“Yeah, I think we’ll let them cool off a bit,” Landry says, stalking back to where Rowan is standing and tossing his arm over her shoulders.
“So, is this officially official?” Reid asks, taking Coral from Bellamy.
“Yep,” Baker answers.
“Cool.” He nods, and that’s it.
The people closest to us have easily accepted that we’re together. Just as if it was always meant to be, and maybe it was. I’ve always been a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and maybe, just maybe, losing my job was meant to happen. That journey of unemployment led me here, to a man and his little boy whom I’ve known for a while, but never considered could become more to me.
And they do. They mean so much to me, and I’m still scared of losing them. Losing this incredible group of people as my friends and the connection we have as a group, but I won’t hide behind that fear. Instead, I’ll embrace it and face it head-on, and hope like hell this ends in happily ever after.
Yeah, I can see Baker and Camden being my happy—hell, they already are—and my ever after. I’d love that, but this is a marathon, not a sprint, and we’ll take each day as it comes.
“Any special requests for pizza?” Baker asks.
A few requests are called out as he pulls his phone out of his pocket and places the order. We all move to the living room to settle in and wait for the food to get here. Baker has his fingers laced with mine, and when he sits down in one of the recliners, he pulls me onto his lap.
I glance around the room. Corie’s on Knox’s lap, Rowan is on Landry’s, Bellamy is on Reid’s, and Foster is making faces at Coral, the sound of her baby giggles filling the room.
Something about this moment feels right.
“Right where I want you,” Baker whispers, and my heart melts.
I don’t have a chance in hell of resisting this man. I don’t know what’s next for us, but I do know that I’m in for whatever it is. My mind plays out visions of what we could be, what our future might look like, and damn, do I want it.
Chapter Seventeen
Baker
* * *
This feels right. Sloane in my arms is what I’ve been missing. Her. She’s the missing piece. My friends—our friends—didn’t bat an eye at seeing us together. Not that I expected them to. But I know Sloane, and she was worried about how we’re going to weave the old us into the new us with our friends, and it’s simple. We just do.
Camden starts to babble over the baby monitor, and Sloane jumps off my lap. “I’ll go grab him.” She’s already bouncing toward the steps before I can tell her that I can get him. Instead, I remain seated with a dopey smile on my face.
“I like this,” Corie says, waving her hand in my direction. “But you hurt her, and I’ll kick you in the balls.”
I chuckle. “Duly noted. I don’t plan on hurting her.”
“Baker, this is messy,” Rowan adds softly.
I shrug. “The last almost three years of my life have been messy. This is… more.” I let my admission hang in the air.
“Are you happy?” Foster asks me.
My smile grows, because how could I not be? “Euphoric.”
Foster chuckles. “Then hold on tight, brother,” he says, kicking his right leg up on his left knee and draining the sports drink in his hand.
“She just fits. Here with us. I don’t have the words to tell you what I mean, other than to say, it’s right. Everything about this is right.
All four of my best friends nod, as if they understand precisely what I’m saying. Foster has a sad look on his face, almost like regret, but it’s gone before I can call him out on it. One of these days, he’s going to open up about his past. Out of the five of us, he keeps to himself the most. Sure, he’s open with us. We talk every day, he contributes, and even gives us advice, but he never makes any of those conversations about him.
The doorbell rings, and I move to answer it and collect the stack of pizzas we ordered. Singing the slip, I lay the boxes out on the kitchen counter, before heading back to the living room.
“Wow!” Camden says, and we all turn to look at him. He’s staring at everyone with wide eyes.
“Look who came to see you,” Sloane tells him. He wiggles, and she lets him down. He makes a beeline for Reid, who’s holding Coral.
