“And here I am,” I say, draping an arm over Izzy’s shoulders.
“It’s not that impressive that you know where Jaxon is, Kels. Your job is literally to keep track of him,” Izzy says.
She doesn’t lean into me, but she doesn’t pull away either, and I decide to call it a victory. Maybe I’m good at this whole fake-boyfriend thing.
“I didn’t ask Nash where he was. This is a personal matter.”
I snort. This is one of the things I appreciate about working with Kelsey. She has hard lines she won’t cross and takes my privacy very seriously.
“Fortunately,” Kelsey continues, “Jaxon’s whereabouts are a hot topic these days. We were at Cattlemens eating dinner when we overheard Janice saying Jaxon had picked up food and brought it to your house again tonight. So, we decided we’d stop by and say hi.”
“Hopefully we’re not interrupting anything,” Carter says.
It feels like they were, in fact, hoping theywouldbe interrupting something. And lucky them, they managed to do just that.
“What would you be interrupting?” Izzy asks, pulling my arm around her so that I’m almost hugging her from behind.
When no one answers, she tilts her head and asks again. “Is there something you were worried about me, a grown-ass-woman, doing in my own home?”
“Sleeping with the guy who abandoned you was what we were thinking,” Bryn offers, her fake smile matching Izzy’s. “But clearly we’re too late for that.”
“That’s not—” I start, but Izzy speaks over me.
“I thought you’d be happy I was dating someone. Anyone. Mail-ordered boyfriend if nothing else.”
Bryn shakes her head. “We just wantyouto be happy, Iz. We don’t care if you’re dating someone or not, no matter what we were joking about on Sunday.”
Izzy leans into me a little more, her entire back now pressed against my chest. “Well, I am happy.”
“Great,” Kelsey says.
“Great,” Izzy repeats.
“Well, now that we’ve covered how great it all is,” Carter says, “do you have any ice cream, Iz? There’s a new episode that just released that I think we should watch.”
Izzy goes to the freezer, playfully grumbling about us eating her entire stash. I, like the good fake boyfriend I am, promise to get her more.
The look her sisters exchange at the gesture seems positive, almost like they’re starting to believe us about this being real.
We spend the next hour sitting around Izzy and Becca’s living room, shooting the shit as we watch some TV show about dragons.
It’s fun and laid-back with the conversation naturally flowing from work to friends to family, and back again. I can’t help but let myself enjoy being a part of a family again, if only for a few weeks. I hated being an only child growing up, and with how much time I spent with the Harpers as a kid, they became my makeshift siblings.
Looking back, it’s odd that I always thought of Kelsey and Bryn as sisters, but never Izzy. She wasn’t a sister, wasn’t a crush, she was just…Izzy.
In a category all her own. One that made me feel happy and cared for.
Izzy and I are on one couch together, my arm around her shoulders as she leans into me. Kelsey is next to her, and Carter, Bryn, and Jameson take up the second couch. Izzy doesn’t say much, even when her sisters start talking about their jobs and current projects they’re working on.
Taking in the chaos around me, I relax, happy to leave the conversation to others.
I stand beside Izzy in the open doorway as the group finally leaves.
“I can’t believe they ruined my chance at an orgasm and then had the nerve to question my life choices,” Izzy whispers as they pile into their car.
As soon as they pull away, she slips out from under my arm and closes the door.
***
