“Thank you! That’s what I said.” We sit in silence before I take in a deep breath. “So, you’re not mad?”
“That you’re with my brother? No way. Just as long as I don’t have to hear the details.” Wren goes a bit green, and I laugh.
“Nat’s going to want them all, you know.”
“And I hope you and Nat have a jolly good time yapping about it every moment I am not around,” she says deadpan, then pauses. “Did you really think I’d be upset? Is that why this took so long?”
I scrunch my nose and shake my head.
“No, not really. Honestly, kind of the opposite. I thought you’d start planning our wedding.” She lifts an eyebrow, then tips her head as if to say it’s nottotallyout of the question. “If you start planning mine, I’ll start dropping hints to your mom that you’ll be getting engaged soon.”
She gives me a horrified look, and I let out a loud laugh.
“A truce,” she says, standing and putting a hand out. I follow, and when she takes my hand, she pulls me into her, a familiar hold I’ve felt a million times over my lifetime. “I’m happy for you, Hallie. I know this was a big step for you.”
And this is why Wren King is my best friend in the entire universe, more sister than friend: she knows me. I don’t even have to tell her I was scared, why I was scared, or why I fought the pull to Jesse for so long. She gets it, accepts it, and appreciates it. When I pull back from the hug, her eyes are as watery as mine, and we let out teary laughs.
“Now, let’s get downstairs before our guys come barging in to check on us.” Then we walk hand in hand out of the room, and I’m not even a little surprised that Jesse and Adam never actually went downstairs without us, instead waiting near the elevator just in case we needed them.
As a group, we move downstairs and find the rest of our crew in the lobby. Once Colton catches sight of us, he grins wide and starts clapping, and Madden, Nat, Adam, and Wren join in quickly, hooting and hollering and generally causing a scene as my face burns.
“That was hot,” Nat says as the ruckus dies down. “Hallie going over there, claiming him? Hot. And then, of course, the kiss.”
“I’m still trying to bleach my brain of Jesse’s hands on my sister’s ass,” Colt says with a grimace.
Nat lifts her shoulder. “It still was hot.”
“I’m just glad we can all finally admit that the temper tantrum Jesse had at The Mill was because he had the hots for Hallie,” Madden says.
“I don’t have the—” Jesse starts.
“Excuse me?” I say, turning on my…boyfriend? Lover? Shit, I suppose I should have talkedthatpart out. He grins at me, an arm moving around my waist and pulling me into his side.
“Oof, already headed to the doghouse. Come on, Jesse, you just got her. Don’t fuck it up this fast,” Madden says. Jesse looks down at me with a soft smile.
“I don’t have the hots for her. I’m in love with her. There’s a big difference,” he says, and I think I might melt into a puddle.
“Oh, he’s good at this,” Wren whispers.
“Told you he would be,” Adam says. “I saw the looks he gave her.”
I’m sure Wren rolls her eyes, but I don’t. I’m too busy moving to my tiptoes and pressing a kiss to Jesse’s lips in front of everyone.
And god, it feels good.
THIRTY-ONE
When we get home from Killington, everything and absolutely nothing at all changes. Hallie and I are, for the most part, out in the open and actually dating, and most nights, she sleeps in my bed. Sometimes, I fuck her at night with her face in the pillow to muffle her moans, but more often than not, we opt for a midday quickie when Emma’s at school. A perk of working for ourselves, I suppose.
The main thing that doesn’t change is the fact that we don’t tell Emma about our change in relationship status. Both Hallie and I agreed to let things settle a bit longer before telling my daughter, though I mostly agreed so as not to scare Hallie off. Her throwing her fears to the wind and telling all of our friends and, on Monday morning, after Emma went off to school, my parents about us was a big step for her.
This means, for the most part, I keep my hands to myself when my daughter is around, and we still set an early morning alarm for Hallie to head home, change, and shower before coming back over for coffee. I’m sure to outsiders it seems silly, her still having her place and us pretending we’re anything but fully committed to each other, but if there’s anything I’velearned over the past year, it’s that when it comes to Hallie, patience is always worth it.
Today, two weeks after that trip, I’m looking forward to an easy Friday night. While the worst of the winter weather has passed with spring coming up quickly, today’s slushy rain was somehow colder than any typical winter storm. After a full day out in it, all I want to do is eat the dinner I’m sure Hal and Emma made and spend the night on the couch with Hallie.
It’s strange, looking forward to long, boring nights, but I covet them now. I didn’t realize how lonely my life had become until Hallie started spending more time at my place. Most of my nights were spent doom-scrolling and watching shit TV alone before I moved to bed, then I’d be up at six, get Emma ready, and start it all over. More often than not, we were scrambling to make a simple meal or heading to the main house for dinner, but these days, I come home to my girls waiting for me, both of them excited to share whatever new culinary masterpiece they’ve created.
When I walk into my front door and spot Hallie’s shoes lined up next to Emma’s, the ones I brought her two weeks ago, I smile. But it fades when I hear my younger brother’s groan filter into the mudroom. Sliding off my jacket and hanging it up on a hook beside Emma’s backpack, I flip my hat around and head to the living room.
