tongue, which probably proved his point, but making him laugh was worth it. “Maybe you just have bad musical taste.”