Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 158848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 529(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 158848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 529(@300wpm)
“I like the kitchen.” Molly waves her hand toward the long island with a prep sink in the middle and a row of tall stools on the outside. “I’d like a counter setup with stools like that in our house one day.”
Such a simple request fills me with happiness. No matter her mixed feelings about this weekend, she’s still planning our future. “Yeah? I thought you wanted to live in your grandparents’ place?”
“We could always remodel the kitchen one day.” She shrugs. “Or not. If you don’t want to stay in Johnsonville.”
I frown at the suggestion. “Where would we go?”
She shrugs.
We reach my old room and I take a deep breath, then push the door open. “Here it is.”
“Oh wow.” She walks to the center of the room and spins in a slow circle. “It’s even bigger than it looked on television.”
“Bigger than I remember,” I mutter. Since I left, I’ve been picturing it about the size of a prison cell.
“I love that chair!” She points to the purple velvet chair still standing in the corner.
“I thought you would.” I toss my coat on the bed and she does the same.
She turns and stares up at the corner of the room.
“At least Jordan wasn’t lying. See that black mount up there. That’s where the camera was.”
She stares at it for a few seconds, then glances at the bed. “That’s so creepy.” She steps closer, rests her hand on my shoulder and leans up to whisper in my ear, “I love you but I am not having sex with you here. I don’t trust them not to have placed a camera somewhere else.” She flits an anxious glance around the room.
Laughing, I lean down and kiss her forehead. “Don’t blame you one bit.”
Now that the excitement over seeing the room where I spent so much time has died down, I hold out my hand. “Come on, I want to show you something else.”
Outside the room, she glances up and down the sterile white hallway. “It’s like a maze. How did you remember which way to go?”
“Well, some of the guys drew all over the walls like toddlers, so that helped.”
She snorts. “That’s probably why they did it.”
I touch the wall near my door. “They must have brought painters in after we left.”
“They probably should’ve waited.” She snickers into her hand. “Be a shame if the guys draw all over the walls again tonight.”
“Come on, I want to show you something before too many people show up.”
She links her arm with mine and stays tight to my side as we return to the wide-open room at the center of the house. I continue past the oddly placed flatscreen. “That’s where we got to gather around and watch each other’s footage.”
“Oh, I bet you hated that.”
“Sure did.” I keep my eye out for any rogue camera guys. But so far, there’s no one else here. Even Jordan seems to have gone to another part of the house. Regardless, I lower my voice. “It was extra strange that they went to the trouble of finding old footage from illegal matches for some of us.”
She stares up at me. “From The Castle?”
“No, thank God.” We turn a corner and enter the area I called the book nook.
Molly gasps. “This is so cute.” She runs to the built-in bookcases and starts pulling out different titles.
“I thought of you the first time I saw it. And when I was in a taciturn mood, I’d hide out here and think about finding a house for us with a little reading area just like this one day.”
Her lips quirk and she slides a book into its place on the shelf. “I’d love that.”
Loud voices echo through the house. “I knew we wouldn’t be alone for long.” I sigh.
A few guys have congregated in the kitchen. I only recognize Pirate. The rest must be camera guys.
“Stonewall!” Venom’s voice booms through the space.
My gaze searches the room, finding him sitting on the sectional with a petite blonde woman at his side.
“That’s quite a size difference,” Molly mutters.
I tip my head down and stare at her.
“What?” She shrugs. “It is.”
My face splits into a grin as Venom stands. The blonde scowls up at him. He hurries to meet us halfway. “I’m so happy to see you, brother.”
I’m yanked forward for a hug and back slap. “How’ve you been?” he asks.
“Not bad.” I fall back and slide my arm over Molly’s shoulders. “Molly, this is Venom—the guy who got me through this shit show and taught me some sick new moves.”
A smile curves her lips. “Thank you for helping Griff survive.”
Venom glances over his shoulder at his wife, still sitting where he left her, and frowns. He tilts his head toward me. “Kelly, this is Griff. He kept me sane in this bungalow of bullshit.”