Lahat ng Kabanata ng Secret Marriage To My Brother's Best friend : Kabanata 291 - Kabanata 300

I slow Marshmallow to a stop and climb down to the ground. The mud, still wet from the downpour that lasted most of the night, squishes below my cowgirl boots. The bad thing about these boots is that they have no tread and tend to be slippery. So I walk gingerly over to where the hat is floating around like a boat in the mud puddle. Langston’s steps suck into the mud as he comes up behind me. “You didn’t have to get down,” I say. “I’ve got it covered.” “It’s my fault that I wasn’t watching for the branches better, so I should be the one down in the mud. Not you.” “Langston Keith? Are you actually being nice to me?” I look around. “No one’s even here to witness this.” He trudges through the muck as he catches up beside me. “I can be nice. In fact, most people would say I’m a great guy.” I give him the side eye. “You probably haven’t thrown those people into a lake when it’s forty-seven degrees out.” He throws his head back and laughs. “That was a good day, wasn’t it?” “Maybe on

LANGSTON“Let’s go hose each other off,” Jenni tells me after her mom goes back into the house.“I’m not sure I trust you with a hose pointed at me,” I say.“So you’re just going to walk home like that, dripping across your floors?” Jenni asks.I hadn’t thought this far ahead. “Fine. You’re right.”“I’m right?” She gets this huge smile on her face. “Can you say that again?”“Why?” I arch a brow at her.“Because I want to bask in this moment.”“Oh, brother.” I roll my eyes. “Let’s just get the water hose.”Luckily, there’s a warm water option on the hoses, since the horses need warm water in the winter.I stand outside the stable and Jenni drags the hose over to where I am, spraying me down.I scream like a little girl. “I thought you were going to use warm water!”“Where would be the fun in that?” Jenni gives me an evil grin.“This is just wrong.” I stalk past her and adjust the water to a warmer setting. “That was inhumane.”She’s bent over laughing. “You should have heard yourself,”

Her voice drifts in from the foyer, talking to Gregory in a tone too low to understand.When Gregory appears on the other side of the wall with the giant fireplace, he has Amanda with him as well as a boy who appears to be about seven or eight.I was expecting Amanda to look vibrant and full of life, like she’s hunting for a man, but this woman looks emaciated and pale, like she’s been malnourished. She has dark bags under her eyes, and they’re sunken into her face with her cheekbones sticking out. Her hair is different too. It’s short, choppy, and thin. Far from the luscious long hair she had when I last saw her. Has she been starving herself or something?But the kid with her is the picture of health. He has thick dark hair and eyes that are roaming across the room like he’s never seen a place like this before. The home is like a museum, similar to Biltmore, where they charge admission to get inside.“Hi, I’m Langston. What’s your name?” I shake the little boy’s hand and look into e

“And you know who your dad is?” Laurie is treading lightly, but I can tell from the look in her eyes that she’s dying to get answers. Not that I can blame her. I’m in the same boat.“Yeah. Of course. He’s Langston.”I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. So it really is true.“But I don’t know why you guys want me to call him by his first name. He’s my dad.”I open my mouth to speak, but then I just shut it again.“You can call him whatever name you’d like,” Laurie says.“Anything?” Hayden gets a silly grin on his face. “Even Mr. Stinky Pants?”I can’t help but laugh. “If you really want to.”“He’s not nearly as stinky now as he used to be,” Laurie says. “He earned the name Mr. Stinky Pants when he was a baby. You don’t even want to know what he smelled like back then.” She pinches her nose and waves a hand in front of her face like she’s blowing the stench away.That gets a bubble of laughter from Hayden. “My mom’s friend has a baby. He sure smells bad too.”“I’m afra

LANGSTONAs we’re wrapping up our conversation, I lean over to Jenni. “Where’s Hayden?” She smells comforting, like lavender.She leans over to me too, so close I can feel her breath hitting my cheek. “He went upstairs to play video games.”“Do you think he’d be okay with it if I went up there to talk to him?” My heart quickens to think about having a son and having a relationship with him.A tingle runs down my spine, having her so near to me. The emotions of Hayden coming into my life, and having Jenni being so supportive by my side are intertwining, and I’m working to stuff all these feelings down so they don’t overwhelm me.“I think you might want to take it slow. But I’ll go with you. I’ve had the chance to build a bit of a relationship with him in the few moments I’ve spent with him.” She stands, and I follow.To say I’m nervous about talking with him is a massive understatement. But he’s my boy, something I can barely wrap my head around. I still can’t deny the fact that he loo