Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
A knock on my bedroom door brought me out of my thoughts on clothing, and I walked over to see what Saxon wanted. It had to be him. We were the only ones home.
He smiled when I opened the door. I liked his smile, but then again, he also had dimples. That was hard not to like.
“Hungry?” he asked.
I was indeed hungry, but I didn’t want to leave this house again today. I paused for a moment before replying, “Yes,” almost cautiously.
“Good. I ordered pizza. I wasn’t sure what kind you liked, so I ordered a cheese, pepperoni, barbecue chicken, and veggie. Jo was going to fix us something before she left, but I told her we wanted pizza.”
All of those pizzas sounded good.
“I like them all,” I told him.
He beamed at me, as if I’d said something brilliant. “Perfect.”
A chime went through the house, startling me before I realized it was the doorbell.
“It’s here,” he said. “Let’s eat.”
He started down the hallway toward the staircase, and I followed behind him. My stomach growled, and I was suddenly ravenous.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had pizza. Well, this kind of pizza. I used to make bread pizzas at home. Expired white bread was cheap, as were dented cans of tomato sauce. When we’d had enough grocery money to splurge on cheese, I would make us pizzas on slices of bread. Cole loved them. If we could afford pepperoni, then Cole was thrilled. That was rare though. Every dollar had counted in our house.
“Declan, I didn’t know you were coming over,” I heard Saxon say, and I paused.
I wasn’t sure if I should keep going down the stairs or turn around and go back to my room. Seeing Declan again did not sound appealing. But the thought of pizza made my stomach rumble, and I decided I was hungry enough to deal with it.
When I reached the bottom step, Declan glanced over at me, then back to Saxon, as if I weren’t even standing there.
“I thought we could watch a movie. Today was a bust, but tonight doesn’t have to be,” she told him, stepping inside and pressing closer to Saxon.
“Uh, well, I guess,” he replied, then looked back at me. “Want to watch a movie, Maddy?” he asked me.
I knew that Declan hadn’t meant me when she suggested “we” watch a movie.
Not wanting to make an enemy since it was obvious I would be seeing a lot of Declan, I shook my head. “Oh, no, that should just be the two of you. I can get my pizza and go to my room and read.” Which was exactly what I wanted to do.
A pleased smile spread across Declan’s full lips, and I was glad I’d made her happy. I didn’t see us being friends, but as long as she knew I wasn’t after her boyfriend, I figured we could exist peacefully.
“Did y’all order pizza?” she asked, looking back up at Saxon.
He nodded, but he was frowning at me. “You don’t have to stay up in your room, alone.”
I started to protest, but Declan stepped around Saxon and farther into the house as she leveled her gaze on me. “He’s right. That sounds terribly boring. Stay down here with us. You can help me decide on a movie. If we let Saxon pick, it’ll give me nightmares or put me to sleep,” she said with a friendly smile that concerned me.
There was no way she was suddenly open to me being here.
“My movies aren’t that bad,” Saxon said defensively.
Declan rolled her eyes and shot him a look over her shoulder. “Yes, they are.” Then, she turned back to me. “The last movie he picked out, I was asleep within the first twenty minutes.”
Saxon closed the door and smirked at me from behind her back. I wanted to laugh, but I kept from doing so.
“I don’t watch much television. I’m more of a reader,” I explained.
Declan grimaced. “I can fix that,” she replied with a wave of her manicured hand, as if I were broken because I read books. “When is the pizza going to be here?” she asked, turning to Saxon as she placed a hand on his arm.
“Uh, well, I thought you were the pizza, so any minute,” he replied.
“Did you get a vegan on gluten-free crust?” she asked him.
He shook his head. “No.”
Declan sighed, and her shoulders dropped, like he had disappointed her. I hadn’t known they made vegan or gluten-free pizzas.
“I’ll go ask Jo to make me a salad then,” she told him.
“Jo left for the day,” Saxon informed her.
Another long sigh. “Then, I will go make myself a salad.” She flashed a smile at me. “Come with? You can help me get the plates and flatware,” she told me, then began walking toward the kitchen.
I looked from her retreating form to Saxon. I didn’t want to be alone with her since I was ninety-nine percent sure this was an act for Saxon. Once we were by ourselves, I feared her claws would come back out. However, I didn’t see a way to escape this, and Saxon said nothing. He just shrugged.