“She hasn’t been in town for over ten years. She has no friends here anymore. No job. She’s staying at Dad’s,” he said, resting his elbows on his legs as he stared me down. “She’s floundering, Seb. I don’t know what’s going on with her, but she’s broke, and she’s lost. She needs this. If something doesn’t change, she’ll drag herself back to New York, and it’ll be another ten years before we see her again.”
Guilt ate at me. “She came around every once in a while. It wasn’t like we actually went a decade without seeing her,” I grumbled. Scratching my beard with a grimace, I added, “I don’t know, Luke. I wasn’t kidding when I said it’s been tight around here.” Really, really tight.
“I get it. Don’t worry about it. I just… she’s back in town, and she’s in no hurry to get back. Wyatt and Reid offered her some work with them, but can you see Lydia sitting behind a desk all day?” He scoffed. “I figured the two of you could help each other out. She’s into art, you’re an artist… She used to run the social media stuff before she got that promotion, youneed better marketing…” He looked around as if to make his point, like I didn’t know this place was dead. He turned back to me, one brow raised as a question swirled behind his eyes. “This doesn’t have to do with Reid’s wedding, does it?”
Shit. I’d eaten all my tacos. I didn’t have anything to distract me.
“What about Reid’s wedding?” I asked, painting a look of confusion on my face.
“Did you two leave together?”
“Nope.” I shook my head, lying through my teeth. “I am sorry that I missed the engagement announcement though. You do remember that you proposed to Scarlett that night, right? I mean, you were pretty wasted,” I smirked.
“Ha. Ring’s already been purchased and is being resized as we speak. Letty agreeing to marry me is not something I’m going to forget,” he said, getting to his feet. “Alright, well, I’m going to get home to my fiancée.”
He balled up our aluminum foil wraps and threw them in the bag, which I took from him. Guilt settled low in my gut.
“Tell Lydia she can come by tomorrow at 3:00 p.m., and we can go over a marketing plan or some shit.”
“Thanks, Seb.” He grinned. “I think this will be good for both of you.”
Damn it. I’m glad someone did, because I sure as hell didn’t.
4
Lydia
Thirteen Months Ago
“Baby, I need to know now. I’m booking the tickets. If showing up for me at my family’s Christmas is too much for you, just tell me.”
“Blake, I didn’t say that,” I sighed. “You just sprung this on me. I thought I was going to Calla Bay for Christmas, that’s all I said.”
He huffed out an unamused laugh. “Did you seriously forget that we already talked about this? Wow. Do you not listen to me at all when I speak? Besides, you were just there for Thanksgiving. I had to go without you for days”—it was two days, one overnight—“and now you want to spend Christmas apart too.”
I didn’t want to fight with him about this. Things had been going so good with us. Blake was amazing. Attentive, loving, affectionate. All the things that I didn’t think I would like but apparently secretly loved. He made me feel so special everyday with his words and gifts. He was always thinking of me and picking up things that he thought I would like. We texted constantly, and even though it had only been a little over a month since we’d been together, we were basically living together already. But a meet-the-parents, couples Christmas seemed really sudden, especially since it was all of three days away, and I definitely didn’t remember us talking about this arrangement.
“It’s just I already told my family that I would be there. Christmas is kind of a big deal at my dad’s,” I said. I didn’t even like going home. Too many memories, too much of a chance of running into someone I knew. Especially during my family’s epic Christmas Eve party. But I could also see the disappointment on my dad’s face if I told him I wasn’t going to be there, and I hated to let him down.
“Great. I’ll tell my family that it’s more important for my girlfriend to go to some party than spend the holidays with them. With me. Guess I’ll just cancel the flights, then.”
He was almost in tears as he pushed himself back into the couch with force, tossing his phone onto the cushion next to him.
“If it’s important to you, then I’ll go to Ohio with you, meet the fam.” I smiled, pulling some of the tension out of the air. “It was just unexpected, is all. Christmas Eve is the day after tomorrow. Wait… do you already have the flights booked, or are you trying to book them now?”
“Why would I wait to buy them now? I bought them two weeks ago,” he cooed, a sensual smirk tugging at his lips.
His mood lifted, and he slung an arm around my waist and dragged me to straddle his lap.
“They are going to love you, I promise. Almostas much as I love you,” he said.
“I love you too,” I whispered against his lips, replaying our conversation in my mind. He did say he was just buying the flights now, didn’t he?
My thoughts scrambled when Blake grabbed my hips, rolling them over his bulging pants.
That wouldn’t have made any sense. It was way too last-minute. Of course he had already bought the tickets. I couldn’t believe I didn’t remember our conversation. I needed to learn to be a better girlfriend if I wanted to hold on to him.
* * *
